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CENTURY 



H 

REFERENCE LIBRARY 


OF THE 


World's Most Important Knowledge 



COMPLETE THOROUGH PRACTICAL 


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 



CHARLES LEONARD-STUART, B.A. 

I 

of the New International , Americana , Britannica , etc., etc. 



Notable Contributors: 


Hon. GROVER CLEVELAND 

Hon. GEO. B. CORTELYOU 

Hon. W. J. BRYAN 

Maj. C. E. DUTTON 
U. S. Geological Survey 

Prof. A. P. BROWN 

University of Pennsylvania 

ALEXANDER WINCHELL 
University of Michigan, >, 

Prof. A. C. COOLIDdE ^ 
Harvard University 

SIMON NEWCOMB 

Dir. U. S. Naval Observatory 

G. T. PURVES, D.D., LL.D. 
Princeton University 

Prof. H. S. WILLIAMS 
Cornell University 


Dr. CYRUS EDSON 

Sen. HENRY CABOT LODGE 

J. ACKERMAN COLES, M.D. 

Prof. S. H. DOUGLAS 
University of Michigan 

Pres. CHARLES W. ELIOT 
Harvard University 

EDWARD EVERETT HALE 
Dean, United States Senate 

Prof. CLEVELAND ABBE 
U. S. Signal Service 

WILLIAM H. WELCH, M.D. 
Johns Hopkins University 

Hon. WM. R. MERRIAM 
Director U. S. Census 

JAMES HERVEY HYSLOP 
Columbia University 


PHILADELPHIA 

NATIONAL PRESS ASSOCIATION 

1907 






























RiSHARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

OCT 29 190/ 

_ Copyright Entry 
vW Sc t4 d 7 
CLASS A XXc«i No. 
f %Z2.qf 
COPY B. 


Copyright, 1907, by Frank E. Wright 






Preface 


For an encyclopaedia to attain the dignity of a standard work of 
reference, and to maintain that position, certain distinctive features are 
essential. The chief of these, outside variety of topics and accuracy, are 
independence, originality, progressiveness, convenience, lucidity, and 
brevity. 

Independence and originality cannot be acquired without departing 
from the old-time methods of pedantic Latinity, unfamiliar scientific and 
technical terms, and diffusiveness, which, even in modern times, still 
seek to make knowledge the prerogative of a privileged class. Progress¬ 
iveness is obtained by adopting up-to-date methods of organization, 
preparation, and production, and employing the ingenious principle of 
the expansive card-index, so that the latest data may be added until the 
very day of printing each edition. Convenience is found in the concise 
disposition of matter, and its arrangement in the form of compact 
volumes, of handy size for ready reference, in place of large and clumsy 
volumes, inconvenient to handle on account of their size and weight, 
which are by many supposed to represent the correct style for all ency¬ 
clopedic works of reference. Lucidity and brevity are attained by the 
development, through the patient and laborious work of editors and 
compilers, of the fine and difficult art of condensation, in which the 
constant aim is to synthesize or crystallize the ever-growing mass of 
ancient and modern information into the concrete and attractive form 
of “race knowledge.” This term was introduced by Professor Patton, of 
Princeton University, to distinguish the sifted and verified knowledge 
of a subject useful to the whole world from the detailed knowledge 
required by specialist or expert, and indicates a simple and concise 
handling which, while meeting all reasonable demands of scholarship, 
brings the profoundest learning within the comprehension of any 
attentive or thoughtful mind. 

Since the beginning of the twentieth century there has been 
enormous activity among the publishers of leading nations to produce 
new encyclopaedias, with the purpose of presenting the whole range of uni¬ 
versal information according to modern standards and requirements, and 
of exhibiting the wonderful progress made in all departments of human 
knowledge and endeavor during the last quarter of a century. Praise¬ 
worthy arrangements were formulated to embody in these works the 
qualities enumerated above as essential to the production of a standard 
Bi. 


Preface 


work of reference. But, without exception, whether American or Euro¬ 
pean, these remain in great part revised editions of old encyclopaedias. 
In the American works, all based on European models, old matter, bodily 
lifted from the editions of preceding centuries, appears instead of a 
modern presentation of the subject; while even in the new matter sup¬ 
plied, all the old defects of elaborate and diffuse treatises, adapted only 
for the use of specialists, experts, or professional men, are retained 
along with the inconvenience of bulky form, to which the present small, 
handy volumes afford a delightful contrast. 

In the making and distribution of encyclopaedias, the need of a 
popular reference work of more compact form than those in ordinary 
use was made strikingly apparent both to editor and publishers, by the 
thousands of questions poured daily into the offices of magazines and 
journals, which, by arrangement, were referred to the encyclopaedists for 
reply. In the majority of instances, the answers could have been found 
by reference to the venerable and ponderous types of encyclopaedias. But 
these, wherever possessed, apparently had been relegated to the repose 
of library shelves, after the novelty of possession had worn off, while 
the trouble attendant on disturbing them for research was, apparently, 
greater than the slight inconvenience caused by writing and waiting for 
a brief answer to a simple question. 

Under these circumstances, the conviction grew that a more con¬ 
venient form of reference work was necessary for ordinary use, one 
which, if kept in the home on the reading-table, in the student’s room 
on a handy shelf, or in the office or store on the work-desk, would 
become an indispensable and authoritative source of the information 
needed in connection with the current news of every-day life. 

The ordinary skip method of reading newspapers, magazines, etc., 
is not conducive to self-culture, unless the reader is accustomed to 
regard this reading as a test of ignorance or knowledge. Then it 
becomes of inestimable service. Every day interesting information Is 
given about places and subjects of w’hich most people know very little 
and remember less from the knowledge acquired in school days. But 
a ready dip into a convenient reference work will put one in possession 
of the necessary information, and if the knowledge is acquired at the 
time when the subject is a topic of general discussion, it is likely to be 
permanently retained. 

The “reference habit” is one of the most delightful and profitable 
that can be inculcated in young persons or cultivated by men and women 
for the worthy purpose of extending education throughout the whole of 
adult life. The more convenient the form of reference work at hand, 
the oftener it will be used, and when this can be done with the least 




Preface 


possible waste of time, the reference habit frequently changes the whole 
mental attitude, transforming an ordinary into a well-informed person. 

With the conviction fully confirmed that such a convenient work of 
reference was urgently needed, the publishers, after mature deliberation, 
decided upon a striking departure and a revolution in the ordinary 
methods of encyclopaedia making. Adopting a novel and original plan 
which would allow them to make use of the latest sources of information 
right up to the date of publication, they determined to build a work 
which should present the modern, solid, alive, and up-to-date American 
view of everything worth knowing in the fewest possible words; a work 
for the use of students and others which would fit them to take part in 
the conversation or enjoy the society of any well-informed circle. 

The result, as embodied in the present work, exhibits the truly 
American characteristic of the exact knowledge sought; giving the pith 
of each subject, the essential facts, condensed to the plainest terms 
consistent with accuracy and clearness, and presented in a convenient 
form for ready reference. The salient features of each topic treated and 
its modern aspect follow the title and impress themselves at once upon 
eye and mind. Nothing of value is omitted. The old, stereotyped, 
pompous, so-called encyclopaedic style gives way to a bright, modern 
presentment of knowledge and facts. Without needless wading through 
a mass of words, the reader immediately grasps the knowledge sought. 
Every subject is condensed or distilled to an essence of crystal clearness, 
in order to secure the compact and convenient size aimed at. Moreover, 
this plan of condensation or crystallization has allowed the inclusion of 
a greater number of titles than are to be found in the larger works of 
reference, for over 150,000 separate titles will be found in the various 
sections of this work, as compared with the 50,000 or 60,000 subjects in 
the ordinary encyclopaedias. 

Besides topics of general knowledge, geographical, historical, social, 
mechanical, artistic, scientific, legal, philosophical, religious, etc., the 
Encyclopaedia includes other features of importance. These embrace a 
Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary, a Gazetteer, a Pronouncing Dic¬ 
tionary of the English Language, a Topical Index of all subjects in 
classified groups, and a Question Section—features absent from any 
other encyclopaedic work of reference. These have been compiled and 
added to the work at a considerable expenditure of time and labor, so 
that the reader who seeks for a quick and accurate answer on any subject, 
after referring to its alphabetical location in the Encyclopaedia, may, if 
desired, continue his search for knowledge along the same line by con¬ 
sulting the classified group of allied subjects in the Index and Question 
Section. 



Preface 


The publishers have also aimed at making the work doubly attractive 
by reason of its illustrations. Text-cuts, half-tones and artistic three- 
color page plates, considerably beyond the plane of the average encyclo¬ 
paedic illustrations, contribute largely to a full understanding of the crisp 
descriptive matter. Special attention was also directed towards providing 
a clear type, easy for reading and restful to the eyes, instead of the 
small, fatiguing, eye-straining type, so frequently complained of in the 
larger forms of encyclopaedic dictionaries. 

The whole work, modern in conception and treatment, accurate, 
clear, concise, and up-to-date in a thoroughly practical sense, is a 
standard, ideal reference library, providing a short cut to all knowledge. 
No work on a similar scale of convenience has been attempted hitherto, 
and the publishers, gratified by its comprehensive scope and reliability, 
feel confident that its compact form will make it, though small, a powerful 
rival for preferential and general use in school, home, store, or office, 
over the larger types of encyclopaedias, gazetteers, or dictionaries. 

The editor and publishers take the opportunity here to acknowledge 
their indebtedness to the contributors whose names appear on the title- 
page and appended to articles in the work; to Mr. Teall for expert 
services in the revision of diction and proofreading; to the Hon. S. N. D. 
North, Director of the Department of Commerce and Labor; the Hon. 
William R. Merriam, Director of the Twelfth Census; George E. Roberts, 
Esq., Director of the Mint; the Hon. James Wilson, Secretary, and 
George Wm. Hill, Esq., Editor-in-Chief, of the Department of Agriculture; 
and to chief clerks, chief statisticians, and numerous other federal and 
state officials, for special reports and important bulletins of latest 
information. They would also extend their thanks to Dr. James Hulme 
Canfield, Librarian of Columbia University, New York City, and members 
of the library staff; to members of the staffs of the Astor and Lenox 
libraries, New York City; to many statesmen, scientists, authors, editors, 
and officers of corporations, companies, etc., for courteous information 
and suggestions which have enhanced the accuracy of the text and illus¬ 
trated features of the NEW CENTURY REFERENCE LIBRARY. 


/ 



To Use This Work Effectively, Study This Page 

“To know where you can find anything—that, in short, is the largest 
part of learning.” Anonymous—translated from the Latin. 

For a general topic in any department of human knowledge, refer at 
once to its alphabetical location in the Encyclopaedia, vols. 1 to 6. 

For further knowledge along the same line, consult the classified 
group of analagous subjects in the Topical Index, vol, 6, and the 
Question Book. 

As a key to the contents of this work, the Topical Index and 
Question Book are equivalent in value to as many separate text-books 
(over 60) as there are classifications. 

Any topic not found at first glance in the Encyclopaedia will probably 
be found in other parts of the work. Initiative cross references, with 
research and assimilation, will yield information on almost any subject in 
the range of encyclopaedic knowledge. 

Besides the subjects in the Encyclopaedia, grouped under their classi¬ 
fied headings in the Topical Index, note the following: 

Further Historical Knowledge will be found in the Chronological 
Table of Universal History, vol. 6; in the Treasury of Facts, vol. 8, 
under Decisive Battles; Declaration of Independence; Constitution of the 
United States of America; Presidents of the United States; Electoral 
Vote. 

Further Geographical Knowledge will be found in the Universal 
Gazetteer and Atlas, vol. 6; in the Treasury of Facts, vol. 8, under 
the Origin and Meaning of Names of States; Weather Forecasts; Time 
Differences; Facts About the Earth. 

Further Legal, Commercial, and Financial Knowledge will be found 
in the Treasury of Facts, vol. 8, under Commercial and Legal Term®; 
Value of Foreign Coins in United States Money; and the Metric System 
of Weights and Measures. 

For Correspondence, and other Literary Composition, the correct 
spelling, pronunciation, part of speech, and meaning of words, together 
with punctuation, phrase and verse structure, will be found in the 
Dictionary, vols. 7 and 8, prefaced by the suggested list of 300 words of 
the Simplified Spelling Association, the Origin, Composition and Deriva¬ 
tion of the English Language, and Principles of Grammar—Orthography, 
Etymology, Syntax and Prosody. Similar and contrary expressions, lit¬ 
erary allusions, derivation of names, significance of flowers and gems, 
familiar and foreign proverbs and phrases, will be found under Synonyms 
and Antonyms, etc., in the Treasury of Facts, vol. 8. 






a, the first letter in the 
lift English and other alpha- 
bets, ultimately derived 
ffifl&KilSn from the Phoenician, is 
traced by some to a char¬ 
acter belonging to the Egyptian h ; er- 
atic alphabet. Alpha, the Greek 
name of the letter, corresponds closely 
to aleph (“an ox”), the Phoenician 
name (see Alphabet). The form 
which it has as a capital is the earliest. 
The sound which originally belonged 
to it, and which is still its character¬ 
istic sound except in English, is that 
heard in far, farther, palm, etc. A, in 
music, is the sixth note in the diatonic 
scale of C. 

Aard-vark, (that is, “earth-pig”), 
a burrowing insect-eating animal of 
the order Edentata found in South 



AARD-VARK. 

Africa. The name “pig” is given to 
it from the shape of its snout. It is 
about 5 feet long, with a thin tapering 
tail, and long upright ears. It is noc¬ 
turnal in its habits and very timid. 
Its flesh Is considered a delicacy. 

Aard-wolf, a singular carnivorous 
animal, first brought from South Af¬ 
rica by the traveler Delalajade. Its 


size is about that of a full grown fox, 
which it resembles in both its habits 
and manners, being nocturnal, and con¬ 
structing a subterraneous abode. 

Aargau, or Argovie, a canton of 
Switzerland, bounded onj^he N. by the 
Rhine, which separates it from the 
grand-duchy of Baden, elsewhere by 
the cantons Zurich, Zug, Lucerne, 
Bern, Solothurn, and Basel; area, 543 
square miles. Pop. (1900) 206,498, 
more than half of whom are Protes¬ 
tants. The capital is Aarau. 

Aarliaus, a city of Denmark, capi¬ 
tal of a division of the same name. It 
is situated on the Cattegat, and has 
an excellent and safe harbor, which 
admits vessels of light draught, the 
construction of such craft being the 
chief ' industry of the place. It has 
considerable manufacturing and is the 
centre of a large trade, being connect¬ 
ed with the rest of the Jutland region 
by the State railway, and regular 
steamers to Copenhagen and Great 
Britain. The town is among the old¬ 
est in Denmark, and is noted as being 
the site of the first Christian church 
in the kingdom. Its bishop’s see 
dates from 948. It has a cathedral 
commenced in 1201, which is a fair 
example of early 13th century Gothic 
architecture. Pop. in 1901, 51,909. 

Aaron, son of Amram (tribe of 
Levi), elder brother of Moses, and di¬ 
vinely appointed to be his spokesman 
in the embassy to the court of Pha¬ 
raoh. By the same authority, avouched 
in the budding of his rod, he was 
chosen the first high-priest. He was 
recreant to his trust in the absence 
of Moses upon the Mount, and made 
the golden calf for the people to wor- 








Aaron 


Abbey 


ship. He died in the 123d year of his 
age, and the high-priesthood descended 
to his third son, Eleazar. 

Aaron’s rod, in architecture, is a 
rod like that of Mercury, but with 
only one serpent twined around it. 

Ab, the eleventh month of the civil 
year of the Hebrews, and the fifth of 
their ecclesiastical year, which begins 
with the month Nisan. It answers to 
the moon of July, that is, to part of 
our month of July and to the begin¬ 
ning of August; it consists of 30 days. 

Abaca, or Manila Hemp, a strong 
fibre yielded by the leaf-stalks of a 
kind of plantain (Musa textilis) 
which grows in the Indian Archipel¬ 
ago, and is cultivated in the Philip¬ 
pines. The outer fibres of the leaf¬ 
stalks are made into strong ropes, the 
inner into various fine fabrics. 

Abaco, Great and Little, two is- 
of the Bahamas group. 

Abacus, a Latin term applied to 
an apparatus used by the Chinese for 
facilitating arithmetical operations, 
consisting of a number of parallel 
cords or wires, upon which balls or 
beads are strung, the uppermost wire 



ABACUS. 

being appropriated to units, the next 
to tens, &c.—In classic architecture 
it denotes the tablet forming the up¬ 
per member of a column, and sup¬ 
porting the entablature. In Gothic 
architecture the upper member of a 
column from which the arch springs. 

Abaddon,, in the Bible, and in ev¬ 
ery rabbinical instance, means the an¬ 
gel of death, or the angel of the abyss 
or “ bottomless pit.” 

Abalone, a Californian name for 
the ear-shells or sea-ears, a gastropod 
of the family Haliotidse. The animal 
feeds on sea-weeds, creeping along the 
rocks. When in repose it draws all 
its parts under the saucer-like shell, 
and clings like a limpet to whatever it 
is attached. The Chinese use the body 
for food, and the shell is employed in 


making buttons, inlaying, and all pur¬ 
poses for which mother of pearl is used. 

.Abatis, or Abattis, in military 
affairs, a kind of defense made of felled 
trees. In sudden emergencies, the trees 
are merely laid lengthwise with the 
branches pointed outward to prevent 
the approach of the enemy. 

Abba, Guiseppe Cesare, an Ital¬ 
ian poet; born in 1838 at Cairo Monte- 
notte. He took part in the expedition 
of Garibaldi into Sicily in 1860, which 
he celebrated in his poem “Arrigo.” 

Abbas Pasha Hilmi, Khedive of 
Egypt, born in 1874, oldest son of the 
Khedive Mehemet-Tewfik. He studied 
at the Theresianum at Vienna. On his 
father’s death in 1892 he became Khe¬ 
dive. He has given an example to 
other rulers by having only one wife. 

Abbas I., surnamed the Great ; 
born in 1557, was the seventh Shah or 
King of Persia of the dynasty of the 
Cufis. He died Jan. 27, 1628, having 
reigned over Persia 41 years. 

Abbassides, the name of a race 
who possessed the caliphate for 524 
years. There were 37 caliphs of this 
race who succeeded one another with¬ 
out interruption. They drew their de¬ 
scent from Abbas-ben-Abd-el-Motallib, 
Mahomet’s uncle. Their empire ter¬ 
minated in Mostazem, who fell in bat¬ 
tle in 1257. 

Abbe, originally the French name 
for an abbot, but often used in the 
general sense of a priest or clergyman. 

Abbe, Cleveland, an American 
meteorologist, born in New York city, 
Dec. 3, 1838. Since 1871 he has been 
meteorologist in the Weather Bureau. 

Abbey, a monastery or religious 
community of the highest class, gov¬ 
erned by an abbot, assisted generally 
by a prior, sub-prior, and other subor¬ 
dinate functionaries; or, in the case of 
a female community, superintended by 
an abbess. Abbeys or monasteries first 
arose in the East. The abbeys in Eng¬ 
land were wholly abolished by Henry 
VIII. at the Reformation. In the 
United States the word “monastery” 
is generally used for male religious 
houses; “convent” for female. 

Abbey, Edwin Austin, an Amer¬ 
ican artist, born in Philadelphia, April 
1, 1852. Besides illustrating many 
books and painting a number of no¬ 
table pictures, he designed a series of 



















Abbot 


Abbott 


paintings for the walls of the Boston 
Public Library, on the subject of the 
“Holy Grail.” He was commissioned 
by King Edward VII. to paint the cor¬ 
onation scene in Westminster Abbey. 

Abbot, the superior of a monastery 
of monks erected into an abbey or 
priory. Abbot is also a title given to 
others besides the superiors of monas¬ 
teries ; thus, bishops, whose sees were 
formerly abbeys, are called abbots. 
Among the Genoese, the chief magis¬ 
trate of the republic formerly bore the 
title of “Abbot of the People.” 

Abbot, Ezra, an American Greek 
scholar, born at Jackson, Me., April 
28, 1819. He was one of the Amer¬ 
ican committee of New Testament re¬ 
visers. He died at Cambridge, Mass., 
March 21, 1884. 

Abbot, Henry Larcom, an Amer¬ 
ican military engineer, born in Bever¬ 
ly, Mass., Aug. 13, 1831; graduated at 
the United States Military Academy in 
1854; became brevet Major-General of 
Volunteers in the Civil War, and sub¬ 
sequently Colonel and Chief of Engi¬ 
neers of the United States army, and 
was retired in 1895. 

Abbot, Willis John, an Amer- 
can journalist and author, born in 
Connecticut in 1863. With the excep¬ 
tion of a “Life of Carter Harrison,” 
his works consist principally of popu¬ 
lar histories for young people. His 
editorial writings are graceful and cul¬ 
tured in style, and powerful in expres¬ 
sion. 

Abbotsford, the home of Sir Wal¬ 
ter Scott, situated on the S. bank of 
the Tweed a few miles above Mel¬ 
rose. At the time Scott bought the es¬ 
tate in 1811, it was called Clarty Hole, 
but his antiquarian spirit moved him to 
connect the place with the old monks 
of Melrose Abbey, who formerly cross¬ 
ed the river near the house. He re¬ 
tained all of the ancient Scotch archi¬ 
tecture that could be used, and en¬ 
larged the building to its present di¬ 
mensions. The property remains in 
the possession of the author’s descend¬ 
ants to the fourth generation. 

Abbott, Charles Conrad, an 
American archaeologist, born at Tren¬ 
ton, N. J., 1843. He has < discovered 
palaeolithic human remains in the Del¬ 
aware valley, and shown the likeli¬ 
hood of the early existence of the Eski¬ 


mo race as far south as New Jersey. 
A large collection of archaeological 
specimens made by him is now in the 
Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 
where he was stationed in 1876-1889. 

Abbott, Edwin Abbott an En¬ 
glish theologian and Shakespearean 
scholar, born in London, Dec, 20, 1838. 
From the City of London School he 
passed, in 1857, to St. John’s College, 
Cambridge. 

Abbott, Emma, American dra¬ 
matic soprano, born in Chicago, Ill., 
in December, 1849. After years of 
hard work, she went abroad in 1872 
and studied with Sangiovanni at Mi¬ 
lan, and Delle Sedie in Paris, and aft¬ 
erward sang in opera with great suc¬ 
cess. In 1878 she married E. J. Weth- 
erell, of New York. She died in Salt 
Lake City, Utah, Jan. 5, 1891. 

Abbott, Jacob, an American 
writer of juvenile stories, born in Hal- 
lowell Me., Nov. 14, 1803; died Oct. 
31, 1879. He graduated from Bow- 
doin College, studied for the ministry, 
was professor of mathematics at Am¬ 
herst for four years, and in 1834 es¬ 
tablished the Eliot Church in Roxbury, 
after having been principal of a girls’ 
school in Boston. After 1839 he de¬ 
voted his whole time to literature and 
wrote and published more than 200 
volumes, among them the famous Rol- 
lo Books. In collaboration with his 
brother John, he wrote a number of 
histories for juvenile readers, with 
whom he was a great favorite. His 
works have a considerable sale in the 
first years of the 20th century. 

Abbott, Sir John Joseph Cald¬ 
well, a Canadian statesman, born in 
1821. He took an active part in the 
Senate, leading the Conservative side. 
On the death of Sir John Macdonald, 
in 1891, he become Premier, resigning 
in the following year on account of ill- 
health. He died in 1893. 

Abbott, John Stevens Cabot, an 
American author, born at Brunswick, 
Me., Sept. 18, 1805; brother of Jacob 
Abbott; author of “History of Napo¬ 
leon ; “History of the Civil War;” 
“History of Frederick the Great;” and 
numerous other works on kindred 
themes. He died, 1877. 

Abbott, Lyman, an American 
clergyman, born at Roxbury, Mass., 
Dec. 18, 1835. At first a lawyer, he 




Abbott 


Abbreviations 


was ordained minister of the Congrega¬ 
tional Church in 1800. After a pas¬ 
torate of five years, in Indiana, he 
went to New York, and rose rapidly 
to distinction through his contributions 
to periodical literature. He was pas¬ 
tor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, in 
1888-1898, being the immediate suc¬ 
cessor of Henry Ward Beecher. He 
was associated with Mr. Beecher in the 
editorship of the “ Christian Union,” 
and is now editor of “ The Outlook,” 
formerly the “ Christian Union.” 

Abbott, Russell Bigelow, an 
American educator; born in Brookville, 
Ind., Aug. 8, 1823; was graduated at 
the University of Indiana in 1847; and 
received the degree of D. D. from 
Galesville University in 1884. After 
serving for several years as principal 
of public schools in Muncie and New 
Castle, Ind., and of Whitewater Pres¬ 
byterian Academy, he was ordained in 
the Presbyterian Church in 1857; held 
pastorates in Brookville, Ind., seven 
years, in Knightstown, Ind., two years, 
and in Albert Lea, Minn., 15 years; 
and, founding Albert Lea College in 
the latter city, became its president in 
1884. Dr. Abbott served as moderator 
of the Presbyterian Synod of Minne¬ 
sota and several times as a delegate to 
the General Assembly of his church. 

Abbreviations, or “ shortenings,” 
are used in writing to save time and 
space, or, it may be, to ensure secrecy. 
In the following list most of the abbre¬ 
viations that are likely to be met with 
by modern readers are alphabetically 
arranged: 

A. or Ans.— Answer. 

A. A. G.—Assistant Adjutant-General. 
A. A. A. G.—Acting Assistant Adju¬ 
tant-General. 

A. A. P. S.— American Association for 
the Promotion of Science. 

A. A. S.— Academias Americance So- 
cius, Fellow of the American Acad¬ 
emy (of Arts and Sciences). 

A. A. S. S. —Americance Antiquariance 
Societatis Socius, Member of the 
American Antiquarian Society. 

A. B.—Able-bodied seaman. 

A. B.— Artium Baccalaureus, Bache¬ 
lor of Arts. 

A. B. C. F. M.— American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
Abl.— Ablative. 

Abp.-— Archbishop. 

A.br.— Abridgment, or Abridged. 


A. B. S.— American Bible Society. 

A. C.— Ante Christum, before the 
birth of Christ. 

Acad.— Academy. 

Acad. Nat. Sci.— Academy of Natural 
Sciences. 

Acc.— Accusative. 

Act.— Active; Acting. 

Acct.— Account. 

A. C. S.— American Colonization So¬ 
ciety. 

Advt.— Advertisement. 

A. D.— Anno Domini , in the year of 
the Lord. 

A. D. C.—Aide-de-camp. 

Adj.— Adjective. 

Adjt.— Adjutant. 

Adjt.-Gen.— Adjutant-General. 

Ad lib.— Ad libitum , at pleasure. 

Adm.— Admiral; Admiralty. 

Admr.— Administrator. 

Admx.— Administratrix. 

Ad v.— Ad valorem , at (or on) the 
value. 

Adv.—Adverb. 

JEjt. — AEtatis, of age; aged. 

A. F. B. S.— American and Foreign 
Bible Society. 

Afr.— African. 

A. G.— Adjutant-General. 

Agl. Dept.— Department of Agricul¬ 
ture. 

Agr.—Agriculture. 

A. G. S. S.— American Geographical 
and Statistical Society. 

Agt.— Agent. 

A. H. —Anno Hegirce, in the year of 
the Hegira. 

A. H. M. S.— American. Home Mis¬ 
sionary Society. 

Al.— Aluminium. 

Ala.— Alabama. 

Alas.— Alaska. 

Alb.— Albany. 

Aid.— Alderman. 

Alex.— Alexander. 

Alf.— Alfred. 

Alg.— Algebra. 

Alt.— Altitude. 

A. M.— Anno mundi, in the year of 
the world. 

A. M.— Ante meridiem, before noon ; 
morning. 

A. M.— Artium Magister, Master of 
Arts. 

Arm Ass. Adv. Sci.— American Asso¬ 
ciation for the Advancement of Sci¬ 
ence. 

Am. Assn. Sci.— American Association 
for the Advancement of Science. 

Amb.— Ambassador. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Amer.— American. 

Amer. Acad.— American Academy. 

A. M. E. Z.— African Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Zion. 

Amt.— Amount. 

An.— Anno, in the year. 

An. A. C.— Anno ante Christum, in 
the year before Christ. 

Anal.— Analysis. 

Ann.— Annales; Annals. 

Anat.— Anatomy. 

Abe.— Ancient; anciently. 

And.— Andrew. 

Ang.-Sax.— Anglo-Saxon. 

Anon.— Anonymous. 

Ans.— Answer. 

Ant., or Antiq.— Antiquities. 

Anth.— Anthony. 

A. O. S. S.— Americans Orient alls So- 
cietatis Socius, Member of the Amer¬ 
ican Oriental Society. 

Ap.— Apostle; Appius. 

Ap.— Apud, in writings of; as quoted 
by. 

Apo.— Apogee. 

Apoc.— Apocalypse. 

Apocr.— Apocrypha. 

App.— Appendix. 

Apr.— April. 

Aq.— Water ( aqua ). 

A. Q. M.— Assistant Quartermaster. 

A. Q. M. G.— Assistant Quartermas¬ 
ter-General. 

A. R.— Anno regni, year of the reign. 
A. R. A.— Associate of the Royal 
Academy. 

Ara.— Arabic. 

Arch.— Architect; Architecture. 

Archd.— Archdeacon. 

Ari.—Arizona. 

Arith.— Arithmetic. 

Ark.— Arkansas. 

Arr.— Arrive; Arrival. 

A. R. S. A.— Associate of the Royal 
Scottish Academy. 

A. R. S. S.— Antiquariorum Regies 
Societatis Socius, Fellow of the 
Royal Society of Antiquaries. 

Art.— Article. 

Artil.— Artillery. 

A.-S.— Anglo-Saxon. 

A. S., or Assist. Sec.— Assistant Sec¬ 
retary. 

A. S. A.— American Statistical Asso¬ 
ciation. 

Ass., Assn.— Association. 

A. S. S. U.— American Sunday-School 
Union. 

A. T. S.— American Tract Society. 
Atty.— Attorney. 

Atty.-Gen.— Attorney-General. 


A. U. A.— American Unitarian Asso¬ 
ciation. 

Aub. Theol. Sem.—Auburn Theologi¬ 
cal Seminary. 

A. U. C.— Anno urbis conditce, or ab 
urbe condita, in the year from the 
building of the city (Rome). 

Aug.— August. 

Aus.— Austria; Austrian. 

Auth. Ver., or A. V.— Authorized 
Version (of the Bible). 

Av.— Average; Avenue. 

Avdp.— Avoirdupois. 

Avoir.— Avoirdupois. 

A. Y. M.—Ancient York Masons. 

B. — Born. 

B. A.— Bachelor of Arts. 

Bal.— Balance. 

Balt.— Baltimore. 

Bapt.— Baptist. 

Bar.— Barometer. 

Bart, or bt.— Baronet 
Bbl.— Barrel. 

B. C.— Before Christ. 

B. G. L.— Bachelor of Civil Law. 

B. D.— Baccalaureus Divinitatis, Bach¬ 
elor of Divinity. 

Belg.— Belgic; Belgian; Belgium. 
Benj.— Benjamin. 

B. I.— British India. 

Bib.— Bible; Biblical. 

Biog.— Biography; Biographical. 

Bisc.— Biscayan. 

B. LL.— Baccalaureus Legum, Bach¬ 
elor of Laws. 

B. LL.— Same as LL. B. 

Bis.— Bales. 

B. M.— Baccalaureus Medicines, Bach¬ 
elor of Medicine. 

B. M.— Same as M. B. 

Bot.— Botany. 

Bp.— Bishop. 

Br.— British. 

Br. Univ.— Brown University. 

Braz.— Brazil; Brazilian. 

Brig.— Brigade ; Brigadier. 

Brig.-Gen.— Brigadier-General. 

Brit. Mus.— British Museum. 

Bro.— Brother. 

B. S.— Bachelor in the Sciences. 

Bush.— Bushel; Bushels. 

B. V.— Bene vale, farewell. 

C. — Cent 

C.— Consul. 

C., or Cels.— Celsius’s Scale for the 
thermometer. 

C., or Cent.— Centum, a hundred; 
Century. 

C., Ch., or Chap.— Chapter. 





Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Ca. sa.— Capias ad satisfaciendum, a 
legal writ. 

C. A.— Chief Accountant; Commis¬ 
sioner of Accounts. 

Ca. resp.— Capias ad respondendum, a 
legal writ. 

Cset. par.— Cceteris paribus, other 
things being equal. 

Cal.—California; Calends. 

Cam., Camb.— Cambridge. 

Can.— Canon. 

Cant.— Canticles. 

Cantab.— Of Cambridge ( Cantabrig- 
iensis). 

Cantuar.— Of Canterbury. 

Cap. or C.— Caput, capitulum, chap¬ 
ter. 

Caps.— Capitals. 

Capt.— Captain. 

Capt.-Gen.— Captain-General. 

Car.— Carat. 

Card.— Cardinal. 

Cash.— Cashier. 

C. B.— Cape Breton. 

C. B.— Companion of the Bath. 

C. C.— County Commissioner; County 
Court. 

C. C.— Cubic centimeter. 

C. C. P.— Court of Common Pleas. 

Cd.— Cadmium. 

C. D. Y.— Carte-de-Visite. 

C. E.— Civil Engineer. 

C. E.— Christian Endeavor (Young 
People’s Society of). 

Cel., or Celt.— Celtic. 

Cent.— Centigrade, a scale of 100° 
from freezing to boiling. 

Cert.— Certify. 

Certif.— Certificate. 

C. G.— Commissary-General; Consul- 
General. 

C. G. H.— Cape of Good Hope. 

C. H.— Court house. 

Ch.— Church ; Chapter; Charles. 
Chald.— Chaldea; Chaldean; Chal- 
daic. 

Chanc.— Chancellor. 

Chap.— Chapter. 

Chem.— Chemistry. 

Ches.— Chesapeake. 

Chic.— Chicago. 

Chr.— Christ; Christian. 

Chr.— Christopher. 

Chron.— Chronicles. 

Cin.— Cincinnati. 

Circ.— Circuit. 

Cit.— Citation; Citizen 
C. J.— Chief-Justice. 

Cl.— Chlorine. 

Clk.— Clerk. 

C. M.— Common Meter. 


C. M. G.— Companion of the Order of 
St. Michael and St. George. 

Co.— Company ; county. 

Coch., or Cochl.— A spoonful ( coch¬ 
leare ?). 

C. O. D.— Cash (or collect) on deliv¬ 
ery. 

Col.— Colorado; Colonel; Colossians. 

Coll.— Collector; Colloquial; College; 
Collection. 

Com. Arr.— Committee of Arrange¬ 
ments. 

Com.— Commerce; Committee ; Com¬ 
missioner ; Commodore. 

Com. & Nav.— Commerce and Naviga¬ 
tion. 

Comdg.— Commanding. 

Comm.— Commentary. 

Comp.— Compare; Comparative; Com¬ 
pound ; Compounded. 

Com. Ver.— Common Version (of the 
Bible). 

Con.— Contra, against; in opposition. 

Con. Cr.— Contra, credit. 

Conch.— Conchology. 

Con. Sec.— Conic Sections. 

Confed.— Confederate. 

Cong.— Congress. 

Conj., or conj.— Conjunction. 

Congl.— Congregational; Conglomer¬ 
ate. 

Conn., or Ct.— Connecticut. 

Const.— Constable; Constitution. 

Cont.— Contra. 

Cop., or Copt.— Coptic. 

Corn.— Cornwall; Cornish. 

Cor.— Corinthians. 

Cor. Mem.— Corresponding Member. 

Cor. Sec.— Corresponding Secretary. 

Coss.— Consuls ( consules ). 

C. P.— Common Pleas. 

C. P.— Court of Probate. 

C. P. S.— Custos Privati Sigilli, 
Keeper of the Privy Seal. 

Cr.— Chromium. 

Cr.— Creditor ; credit. 

C. R.— Custos Rotulorum , Keeper of 
the Rolls. 

Cs.— Cases. 

C. S.— Court of Sessions. 

C. S.— Custos Sigilli, Keeper of the 
Seal. 

C. S. A.— Confederate States of Amer¬ 
ica; Confederate States Army. 

Csk.— Cask. 

C. S. N.— Confederate States Navy 

C. Theod.— Codice Theodosiano, in 
the Theodosian Code. 

Ct.— Court. 

Cts.— Cents. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Cub.— Cubic. 

Cub. Ft.— Cubic Foot. 

Cur.— Currency. 

C. W.— Canada West. 

Cwt.— Hundredweight. 

Cyc.— Cyclopedia. 

D. — Died. 

D.— Five hundred. 

D.— Penny; pence ( denarius ). 

D. A. G.— Deputy Adjutant-General. 
Dak.— Dakota. 

Dan.—Daniel; Danish. 

Dat.— Dative. 

D. B. or Domesd. B.— Domesday- 
Book. 

D. C.— District of Columbia. 

D. C. L.— Doctor of Civil Law. 

D. C. S.— Deputy Clerk of Sessions. 

D. D.— Divinitatis Doctor, Doctor of 
Divinity. 

D. D. S.— Doctor of Dental Surgery. 
Dea.— Deacon. 

Dec.— December; Declination. 

Dec. of Ind.— Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence. 

Def.— Definition. 

Def., Deft.— Defendant. 

Deg.— Degree ; degrees. 

Del.— Delaware ; Delegate. 

Del., or del.— Delineavit, he (or she) 
drew it. 

Dem.— Democrat; Democratic. 

Dep.— Deputy. 

Dept.— Department. 

DeuL— Deuteronomy. 

D. F.— Defender of the Faith. 

D. G.— Dei gratia, by the grace of 
God. 

D. G.— Deo gratias, thanks to God. 

D. H.— Dead-head. 

Diam.— Diameter. 

Diet.— Dictionary; Dictator. 

Dim.— Diminutive. 

Diosc.— Dioscarides. 

Disc.— Discount. 

Diss.— Dissertation. 

Dist.— District. 

Dist.-Atty.— District-Attorney. 

Div.— Division. 

D. L. O.— Dead-Letter Office. 

D M.— Doctor of Music. 

Do.— Ditto, the same. 

Doc.— Document. 

Dols.— Dollars. 

D. O. M.— Deo optimo maximo, to 
/ God, the best, the greatest. 

Doz.— Dozen. 

D. P.— Doctor of Philosophy. 

Dpt.— Department. 

Dr.— Debtor; Doctor. 


Dr.— Drams; Drachms. 

D. Sc.— Doctor of Science. 

D. T.— Doctor of Theology ( doctor 
theologies ). 

Duo.—Duodecimo, twelve folds. 

D. V.— Deo volente, God willing. 

Dwt.— Pennyweight. 

Dyn.— Dynamics. 

E. — East. 

E. by S.— East by South. 

E. & O. E.— Errors and omissions ex¬ 
cepted. 

E. B.— English Bible. 

Eben.— Ebenezer. 

Ebor.—York ( Eboracum). 

Eccl.— Ecclesiastes. 

Ecclus.— Ecclesiasticus. 

E. D.— Eastern District. 

Ed.— Editor; Edition. 

Edin.— Edinburgh. 

Edm.— Edmund. 

Edw.— Edward. 

E. E.— Errors excepted. 

E. E. T. S.— Early English Text So¬ 
ciety. 

E. G.— Exempli gratia, for example. 
E. G.— Ex grege, among the rest. 

E. FI.— Ells Flemish. 

E. Fr.— Ells French. 

E. I.— East Indies or East India. 

E. I. C., or E. I. Co.— East India 
Company. 

E. I. C. S.— East India Company’s 
Service. 

Eliz.— Elizabeth. 

E. Lon.— East longitude. 

E. M.— Mining Engineer. 

Emp.— Emperor; Empress. 

Encyc.— Encyclopedia. 

Eng. Dept.— Department of Engineers. 
Eng.— England : English. 

E.-N.-E.— East-North-East. 

Ent., Entom.— Entomology. 

Env. Ext.— Envoy Extraordinary. 

E. o. w.— Every other week. 

Ep.— Epistle. 

Eph.— Ephesians; Ephraim. 

Epis.— Episcopal. 

E. S.— Ells Scotch. 

Esd.— Esdras. 

E.-S.-E.— East-South-East. 

Esq.— Esquire. 

Esth.— Esther. 

E. T.—-English Translation. 

Et. al.— Et alii , and others. 

Etc., or &c.— Et cceteri, et ccstercs, et 
caster a, and others; and so forth. 
Eth.— Ethiopic; Ethiopian. 

Et seq.— Et sequentia, and what fol¬ 
lows. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Etym.— Etymology. 

E. U.— Evangelical Union. 

Ex.— Example. 

Ex.— Exodus. 

Exc.— Excellency; exception. 

Exch.— Exchequer; Exchange. 

Ex. Doc.— Executive Document. 

Exec. Com.— Executive Committee. 
Execx.— Executrix. 

Ex. gr.— For example ( exempli gra¬ 
tia). 

Exr. or Exec.— Executor. 

Ez.— Ezra. 

Ezek.— Ezekiel. 

F. and A. M.— Free and Accepted 
Masons. 

F., or Fahr.— Fahrenheit (thermome¬ 
ter) . 

F. A. S.— Fellow of the Antiquarian 
• Society. 

F. B. S.— Fellow of the Botanical 
Society. 

F. C.— Free Church of Scotland. 

Fcap, or fcp.— Foolscap. 

F. C. P. S.— Fellow of the Cambridge 
Philological Society. 

F. C. S.— Fellow of the Chemical So¬ 
ciety. 

F. D.— Defender of the Faith. 

F. E.— Flemish ells. 

Feb.— February. 

Fee.— Fecit, he did it. 

Fern.— Feminine. 

F. E. S.— Fellow of the Entomological 
Society; Fellow of the Ethnographi¬ 
cal Society. 

Ff.— Following. 

Ff.—The Pandects. 

F. F. V.— First Families of Virginia. 
F. G. S.— Fellow of the Geological 
Society. 

F. H. S.— Fellow of the Horticultural 
Society. 

Fi. Fa.— Fieri facias, cause it to be 
done. 

Fid. Def.— Defender of the Faith. 

Fig.— Figure. 

Fin.— Finland. 

Finn.— Finnish. 

Fir.— Firkin. 

F. K. Q. C. P. I.— Fellow of King’s 
and Queen’s College of Physicians, 
Ireland. 

FI. E.— Flemish ells. 

Fla.— Florida. 

F. L. S.—Fellow of the Linnaean So¬ 
ciety. 

F.-M.— Field-Marshal. 

F.-O.— Field-Officer. 

Fol.— Folio. 


For.— Foreign. 

F. P. S.— Fellow of the Philological 

Society. 

Fr.— France; French. 

Fr.— Francis. 

Fr.— From. 

F. R. A. S.— Fellow of the Royal As¬ 
tronomical Society. 

F. R. C. P.— Fellow of the Royal Col¬ 
lege of Physicians. 

F. R. C. S. L.— Fellow of the Royal 
College of Surgeons, London. 

Fred.— Frederick. 

Fr. E.— French ells. 

Fr., Frs.— Franc; Francs. 

F. R. G. S.— Fellow of the Royal 
Geographical Society. 

F. R. Hist. Soc.— Fellow of the Royal 
Historical Society. 

Fri.— Friday. 

F. R. S.— Fellow of the Royal So¬ 
ciety. 

F. R. S. S. A.— Fellow of the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts. 

F. R. S. E.— Fellow of the Royal So¬ 
ciety, Edinburgh. 

F. R. S. L.— Fellow of the Royal So¬ 
ciety, London. 

F. S. A.— Fellow of the Society of 
Arts, or of Antiquaries. 

F. S. A. E.— Fellow of the Society of 
Antiquaries, Edinburgh. 

F. S. A. Scot.— Fellow of the Society 
of Antiquaries of Scotland. 

F. S. S.— Fellow of the Statistical 
Society. 

Ft.— Foot; feet; Fort. 

Fth.— Fathom. 

Fur.— Furlong. 

F. Z. S.— Fellow of the Zoological So¬ 
ciety. 

Ga.— Georgia. 

G. A.— General Assembly. 

Gal.— Galatians; Gallon. 

Galv.— Galvanism. 

Galv.— Galveston. 

G. B.— Great Britain. 

G. B. & I.— Great Britain and Ire¬ 
land. 

G. C.— Grand Chapter; Grand Con¬ 
ductor. 

G. C. B.— Grand Cross of the Bath. 

G. C. H.— Grand Cross of Hanover. 

G. C. K. P.— Grand Commander of 
the Knights of St. Patrick. 

G. C. L. H.— Grand Cross of the Le¬ 
gion of Honor. 

G. C. M. G.— Grand Cross of St. 
Michael and St. George. 







Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


G. C. S. I.— Grand Commander of the 
Star of India. 

G. D.— Grand Duke; Grand Duchess. 
G. E.— Grand Encampment. 

Gen.— Genesis; General. 

Gen.— Genus; Genera; Genealogy. 
Gent.— Gentleman. 

Geo.— George. 

Geog.— Geography. 

Geol.— Geology. 

Geom.— Geometry. 

Ger.— German; Germany. 

Gl.— Glossa, a gloss. 

G. L.— Grand Lodge. 

G. M.— Grand Master. 

G. M. K. P.— Grand Master of the 
Knights of St. Patrick. 

G. M. S. I.— Grand Master of the Star 
of India. 

G. O.— General Order. 

Goth.— Gothic. 

Gov.— Governor. 

Gov.-Gen.— Governor-General. 

Govt.— Government. 

G. P.— Gloria patri (“ Glory be to the 
Father”). 

G. P. O.—'— General Post-Office. 

G. R.— Georgius Rex, King George. 
Gr.— Greek ; Gross. 

Gr., Grs.— Grain ; Grains. 

Grad.— Graduated. 

Gram.— Grammar. 

Grot.— Grotius. 

G. S.— Grand Secretary; Grand Sen¬ 
tinel ; Grand Scribe. 

G. T.— Good Templars; Grand Tyler. 
Gtt.— Drop; drops ( gutta or guttce). 

H. A.— Hoc anno, this year. 

Hab.— Habakkuk. 

Hab. corp.— Habeas corpus, you may 
have the body. 

Hab. fa. poss.— Habere facias posses¬ 
sionem. 

Hab. fa. seis.— Habere facias seisinan. 
Hag.— Haggai. 

Hants.— Hampshire. 

H. B. C.— HTIdson Bay Company. 

H. B. M.— His or Her Britannic Maj¬ 
esty. 

H. C.— House of Commons; Herald’s 
College. 

H. C. M.— His or Her Catholic Maj¬ 
esty. 

H. E.— Hoc est, that is, or this is. 
Heb.— Hebrews. 

Heb.— Hebrew. 

H. E. I. C.— Honorable East India 
Company. 

H. E. I. C. S.— Honorable East In¬ 
dia Company’s Service. 


Her.— Heraldry. 

Hf.-bd.— Half-bound. 

Hg.— Hydrargyrum, mercury. 

H.-G.— Horse-guards. 

H. H.— His or Her Highness; His 
Holiness (the Pope). 

Hhd.— Hogshead. 

Hier.— Jerusalem (Hierosolyma). 

H. I. H.— His or Her Imperial High¬ 
ness. 

Hind.— Hindu; Hindustan ; Hindu- 
stanee. 

Hipp.— Hippocrates. 

Hist.—History. 

H. J. S.— Hie jacet sepultus. Here 
lies buried. 

H. M.— His Majesty. 

H. L.— House of Lords. 

H. M. P.— Hoc monumentum posuit, 
erected this monument. 

H. M. S.— His or Her Majesty’s Ship. 

Holl.— Holland. 

Hon.— Honorable. 

Hort.— Horticulture. 

Hos.— Hosea. 

H.-P. — High - priest; Horse - power ; 
Half-pay. 

H. R.— House of Representatives. 

H. R. E.— Holy Roman Empire. 

H. R. H.— His Royal Highness. 

H. R. I. P.— Hie requiescit in pace. 
Here rests in peace. 

H. S.— Hie situs, Here lies. 

H. S. H.— His Serene Highness. 

H. T.— Hoc titulum, this title ; hoc, 
tituli, in or under this title. 

Hund.— Hundred. 

Hung.— Hungarian. 

H. V.— Hoc verbum, this word; his 
verbis, in these words. 

Hyd.— Hydrostatics. 

Hypoth.— Hypothesis; Hypothetical. 

l a. — Iowa. 

l b. , -or ibid.— Ibidem, in the same 
place. 

Icel.— Iceland; Icelandic. 

Ich.— Ichthyology. 

Icon. Encyc.— Iconographic Encyclo¬ 
pedia. 

I. Ch. Th. U. S.— (Ix# 7 s) Jesus Christ 
the Son of God, the Saviour (lesous 
Christos Theou Huios Soter). 

Ictus.— Jurisconsultus. 

Id.— Idaho. 

Id.— Idem , the same. 

Id.—The Ides (Idus). 

I. EL —Id est, that is. 

I. H. S.— Jesus the Saviour of Men 
(Jesus Hominum Salvator). 






Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


I., II., III.— One, two, three, or first, 
second, third. 

Ij.—Two ( med.). 

III. — Illinois. 

Imp.— Imperative; imperfect. 

Imp.— Imperial; Emperor ( Impera- 
tor). 

In.— Inch; inches. 

In.— Indium. 

Incog.— Incognito, unknown. 

Incor.— Incorporated. 

Ind. Ter.— Indian Territory. 

I. H. P.— Indicated horse power. 

I. N. D.— In nomine Dei, in the name 
of God. 

Ind.— Indiana; Index. 

Indef.— Indefinite. 

Inf.— Infra, beneath? or below. 

In f.— In fine, at the end of the title, 
law, or paragraph quoted. 

Inhab.— Inhabitant. 

In lim.— In limine, at the outset. 

In loc.— In loco, in the place; on the 
passage. 

In pr.— In principio, in the beginning 
and before the first paragraph of a 
law. 

I. N. R. I.— Jesus Nazarenus, Rex 
Judceorum, Jesus of Nazareth, King 
of the Jews. 

Inst.— Instant, of this month; Insti¬ 
tutes. 

Inst.— Institute; Institution. 

In sum.— In summa, in the summary. 
Int.— Interest. 

Interj.— Interjection. 

In trans.— In transitu, on the pas¬ 
sage. 

Int. Dept.— Department of the Inte¬ 
rior. 

Int. Rev.— Internal Revenue. 

Introd.— Introduction. 

I. O. O. F.— Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. 

Ion.— Ionic. 

I. O. S. M.— Independent Order of 
the Sons of Malta. 

I. O. U.— I owe you. 

Ipecac.— Ipecacuanha. 

I. Q.— Idem quod, the same as. 

Ire.—Ireland. 

I. R. O.— Internal Revenue Office. 

Isa.— Isaiah. 

l s. , Isl.— Island. 

I. T.— Inner Temple. 

l t. — Italy. 

Ital.— Italic; Italian. 

IV. — Four or fourth. 

I. W.—Isle of Wight. 

IX.— Nine or ninth. 


J.—Justice, or Judge. 

J.—One (med.). 

J, A.— Judge-Advocate. 

Jac.— Jacob. 

J. A. G.— Judge Advocate-General. 
Jam.— Jamaica. 

Jan.— January. 

Jas.— James. 

J. C. D.— -Juris Civilis Doctor, Doctor 
of Civil Law. 

J. C.— Jurisconsult (Juris Consul- 
tus). 

J. D.— Junior Deacon. 

Jer.— Jeremiah. 

J. G. W.— Junior Grand Warden. 

JJ.—Justices. 

Jno.— John. 

Jona.— Jonathan. 

Jos.— Joseph. 

Josh.— Joshua. 

J. P.— Justice of the Peace. 

J. Prob.— Judge of Probate. 

J. R.— Jacobus Rex, King James. 

Jr., or Jun.— Junior. 

J. U. D., or J. V. D.— Juris utriusque 
Doctor, Doctor of both laws (of the 
Canon and the Civil Law)* 

Jud.— Judicial. 

Jud.— Judith. 

Judg.— Judges. 

J udge-Adv.— J udge-Ad vocate. 

.Tul. Per.— Julian Period. 

Jus. P.—Justice of the Peace. 

Just.— Justinian. 

J. W.—Junior Warden. 

K. — King. 

K. A.— Knight of St. Andrew, in Rus¬ 
sia. 

Kal.—The Kalends (Kalendce). 

K. A. N.— Knight of Alexander Nev- 
skoi, in Russia. 

Kan.— Kansas. 

K. B.— King’s Bench. 

K. B.— Knight of the Bath. 

K. C.— King’s Counsel. 

K. C. B.— Knight Commander of the 
Bath. 

K. G.— Knight of the Garter. 

Kg., Kgs.— Keg; Kegs. 

K. G. C.— Knight of the Grand Cross. 

K. G. C. B.—Knight of the Grand 
Cross of the Bath. 

Kil.— Kilometer. 

Kilo.— Kilogram. 

Kingd.— Kingdom. 

K. L.— Knight of Labor. 

K. L. H.— Knight of the Legion of 
Honor. 

K. M.— Knight of Malta. 

K. Me^t^- King’s Messenger. 






Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Knick.— Knickerbocker. 

Knt. or Kt.— Knight. 

K. P.— Knight of St. Patrick; Knight 
of Pythias. 

K. S. M. & S. G.—Knight of St. 
Michael and St. George of the Io¬ 
nian Islands. 

K. T.— Knight of the Thistle; Knight 
Templar. 

Kt.— Knight. 

Ky.— Kentucky. 

L. — Fifty, or fiftieth. 

L.— Liber, book. 

L., or f. s. d.— Pounds, shillings, 
pence. 

£, or 1.— Pounds, English currency 
(libra). 

£ T.— Pounds, Turkish currency. 

La.— Louisiana. 

L. A. W.— League of American Wheel¬ 
men. 

Lam.— Lamentations. 

Lang.— Language. 

Lat.— Latitude; Latin. 

Lapp.— Lappish. 

Lb., or lb.— Libra, or librce, pound or 
pounds in weight. 

L. C.— Lower Canada; Lord Cham¬ 
berlain ; Lord Chancellor. 

L. C. B.— Lord Chief Baron. 

L. C. J.— Lord Chief-Justice. 

Ld.— Lord ; Limited. 

Ldp.— Lordship. 

Leg.— Legate. 

Legis.— Legislature. 

Leip.— Leipsic. 

Lev.— Leviticus. 

Lex.— Lexicon. 

L. G.— Life Guards. 

L. H. A.— Lord High Admiral. 

L. H. C.— Lord High Chancellor. 

L. H. D.— Doctor of Literature. 

L. H. T.— Lord High Treasurer. 

L. I.— Long Island. 

Lib.— Liber, book. 

Lieut.-Col.— Lieutenant-Colonel. 
Lieut.-Gen.— Lieutenant-General. 
Lieut.-Gov.— Lieutenant-Governor. 
Lieut.— Lieutenant. 

Lin.— Lineal. 

Linn.— Linnaeus; Linnaean. 

Liq.— Liquor; Liquid. 

Lit.—Literally; Literature. 

Lith.—Lithuanian. 

L., £, or 1.— Libra or librce, pound or 
pounds sterling. 

L. Lat.— Low Latin; Law Latin. 

LL. B.— Legum Baccalaureus, Bache¬ 
lor of Laws. 


LL. D.— Legum Doctor, Doctor of 
Laws. 

LL. M.— Master of Laws. 

L. M. S.— London Missionary Society. 
Loc. cit.— Loco citato, in the place 
cited. 

Lon.— Longitude. 

Lond.— London. 

L. P.— Lord Provost. 

L. P. S.— Lord Privy Seal. 

L. R. C. P.— Licentiate of the Royal 
College of Physicians. 

L. R. C. S.— Lincentiate of the Royal 
College of Surgeons. 

L. S. D.— Pounds, shillings, and pence. 

L. S.— Locus sigilli, place of the seal. 
Lt.— Lieutenant. 

LX.— Sixty, or sixtieth. 

LXX.— Seventy, or seventieth. 

LXX.— The Septuagint (Version of 
the Old Testament). 

LXXX.— Eighty, or eightieth. 

M. —Married. 

M. Mile. 

M.— M eridies, noon. 

M.— Mille, a thousand. 

M., or Mons.— Monsieur. 

M. A.— Master of Arts. 

M. A.— Military Academy. 

Macc.— Maccabees. 

Maced.— Macedonian. 

Mad.— Madam. 

Mag.— Magazine. 

Maj.— Major. 

Maj.-Gen.— Major-General. 

Mai.— Malachi. 

Man.— Manassas. 

Mar.— March. 

March.— Marchioness. 

Marg.— Margin. 

Marg. Tran.— Marginal Translation. 
Marq.— Marquis. 

Masc.— Masculine. 

Mass.— Massachusetts. 

Math.— Mathematics; Mathematician. 
Matt.— Matthew. 

Max.— Maxim. 

M. B.— Medicines Baccalaureus, Bach¬ 
elor of Medicine. 

M. B.— Musicce Baccalaureus, Bache¬ 
lor of Music. 

M. C.— Member of Congress; Master 
of Ceremonies; Master Commandant. 
Mch.— March. 

M. C. S. : —Madras Civil Service. 

M. D.— Medicines Doctor. Doctor of 
Medicine. 

Md.— Maryland. 

Mdlle.— Mademoiselle. 

Mdpn.—Midshipman. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


ML. E.— Methodist Episcopal; Military 
or Mechanical Engineer. 

M. E.,S.—Methodist Episcopal, South. 
Me.— Maine. 

Mech.— Mechanic; Mechanical. 

Med.— Medicine. 

M. E. G. H. P.—Most Excellent 
Grand High Priest. 

Mem.— Memorandum. 

Mem.— Memento , remember. 

Merc.— Mercury. 

Mess. & Docs.— Messages and Docu¬ 
ments. 

Messrs., or MM.— Messieurs, Gentle¬ 
men. 

Met.— Metaphysics. 

Metal.— Metallurgy. 

Meteor.— Meteorology. 

Meth.— Methodist. 

Mex.— Mexico, or Mexican. 

Mfd.— Manufactured. 

Mfs.— Manufactures. 

Mic.— Micah. 

M. I. C. E.— Member of the Institu¬ 
tion of Civil Engineers. 

Mich.— Michaelmas. 

Mich.— Michigan. 

Mil.— Military. 

Min.— Mineralogy. 

Min.— Minute. 

Min. E.— Mining Engineer. 

Minn.— Minnesota. 

Min. Plen.— Minister Plenipotentiary. 
Miss.— Mississippi. 

M. L. A.— Mercantile Library Asso¬ 
ciation. 

MM. — Their Majesties. 

MM.— Messieurs; Gentlemen. 

Mme.— Madame. 

M. M. S.— Moravian Missionary So¬ 
ciety. 

M. M. S. S.— Massachusettensis Medi¬ 
cines Societatis Socius, Fellow of the 
Massachusetts Medical Society. 

Mn.—»Manganese. 

M. N. A. S.— Mepjber of the National 
Academy of Sciences. 

Mo.— Missouri; Month. 

Mod.— Modern. 

Mon.— Montana; Monday. 

Mons.— Monsieur; Sir. 

Mont.— Montana. 

Morn.— Morning. 

Mos., or mth.— Months. 

Mos.— Months. 

M. P.— Member of Parliament; Mem¬ 
ber of Police; Methodist Protestant. 
M. P. S.— Member of the Philological 
Society; Member of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society. 

M. R.— Master of the Rolls. 


Mr.— Mister. 

M. R. A. S.— Member of the Royal 
Asiatic Society; Member of the Roy¬ 
al Academy of Science. 

M. R. C. C.—Member of the Royal 
College of Chemistry. 

M. R. C. P.— Member of the Royal 
College of Preceptors. 

M. R. C. S.— Member of the Royal 
College of Surgeons. 

M. R. C. V. S.— Member of the Royal 
College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

M. R. G. S.—Member of the Royal 
Geographical Society. 

M. R. I.—Member of the Royal Insti¬ 
tution. 

M. R. I. A.— Member of the Royal 
Irish Academy. 

Mrs.— Mistress. 

M. R. S. L.— Member of the Royal 
Society of Literature. 

M. S.— Memories sacrum , Sacred to 
the memory. 

M. S.— Master of the Sciences. 

MS.— Manuscriptum, manuscript. 

MSS.— Manuscripts. 

Mt.— Mount, or mountain. 

Mus. B.— Bachelor of Music. 

Mus. D.— Doctor of Music. 

M. W.— Most Worthy; Most Worship¬ 
ful. 

M. W. G. C. P.— Most Worthy Grand 
Chief Patriarch. 

M. W. G. M.— Most Worthy Grand 
Master; Most Worshipful Grand 
Master 

M. W. P.— Most Worthy Patriarch. 

Myth.— Mythology. 

N. — North ; Number; Noun; Neuter. 

N.— Note. 

N. A.— North America. 

Nah.— Nahum. 

Nap.— Napoleon; Napoleonic. 

N. A. S.— National Academy of Sci¬ 
ences. 

Nat. Ord.— Natural Order. 

Nat.— Natural. 

Nat. Hist.— Natural History. 

Nath.— Nathanael, or Nathaniel. 

Naut.— Nautical. 

Naut. Aim.— Nautical Almanac. 

N. B.— North Britain. 

N. B.— New Brunswick; North Brit¬ 
ish. 

N. B.— Nota bene , mark well; take 
notice. 

N. C.— North Carolina. 

N. D.— North Dakota. 

N. E.— New England ; North-east. 

Neb.— Nebraska. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Neh.— Nehemiah. 

N. e. i.— Non est inventus, he is not 
found. 

Nem. con., or nem. diss.— Nemine con 
tradicente, or nemine dissentiente, no 
one opposing; unanimously. 

Neth.— Netherlands. 

Neut.— Neuter (gender). 

Nev.— Nevada. 

New Test., or N. T.— New Testament. 
1^. F.— Newfoundland. 

N. G.— New Granada; Noble Grand. 

N. H.—• New Hampshire ; New Haven. 

N. H. H. S.— New Hampshire His¬ 
torical Society. 

Ni. pri.— Nisi prius. 

N. J.— New Jersey. 

N. 1.— Non liquet , it does not appear. 

N. lat.— North latitude. 

N. M.— New Measurement 
N. M.— New Mexico. 

N.-N.-E.— North-north-east. 

N.-N.-W.— North-north-west. 

N. O.—New Orleans. 

No.— Numero, number. 

NoL Pros.— Nolle prosequi, unwilling 
to proceed. 

Nom., or nom.— Nominative. 

Non con.—Not content; dissenting 
(House of Lords), 

Non cul.— Non culpabilis, Not guilty. 
Non obst.— Non obstante , notwith¬ 
standing. 

N. o. p.— Not otherwise provided for. 
Non pros.— Non prosequitur, he does 
not prosecute. 

Non seq.— Non sequitur, it does not 
follow. 

No., or Nos.— Numbers. 

Nov.— November. 

N. P.— Notary Public. 

N. P. D.— North Polar Distance. 

N. s.— Not specified. 

N. S.— New Style (after 1752) ; No¬ 
va Scotia. 

N. S. J. C.— Our Saviour Jesus 
Christ ( Noster Salvator Jesus 

Christ us). 

N. T.— New Testament. 

N. u.— Name or names unknown. 
Num.— Numbers ; Numeral. 

N. V.— New Version. 

N. V. M.— Nativity of the Virgin 
Mary. 

N.-W.— North-West. 

N.-W. T.— North-West Territory. 

N. Y.— New York. 

N. Z.— New Zealand. 

O. — Ohio 

Ob.— Obiit , he or she died. 


Obad.— Obadiah. 

Obs.— Obsolete; Observatory ; Obser¬ 
vation. 

Obt., or Obdt.— Obedient. 

Oct., or 8vo.— Octavo, eight pages. 
Oct.— October. 

O.-F.— Odd-Fellow, or Odd-Fellows. 
Okl.— Oklahoma. 

O. G.— Outside guardian. 

O. H. M. S.— On his or her Majesty’s 
Service. 

Old Test., or O. T.— Old Testament. 
Olym.—Olympiad. 

O. M.— Old Measurement. 

Ont.—Ontario. 

Opt.— Optics. 

Or.— Oregon. 

Orig.— Originally. 

Ornith.— Ornithology. 

Os.— Osmium. 

O. S.— Old Style; Outside Sentinel. 

O. T.— Old Testament. 

O. U. A.— Order of United Americans. 
Oxf. Gloss.— Oxford Glossary. 

Oxf.—Oxford. 

Oxon.— Oxonia, Oxonii, Oxford. 

Oz.— Ounce. 

P. — Pondere , by weight. 

P., or p.— Page; Part; Participle. 
Pa., or Penn.— Pennsylvania. 

Pal.— Palaeontology. 

Par.—Paragraph. 

Par. Pas.— Parallel passage. 

Pari.—Parliament. 

Pat. Of.— Patent Office. 

Pathol.— Pathology. 

Payt.— Payment. 

P. B.— Primitive Baptist. 

P. B.— Philosophies Baccalaureus, 

Bachelor of Philosophy. 

P. C.— Patres Conscripti, Conscript 
Fathers; Senators. 

P. C.— Privy Council; Privy Coun¬ 
cilor. 

P. C. P.— Past Chief Patriarch. 

P. C. S.— Principal Clerk of Sessions. 
P. D.— Philosophies Doctor , Doctor 
of Philosophy. 

Pd.— Paid. 

P. E.— Protestant Episcopal. 

P. E. I.— Prince Edward Island. 

Penn.— Pennsylvania. 

Pent.— Pentecost. 

Per.— Persia; Persian. 

Per, or pr.— By the, or per lb. 

Per an.— Per annum, by the year. 

Per cent.— Per centum, by the bun* 
dred. 

Peri.— Perigee. 

Peruv.—Peruvian. 





Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Pet.—Peter ; Petrine. 

P. G.— Past Grand. 

Phar.— Pharmacy. 

Ph. B.— Philosophic Baccalaureus, 
Bachelor of Philosophy. 

Ph. D.— Philosophic Doctor, Doctor 
of philosophy. 

Phil.— Philip; Philippians; Philos¬ 
ophy ; Philemon. 

Phila., or Phil.— Philadelphia. 

Philem.—Philemon. 

Philom.— Philomathes, a lover of 
learning. 

Philomat h.— Philomathematicus, a 
lover of the mathematics. 

Phil. Trans.— Philosophical Trans¬ 
actions. 

Phren.—Phrenology. 

Pinx., or pxt.— Pinxit, he (she) paint¬ 
ed it. 

P.-L.— Poet-Laureate. 

PI., or Plur.— Plural. 

Plff.— Plaintiff. 

Plupf.— Pluperfect. 

P. M.— Post meridiem, afternoon, 
evening. 

P. M.— Postmaster; Passed Midship¬ 
man. 

P. M. G.— Postmaster-General. 

P. O.— Post-Office. 

P. of H.— Patrons of Husbandry. 

Pop.— Population. 

Port.— Portugal, or Portuguese. 

P. P.— Parish priest. 

P. P. C.— Pour prendre conge, to take 
leaVe. 

Pp., or pp.— Pages. 

PP.— Patres, Fathers. 

Pph.— Pamphlet. 

P. Q.— Previous Question. 

P. R.— Populus Romanus, the Roman 
people. 

P. R.— Prize Ring; Porto Rico; the 
Roman People ( Populus Romanus). 
P. R. A.— President of the Royal 
Academy. 

P. R. C.— Post Romam conditam, 
from the building of Rome. 

Preb.— Prebend. 

Pref.— Preface. 

Pref.— Preferred. 

Prep.— Preposition. 

Pres.— President. 

Presb.— Presbyterian. 

Prin.— Principally. 

Prob.— Problem. 

Proc.— Proceedings. 

Prof.— Professor. 

Pron.— Pronoun ; Pronunciation. 

Prop.—Proposition. 

Prot.—Protestant. 


Prot. Epis.—Protestant Episcopal. 

Pro tern.— Pro tempore, for the time 
being. 

Prov.— Proverbs; Provost. 

Prov.— Province. 

Prox.— Proximo, next (month). 

P. R. S.— President of the Royal So¬ 
ciety. 

Prs.— Pairs. 

Prus.— Prussia; Prussian. 

P. S.— Post scriptum, Postscript. 

P. S.— Privy Seal. 

Ps.— Psalm, or Psalms. 

Pt.—• Part; Pint; Payment; Point; 
Port. 

Pt.— Platinum. 

P. T. O.— Please turn over. 

P.-twp.— Post-township. 

Pub.— Publisher; Publication ; Pub¬ 
lished ; Public. 

Pub. Doc.— Public Documents. 

P. v.— Post-village. 

P. W. P.— Past Worthy Patriarch. 
Pwt.— Pennyweight; pennyweights. 

Q— Quasi, as it were; almost. 

Q. — Queen. 

Q.— Question. 

Q. d.— Quasi dicat, as if he should say ; 
quasi dictum, as if said; quasi dix- 
isset, as if he had said. 

Q. e.— Quod est, which is. 

Q. e. d.— Quod erat demonstrandum, 
which was to be proved. 

Q. e. f.— Quod erat faciendum, which 
was to be done. 

Q. e. i.— Quod erat inveniendum, 
which was to be found out. 

Q. 1.— Quantum libet, as much as you 
please. 

Q. M.— Quartermaster. 

Qm.— Quomodo, how; by what means. 
Q. M. G.— Quartermaster-General. 

Q. p., or q. pi.— Quantum placet, as 
much as you please. 

Qr.— Quarter. 

Q. S.— Quarter Sessions. 

Q. s.— Quantum sufftcit, sufficient 
quantity. 

Qt.— Quart. 

Qu., or qy.— Qucre, inquire; query. 
Quar.—Quarterly. 

Ques.— Question. 

Q. Mess.— Queen’s Messenger. 

Que.— Quebec. 

Q. v.— Quod vide, which see ; quantum 
vis, as much as you will. 

R. — Recipe, take. 

R.— Regina, Queen. 

R.— River; Rood ; Rod. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


R. A.— Royal Academy; Royal Aca¬ 
demician. 

R. A.— Royal Arch. 

R. A.— Royal Artillery. 

R. C.— Roman Catholic. 

RC.— Rescriptum, a counterpart. 

R. D.— Rural Dean. 

R. E.— Reformed Episcopal. 

R. E.— Royal Engineers. 

Rec.— Recipe, or Recorder. 

Reed.—Recei ved. 

Rec. Sec.—Recording Secretary. 

Rect.— Rector; Receipt. 

Ref.— Reference. 

Ref.— Reformed; Reformation ; Ref- 
erence. 

Ref. Ch.— Reformed Church. 

Reg.— Register; Regular. 

Reg. Prof.— Regius Professor. 

Regr.— Registrar. 

Regt.— Regiment. 

Rel.— Religion. 

Rep.— Representative ; Reporter. 
Repts.— Reports. 

Retd.— Returned. 

Rev.— Reverend; Revelation (Book 
of) ; Review; Revenue; Revise. 
Rhet.—Rhetoric. 

R. H. S.— Royal Humane Society; 

Royal Historical Society. 

R. I.— Rhode Island ; in stock reports, 
Rock Island, a railway. 

R. I. H. S.— Rhode Island Historical 
Society. 

R. M.— Royal Marines; Royal Mail. 
R. M. S.— Royal Mail Steamer. 

R. N.— Royal Navy. 

R. N. R.— Royal Navy Reserve. 

Ro.— Recto , right-hand page. 

Robt.— Robert. 

Rom.— Romans (Epistle to the). 
Rom. Cath.— Roman Catholic. 

R. P.— Reformed Presbyterian. 

R. P.— Regius Professor, the King’s 
Professor. 

R. R.— Railroad. 

R. R. June.— Railroad Junction. 

R. R. Sta.— Railroad Station. 

R. S.— Recording Secretary. 

Rs.— Responsus, to answer; Rupees. 
R. S. A.— Royal Society of Anti¬ 
quaries ; Royal Scottish Academy. 

R. S. V. P.— Repondez, s’il vous plait, 
answer, if you please. 

R. T. S.— Religious Tract Society. 

Rt. Hon.— Right Honorable. 

Rt. Rev.— Right Reverend. 

Rt. Wpful.— Right WorshipfuL 
Russ.— Russia : Russian. 

R. V.— Revised Version. 

R. W— Right Worthy. 


R. W. D. G. M.—/Right Worshipful 
Deputy Grand Master. 

R. W. G. R.— Right Worthy Grand 
Representative. 

R. W. G. S.— Right Worthy Grand 
Secretary. 

R. W. G. T.— Right Worthy Grand 
Treasurer; Right Worshipful Grand 
Templar. 

R. W. G. W.—Right Worthy Grand 
Warden. 

R. W. J. G. W.— Right Worshipful 
Junior Grand Warden. 

R. W. S. G. W.—Right Worshipful 
Senior Grand Warden. 

Ry.— Railway. 

S. — Solidus, a shilling. 

S.— South ; Saint; Scribe; Sulphur; 
Sunday ; Sun ; Series. 

S. Afr.— South Africa. 

S. A.— South America; South Austra¬ 
lia. 

S. a.— Secundum artem, according to 
art. 

Sam.— Samuel. 

Sansc., or Sansk.— Sanscrit, or Sans¬ 
krit. 

Sard.—Sardinia. 

S. A. S.— Societatis Antiquariorum 
Socius, Fellow of the Soc. of An¬ 
tiquaries. 

Sat.— Saturday. 

Sax.— Saxon; Saxony. 

Sax. Chron.— Saxon Chronicle. 

S. C.— Senatus Gonsultum, a decree 
of the Senate; South Carolina. 

Sc.— Sculpsit, he (or she) engraved it. 

Sc. B.— Bachelor of Science 

Sc., or scil.— Scilicet, namely. 

Scan. Mag.— Scandalum magnatum, 
scandal of the great or prominent. 

Schol.— Scholium, a note. 

Schr.— Schooner. 

Sclav.— Sclavonic. 

Scot.— Scottish; Scotland. 

Scr.— Scruple. 

Scrip.— Scripture. 

Sculp.— Sculpsit, he (or she) en¬ 
graved it. 

S. D.— Salutem dicit, sends health; 
South Dakota. 

S.-E.— South-East. 

Sec.— Secretary; Second. 

Sec. Leg.— Secretary of Legation. 

Sec. leg.— Secundum legem, according 
to law. 

Sec. reg.— Secundum rcgulam, accord¬ 
ing to rule. 

Sect.— Section. 

Sem.— Semhle, it seems. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Sem.— Seminary- 

Sen.— Senate; Senator ; Senior. 

Sept.— September ; Septuagint. 

Seq.— Sequentia, following; sequitur, 
it follows. 

Ser.— Series. 

Serg.— Sergeant. 

Serg.-Maj.— Sergeant-Major. 

Servt.— Servant. 

Sess.— Session. 

S. G.— Solicitor-General. 

Shak.— Shakespeare. 

S. H. S.— Societatis Histories Socius, 
Fellow of the Historical Society. 

Sic.— Doubtful; literally. 

S. I. M.— Soc. for Increase of the 
Ministry. 

Sing.— Singular. 

S. Isl.— Sandwich Islands. 

S. J.— Society of Jesus. 

S. J. C.—Supreme Judicial Court. 

S. lat.— South latitude. 

S. M.— State Militia; Short Meter ; 
Sergeant-Major; Sons of Malta. 

S. M. Lond. Soc. Cor.— Societatis 
Medics Londonensis Socius Cor., 
Corresponding Member of the Lon¬ 
don Medical Soc. 

Soc. Isl.— Society Islands. 

Sol.— Solomon ; Solution. 

Sol.-Gen.— Solicitor-General. 

S. of Sol.— Song of Solomon. 

Sp.— Spain ; Spanish. 

S. P. A. S.— Societatis Philosophies 
Americans Socius, Member of the 
American Philosophical Society. 

S. P. G.— Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel. 

Sp. gr.— Specific gravity. 

S. P. C. A.— Society for the Preven¬ 
tion of Cruelty to Animals. 

S. P. C. C.— Society for the Preven¬ 
tion of Cruelty to Children. 

S. P. Q. R.— Senatus Populusque Ro- 
manus, the Senate and people of 
Rome. 

S. P. R. L.— Society for the Promo¬ 
tion of Religion and Learning. 

Sq. ft.— Square foot, or square feet. 

Sq. in.— Square inch, or inches. 

Sq. m.— Square mile, or miles. 

Sq. yd.— Square yard. 

Sr.— Senior. 

S. R. I.— Sacrum Romanum Impe- 
rium. Holy Roman Empire. 

S. R. S.— Societatis Regis Socius, 
Fellow of the Royal Society. 

S. S.—Sunday-school. 

SS.— Saints. 

SS., or ss.— Scilicet, to wit. 

Ss.— Semis, half; Sessions. 


S.-S.-E.— South-south-east. 

S.-S.-W.— South-south-west. 

St.— Saint; Street; Strait. 

Stat.— Statute. 

S. T. B.— Bachelor of Sacred Theol¬ 
ogy. 

S. T. D.— Sacrs Theologis Doctor, 
Doctor of Divinity. 

Ster., or Stg.— Sterling. 

S. T. P.— Sacrs Theologis Profess¬ 
or, Professor of Divinity. 

Str.—Steamer. 

S ub j.—S ub j uncti ve. 

Subst.— Substantive. 

Sun., or Sund.—Sunday. 

Sup.—Supreme. 

Sup.—Supplement; Superfine. 

S upt.—Superintendent. 

Surg.— Surgeon ; Surgery. 

Surg.-Gen.— Surgeon-General. 

Surv.— Surveyor. 

Surv.-Gen.— Surveyor-General. 

S. v.— Sub verbo, under the word or 
title. 

S. -W.— South-west. 

Sw.— Swiss. 

Swe.— Sweden ; Swedish ; Sweden¬ 
borg; Swedenborgian. 

Switz.— Switzerland. 

Syn.— Synonym ; Synonymous. 

Syr.—Syriac. 

T. , or tom.— Tome, volume. 

Tab.— Table; Tabular. 

Tan.— Tangent. 

T. E.— Topographical Engineers. 

Tepn.— Tennessee. 

Ter.—Terri tory. 

Tex.—Texas. 

Text. Rec.— Textus Receptus, Received 
Text. 

Tf.— Till forbid. 

Th., or Thurs.— Thursday. 

Theo.—Theodore. , 

Theol.— Theology ; Theological. 
Theoph.— Theophilus. 

Thess.—Thessalonians. 

Tho’.'— Though. 

Thos.— Thomas. 

Thro’,— Through. 

Tim.— Timothy. 

Tit.— Titus. 

T. O.— Turn over. 

Tob.— Tobit. 

Topog.— Topography ; Topographical. 
Tp.— Township. 

Tr.— Transpose; Translator; Trans¬ 
lation ; Trustee. 

Tran s.— Translator: Translation; 

Transactions; Transpose. 

Treas.-— Treasurer. 




Abbreviations 


Abbreviations 


Trin.— Trinity. 

Tues., or Tu.— Tuesday. 

T. S.— Twin screw. 

Tr. S.— Triple screw. 

Tur.— Turkey. 

Typ.— Typographer. 

U. — Union. 

U. B.— United Brethren. 

U. C.— Upper Canada. 

U. C.— Urbe condita, year of Rome. 

U. J. C.— Utriusque Juris Doctor, 
Doctor of both Laws. 

U. K.— United Kingdom. 

U. K. A.—Ulster King-at-Arms. 

Ult.— Ultimo, last; of the last month. 
Unit.— Unitarian. 

Univ.— University. 

Univt.— Universalist. 

U. P.— United Presbyterian. 

U. S.— United States. 

U. s.— Ut supra, or uti supra, as 
above. 

U. S. A.— United States Army. 

U. S. A.— United States of America. 
U. S. M.— United States Mail. 

U. S. M.— United States Marines. 

U. S. M. A.— United States Military 
Acad. 

U. S. M. C.— United States Marine 
Corps. 

U. S. M. H. S.— United States Ma¬ 
rine Hospital Service. 

U. S. N.— United States Navy. 

U. S. N. A.—United States Naval 
Acad. 

U. S. S.— United States Senate. 

Ut.— Utah. 

V. — Village. 

V., or vid.— Vide, see. 

V.— Violin. 

Vt.— Vermont. 

V., or vs.— Versus, against; Versicu- 
lo, in such a verse. 

Va.— Virginia. 

Val.— Value. 

Vat.— Vatican. 

V.' C.—Victoria Cross; Vice-Chair¬ 
man ; Vice-Chancellor. 

V. D. L.— Van Diemen’s Land. 

V. D. M.— Verbi Dei Minister, Minis¬ 
ter of God’s word. 

Ven.— Venerable. 

Ver.— Verse. 

V. G>— Vicar General. 

V. g.— Verbi gratia, as for example. 
Vice-Pres., or V. P*— Vice-President. 
Vise.— Viscount. 

Viz., or vl.— Videlicet, to wit, name¬ 
ly; that is to say. 


Vo.— Verso, left-hand page. 

Vol.— Volume. 

V. R.— Victoria Regina, Queen Vic¬ 
toria. 

V. S.— Veterinary Surgeon. 

Vul.— Vulgate (Version). 

W. —West. 

Wash.— Washington. 

W. B. M.— Woman’s Board of Mis¬ 
sions. 

W. C. A.— Woman’s Christian Asso¬ 
ciation. 

W. C. T. U.— Women’s Christian 
Temperance Union. 

W ed.—W ednesday. 

Wf.—Wrong font. 

W. F. M. S.— Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ 
sionary Society. 

W. H. M. A.— Woman’s Home Mis¬ 
sionary Association. 

W. I.— West Indies. 

Wis.—Wisconsin. 

Wisd.— Wisdom (Book of). 

Wk.— Week. 

W. M.— Worshipful Master. 

Wm.— William. 

W. M. S.— Wesleyan Missionary So¬ 
ciety. 

W. N. C. T. U.—Woman’s National 
Christian Temperance Union. 

W.-N.-W.—W est-north-west. 

W.-S.-W.— West-south-west. 

Wt.— Weight. 

Wyo.— Wyoming. 

W. Va.— West Virginia. 

X. , or Xt.—Christ. 

Xmas., or Xm.— Christmas. 

Xn., or Xtian.— Christian. 

Xnty., or Xty.—Christianity. 

Xper., or Xr.— Christopher. 

Yd.— Yard. 

Ym.— Them. 

Y. M. C. A.— Young Men’s Christian 
Association. 

Y. M. C. U.— Young Men’s Christian 
Union. 

Yn.— Then. 

Yr.— Year. 

Yrs.— Years; Yours- 
Y. W. C. A.— Young Women’s Chris¬ 
tian Association. 

Zach.— Zachary. 

Zech.— Zechariah. 

Zeph.— Zephaniah. 

Zool.— Zoology. 

&.— And. 






Abdallah 


Abdul Medjid 


Abdallah-Ibn-Y azim, Moham¬ 
medan conqueror of Spain, known as 
“Theologian,” He died 1058. 

Abd-el-Kader, very renowned by 
the persevering courage with which he 
opposed the aggressions of the French 
against his country, was the third 
son of a marabout of the Arab tribe 
of Hashem, who had risen to influence 
through his rank, coupled with a great 
sanctity of demeanor. Born in Oran 
in 1807, the early days of Abd-el-Kader 
are lost in obscurity, but by 1828 he 
had not only acquired the reputation 
of a scholar, but that of a saint, from 
his having twice made a pilgrimage to 
Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet. 
Accompanied by his father, he preach¬ 
ed a holy war against the French oc¬ 
cupation of Algiers, and called upon 
the faithful to rise and expel the in¬ 
fidels. For a period of 15 years he 
contrived to defend his country, and 
fight against the encroachments of 
France; but in 1847 he was compelled 
to surrender himself a prisoner. He 
died in Damascus, May 26, 1883. 

Abd-er-Rahman I., a Caliph of 
Cordova, born in Damascus in 731. He 
founded a Moorish dynasty in Spain, 
made Cordova his capital and became 
an independent sovereign. The 
mosque at Cordova (now used as a 
cathedral), ornamented with rows of 
cupolas, supported by 850 pillars of 
jasper, was built by him. He died in 
787. 

Abd-er-Rahman III., a Caliph 
of Cordova, born in 891. His long 
reign of 42 years is pronounced the 
glorious epoch of Moorish sway in 
Spain. He died in 961. 

Abdication, the resignation of an 
office or dignity, especially that of sov¬ 
ereign power. 

Abdomen, a Latin term of doubt¬ 
ful etymology, by some derived from 
oMo, I hide. It means, in human 
anatomy, the belly or lower cav¬ 
ity of the trunk, separated from the 
tipper cavity or thorax, by the dia¬ 
phragm or midriff, and bounded below 
by the bones of the pelvis. 

Abduction, the act of abducing 
or abducting; a taking or drawing 
away, and specifically an unlawful 
taking away of women or girls. 

In law, the forcible and fraudulent 
taking away of women or girls. Com¬ 


monly applied to the criminal offense 
of misleading a female under the age 
for marriage. 

Abd-ul-Aziz, the 32d Sultan of 
the Ottoman Turks, was born Feb. 9, 
1830, and succeeded his brother, Abd- 
ul-Medjid, in 1861. His government 
had great difficulties to contend with 
in the Cretan insurrection, the strug¬ 
gle of Rumania and Servia for full 
autonomy, and finally the outbreak of 
Mohammedan fanaticism. In 1871 the 
Sultan strove to get the succession set¬ 
tled upon his son, instead of his 
nephew Murad, in accordance with 
Turkish custom. At last a conspiracy 
forced him to abdicate the throne. 
May 30, 1876. Four days later, the 
unhappy Sultan was found dead, it is 
almost certain by foul play. 

Abdul-Hamid II., 34th Sultan 
of Turkey, born Sept. 22, 1842, the 
second son of Sultan Abdul-ul-Med- 
jid; succeeded to the throne in 1876, 
on the deposition of his brother, Murad 
V. Defeated in the war of 1877-1878 
with Russia, he was compelled by the 
Treaty of Berlin to surrender a small 
portion of territory in Europe and 
Asia, to recognize the independence of 
the vassal States in Europe, and to 
acknowledge Bulgaria as a tributary 
principality. In 1895-1896, during the 
massacres of the Armenians, he took 
an active part in the negotiations 
with the European powers, and com¬ 
municated personally with Lord Salis¬ 
bury, protesting his intention to grant 
an investigation and the reforms urged 
by the powers. In 1897, Greece 
forced war on Turkey in behalf of the 
Cretans, and in 1898, after another 
uprising in Crete, Great Britain and 
Russia forced Turkey to evacuate the 
island. The horrors attendant on the 
uprising of the Christian Macedonians 
against Turkish authority led to inter¬ 
ference by the great European powers 
in behalf of good government for 
Macedonia. 

Abdul Medjid, a Sultan of Tur¬ 
key, born April 23, 1822; succeeded to 
the throne July 1, 1839, at the early 
age of 17. The great event of his 
reign was the Crimean War, in which 
France and England allied themselves 
with Turkey against the encroach¬ 
ments of Russia, and which was ter¬ 
minated by the fall of Sebastopol af¬ 
ter a long siege, in 1856. He was sue- 




Abdurrahman Khan 


Abelard 


ceeded by his brother, Abdul Aziz 
Khan. He died June 25, 1861. 

Abdurrahman Khan, Ameer of 
Afghanistan; born in Kabul in 1844; 
was the eldest son of Ufzul Khan, and 
nephew of the Ameer Shere Ali. In 
July of~ 1880 he was formally chosen 
by the leading men of Kabul and ac¬ 
knowledged by the British Indian Gov¬ 
ernment as Ameer of Afghanistan. 
From the British Indian Government 
he received a subsidy of $800,000 a 
year, with large gifts of artillery, ri¬ 
fles, and ammunition to improve his 
military force. In March, 1900, he 
declared his sympathy with England. 
He died in Kabul, Oct. 8, 1901. 

Abel, the second son of Adam and 
brother of Cain. The latter was a 
tiller of the ground; Abel a shepherd. 
Both brought their offerings before 
the Lord; Cain, the first-fruits of the 
ground; Abel, the firstlings of the 
flock. God accepted the offering of 
Abel; the offering of Cain he rejected. 
The latter, instigated by envy, mur¬ 
dered his brother in the field. 

Abel, Sir Frederick Augustus, 
an English chemist, born in London 
in 1827. Was president of the Brit¬ 
ish Association in 1890. Died London, 
Sept. 8, 1902. 

Abel, Niels Henrik, a Norwe¬ 
gian mathematician, born at Findo, 
Aug. 5, 1802. He became a lecturer 
at the University of Christiania, and 
the school of engineering there. His 
works deal mainly with the theory of 
elliptical functions, which his discov¬ 
eries greatly enriched. He died young, 
April 6, 1829. 

Abelard, (or Abailard), Pierre, 

a monk of the order of St. Benedict, 
equally famous for his learning and 
his passion for Heloise; born in 1079, 
near Nantes, in the little village of 
Pallet, which was the property of his 
father Berenger. His inclination led 
him to prefer a literary life; and in 
order to devote himself fully to philos¬ 
ophy he ceded his patrimony to his 
brothers. He studied poetry, rhetoric, 
philosophy, jurisprudence, and theol¬ 
ogy, the Greek, Hebrew, and Latin 
languages; but scholastic philosophy 
chiefly engaged his attention. Having 
learned all that Brittany could teach 
him, he went to Paris, the university 
of which attracted students from all 
parts of Europe. Guillaume de Cham- 


peaux, a follower of Anselm and an 
extreme Realist, was the most skillful 
disputant of his time, and Abelard, 
profiting by his instructions, was often 
victorious over his master in contests 
of wit and logical acumen. The 
friendship of Champeaux was soon 
succeeded by enmity; and Abelard, 
who had not yet completed his 22d 
year, removed to Melun, whither he 
was soon followed by a multitude of 
young men, attracted from Paris by 
his great reputation. Hostility still 
pursued him, but he left Melun for 
Corbeil, nearer the capital, where he 
was still more admired and persecuted. 
Soon after he ceased teaching to re¬ 
cruit his strength; and after two 
years returned to Paris, and found 
that his former teacher had removed 
to a monastery outside the city. 

He again joined issue with him and 
gained so complete a triumph that he 
opened in Paris a school of rhetoric, 
the fame of which soon deprived all 
the others of their pupils. Shortly 
afterward he was appointed to his ri¬ 
val’s chair in the cathedral school of 
Notre Dame, where he educated 'many 
distinguished scholars, among whom 
were the future Pope Celestin II., Pe¬ 
ter of Lombardy, Bishop of Paris, Be¬ 
renger, Bishop of Poictiers, and St. 
Bernard. 

At this time there resided close to 
Notre Dame a young lady, by name 
Heloise, niece of the canon Fulbert, 
then of the age of 17, and remarkable 
for her beauty, genius, and varied ac¬ 
complishments. Abelard became in¬ 
spired with such violent love for He¬ 
loise as to forget his duty, his lectures, 
and his fame. Heloise was no less 
susceptible. Under the pretext of fin¬ 
ishing her education, he obtained Ful- 
bert’s permission to visit her, and 
finally became resident in his house. 
His conduct in abusing the confidence 
which had been placed in him opened 
the eyes of Fulbert. He separated the 
lovers, but too late. Abelard fled with 
her to Brittany, where she was de¬ 
livered of a son, who died early. Abe¬ 
lard now resolved to marry her secret¬ 
ly. Fulbert gave his consent, the mar¬ 
riage was performed, and in order to 
keep it secret Heloise remained with 
her uncle, while Abelard retained his 
former lodgings, and continued his 
lectures. Abelard, however, carried 





Abercrombie 


Abercrombie 


her off a second time, and placed her 
in the convent of Argenteuil. 

Fulbert erroneously believed it was 
intended to force her to take the veil, 
and under the influence of rage sub¬ 
jected Abelard to mutilation. He be¬ 
came, in consequence, a monk in the 
abbey of St. Denis, and Heloise took 
the veil at Argenteuil. After time had 
somewhat moderated his grief he re¬ 
sumed teaching. At the Council of 
Soissons (1121), no defense being per¬ 
mitted him, his “ Essay on the Trin¬ 
ity ” was declared heretical, and he 
was condemned to burn it with his 
own hands. Continued persecutions 
obliged him at last to leave the abbey 
of St. Denis and to retire to a place 
near Nogent-sur-Seine, where he built 
a rude hut in which he determined to 
live a hermit’s life. Even here, how¬ 
ever, students flocked to him, and they 
built him an oratory, which he dedi¬ 
cated to the Holy Ghost and hence 
called Paraclete. Being subsequently 
appointed abbot of St. Gildas de Buys, 
in Brittany, he invited Heloise and her 
religious sisterhood, on the dissolution 
of their monastery at Argenteuil, to re¬ 
side at the above oratory, and re¬ 
ceived them there. Pie lived for some 
10 years at St. Gildas. Ultimately, 
however, he fled from it and lived 
for a time in other parts of Brittany. 

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the lead¬ 
ing opponent of the rationalistic school 
of Abelard, laid his doctrines before 
the Council of Sens, in 1140, had them 
condemned by the Pope, and obtained 
an order for his imprisonment. Abe¬ 
lard appealed to the Pope, published 
his defense, and went to Rome. Pass¬ 
ing through Cluny, he visited Peter the 
Venerable, who was abbot there. This 
humane and enlightened divine effect¬ 
ed a^ reconciliation between him and 
his enemies, but Abelard resolved to 
end his days in retirement. The se¬ 
vere penances which he imposed upon 
himself, together with the grief which 
never left his heart, gradually con¬ 
sumed his strength, and he died, a pat¬ 
tern of monastic discipline, in 1142, 
at the abbey of St. Marcel, near Cha- 
lon-sur-Saone. Heloise begged his 
body, and had him buried in the Para¬ 
clete, of which she was at that time 
the abbess, with the view of reposing 
in death by his side. In 1800 the 
ashes of both were carried to the 


Museum of French Monuments at 
Paris, and in November, 1817, were 
deposited under a chapel within the 
precincts of the church of Monamy. 
The small chapel, in the form of a 
beautiful marble monument, in which 
the figures of the ill-fated pair are 
seen reposing side by side, is now one 
of the most interesting objects in the 
Parisian cemetery of Pere la Chaise. 

Abelard was distinguished as a 
grammarian, orator, logician, poet, 
musician, philosopher, theologian, and 
mathematician. As a philosopher he 
founded an eclectic system commonly, 
but erroneously, termed Conceptual¬ 
ism, which lay midway between the 
prevalent Realism, represented in its 
most advanced form by William of 
Champeaux, and extreme Nominalism, 
represented in the teaching of his other 
master Roscellin, and largely ap¬ 
proached the Aristotelian philosophy. 
In ethics Abelard placed much empha¬ 
sis on the subjective intention, which 
he held to determine the moral value 
as well as the moral character of man’s 
action. Along this line his work is 
notable, owing to the fact that his 
successors did little in connection with 
morals, for they did not regard the 
rules of human conduct as within the 
field of philosophic discussion. His 
love and his misfortunes have secured 
his name from oblivion; and the man 
whom his own century admired as a 
profound dialectician is now celebrated 
as the martyr of love. The letters of 
Abelard and Heloise have been often 
published in the original and in trans¬ 
lations. Pope’s poetical epistle 
“ Eloisa to Abelard ” is founded on 
them. Abelard’s autobiography, en¬ 
titled “ Historia Calamitatum,” is still 
extant. The chief work on the life 
of Abelard is Remusat’s “ Abelard ” 
(two vols. Paris, 1845). See also 
Compayre’s “ Abelard and the Origin 
and Early History of Universities ” 

(1893 ; series of “ Great Educators ”). 
A complete edition of his work was 
published by Cousin (two vols. Paris, 
1849-1859). 

Abercrombie, Jobn, in his day 

the most eminent of Scottish physi¬ 
cians, was born in 1780, at Aberdeen, 
where his father was a parish min¬ 
ister. His principal professional writ¬ 
ings were treatises on the pathology of 
the brain and on diseases of the stom- 




Abercrombie 


Abiaibar 


ach. Dr. Abercrombie died suddenly. 
Nov. 14, 1844. 

Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, a Brit¬ 
ish general, born in 1738. He was 
commander-in-chief in the West Indies, 
in 1795; in the attempt against Hol¬ 
land, in 1799, and in the expedition 
to Egypt. Mortally wounded in the 
beginning of the battle of Alexandria 
(March 21, 1801), the general kept 
the field during the day, and died some 
days after his victory. 

Aberdeen, the chief city and sea¬ 
port in the North of Scotland, lies at 
the mouth and on the N. side of the 
river Dee, 111 miles N. of Edinburgh. 
Population of the parliamentary burgh 
(1901) 153,108. 

Aberdeen, George Hamilton 
Gordon, Earl of, born in 1784. He 
took office as Secretary of State for 
Foreign Affairs in 1828, in the min¬ 
istry formed under the Duke of Wel¬ 
lington, and in 1843 in the Peel min¬ 
istry. Entering public life as a Tory, 
his policy was that of non-interference 
in the affairs of foreign states. In 
1853, Earl Aberdeen was selected to 
head a new ministry, which for some 
time was extremely popular. He en¬ 
deavored to prevent the country from 
entering upon the conflict with Rus¬ 
sia, but all his efforts were unavail¬ 
ing. Failing to receive sufficient sup¬ 
port to carry out his measures, he re¬ 
signed in 1855. Died Dec. 14, 1860. 

Aberdeen, Sir John Campbell, 
Hamilton Gordon, seventh Earl 
of, born in 1847. He served as Gov¬ 
ernor-General of Canada (1893-1898), 
and has won distinction as a supporter 
of liberal reform measures. His wife, 
born in 1857, is a daughter of Lord 
Tweedmouth and a direct descendant 
of Robert Bruce. She is an accom¬ 
plished orator, and organized the Irish 
Village at the Columbian Exposition 
in Chicago in 1893. For many years 
she has been conspicuous in plans for 
promoting the welfare of women. 

Abernethy, James, a Scotch 
civil engineer, born in Aberdeen in 
1815. As a boy he assisted his father 
on the extension of the London docks, 
and afterward designed and built the 
lock and dock at Aberdeen, the docks 
at Swansea, Newport, Cardiff and 
Hull, and the Cavour canal in Italy; 
designed the accepted plan for the im-1 


provement of the Danube at Vienna; 
reclaimed Lake Aboukir, in Egypt, 
and proposed the Manchester ship- 
canal and was its consulting engineer. 
He was the first to apply hydraulic 
power for working lock-gates. 

Abernethy, John, an eminent 
English surgeon, founder of the School 
of St. Bartholomew’s; born in London, 
April 3,1764. He died at Enfield, April 
28, 1831. 

Abert, John James, an American 
military engineer, born in Virginia in 
1788; served in the War of 1812; 
was made chief of United States to¬ 
pographical engineers in 1838; assist¬ 
ed in developing important canals and 
other works; member of the Geo¬ 
graphical Society of France. He died 
in 1863. 

Abesta, or Avesta, the name of 
one of the sacred books of the Persian 
magi, which they ascribe to their great 
founder Zoroaster. 

Abgar, or Abgarus, is the name 
or title of 28 princes of Edessa, in 
Mesopotamia. The most notable of 
these princes is the 14th of the name, 
a contemporary of Jesus, and was said 
to have written a letter to Jesus and 
to have received an answer from Him. 
These letters, translated into Greek 
from the Syriac by Eusebius of Caesa¬ 
rea, were denounced as spurious by 
Pope Gelasius in 494 and soon lost all 
credit. The letter from Abgar con¬ 
tains a request that Jesus should visit 
him, and heal him of a certain dis¬ 
ease. In the reply, Jesus is repre¬ 
sented as promising to send a disci¬ 
ple to heal him after His ascension. 
What purported to be copies of this 
correspondence came to light in 1900. 
For other fables in this connection, see 
Lipsius’ “ Die Edessenische Abgar- 
sage” (1880). 

Abgillus, surnamed Prester John, 
a king of the Frisons. He attended 
Charlemagne to the Holy Land, and 
did not return with him, but made 
great conquests in Abyssinia, which 
was called, from him, the empire of 
Prester John. He lived in the 8th 
century. 

Abiathar (the father of abun¬ 
dance), a high-priest of the Jews, son 
of Ahimelech, who had borne the same 
office, and received David in his house. 
This so enraged Saul that he put Ahim- 




Abib 


Aboukir 


elech and 81 priests to death; Abi- 
athar alone escaped the massacre. He 
afterward was high-priest, and often 
gave King David testimonies of his 
fidelity. But after this he conspired 
with Adonijah, in order to raise him 
to the throne of King David, his fa¬ 
ther, which so exasperated Solomon 
against him that he divested him of 
the priesthood, and banished him a. m. 
3021 (b. c. 1014). 

Abib, a name given by the Jews 
to the first month of their ecclesiasti¬ 
cal year, afterward called Nisan. It 
answered to the latter part of March 
and beginning of April. 

Abigail, the beautiful wife of Na- 
bal, a wealthy owner of goats and 
sheep in Carmel. When David’s mes¬ 
sengers were slighted by Nabal, Abi¬ 
gail took the blame upon herself, and 
succeeded in appeasing the anger of 
David. Ten days after, Nabal died, 
and David sent for Abigail and made 
her his wife. (I Sam. xxv: 14, etc.) 

Abisnai, son of David’s sister 
Zeruiah, and brother to Joab, was one 
of the celebrated warriors who flour¬ 
ished in the reign of David. He killed 
with his own hand 300 men, with no 
other weapon but his lance; and slew 
a Philistine giant, the iron of whose 
spear weighed 300 shekels. (I Sam. 
xxvi; II Sam. xxiii.) 

Ablution, literally, a washing away. 
A ceremony consisting in bathing the 
body, or a part of it, in water, which 
has been practiced more or less ex¬ 
tensively by the disciples of almost 
every form of faith. 

Abo, Archipelago of, an exten¬ 
sive group of low, rocky islands in 
the Baltic Sea, spreading along the 
S. and W. coasts of Finland, opposite 
the city of Abo, rendering the naviga¬ 
tion difficult and dangerous. 

Abo, Peace of, a treaty concluded 
Aug. 17, 1743, between Russia and 
Sweden, by which Russia retained a 
part of Finland and restored to Swe¬ 
den the remainder on condition that 
the latter power should elect the Prince 
of Holstein-Gottorp successor to the 
throne. 

Abolitionists, in United States 
history, those who advocated the abo¬ 
lition of African slavery in the South¬ 
ern States. The anti-slavery agita¬ 
tion dates back even to colonial days. 


Agitation became acute after the set¬ 
tlement of the war troubles of 1812- 
1815. In 1833, the formation of a Na¬ 
tional Anti-Slavery Society took place 
in Philadelphia, and in 1848 of the 
Free Soil Party. The abolition move¬ 
ment was powerfully promoted by 
William Lloyd Garrison, who issued 
a newspaper, “ The Liberator,” for 
the better dissemination of his views; 
and also by Wendell Phillips, Charles 
Sumner and others. The more extreme 
agitators among them denied the duty 
of obedience to the Constitution, since 
it contained the clause warranting the 
Fugitive Slave Law, and they de¬ 
nounced it as “ a covenant with death 
and an agreement with hell.” In prac¬ 
tice they violated it by systematically 
assisting in the escape of runaway 
slaves. A line of stations known as 
the “ Underground Railroad ” was se¬ 
cretly arranged, along which the fu¬ 
gitives were passed from point to 
point, concealed from pursuers, and 
cared for until they reached safety in 
Canada. In Boston, Garrison was 
mobbed, and the abolition cause in 
the United States counted among its 
martyrs Elijah Lovejoy, shot in Al¬ 
ton, Ill., in 1837, and John Brown, 
hanged in Virginia in 1859. In 1840 
the abolitionists diyided on the ques¬ 
tion of the formation of a political 
anti-slavery party, and the two wings 
remained active on separate lines to 
the end. It was largely due to the 
abolitionists that the Civil War, when 
it came, was regarded by the North 
chiefly as an anti-slavery conflict, and 
they looked upon the Emancipation 
Proclamation as a vindication of this 
view. 

Aboina, a large and formidable 
American snake, called also the ringed 
boa. Anciently it was worshipped by 
the Mexicans. 

Aborigines. (1) An old tribe in¬ 
habiting Latium. (2) The earliest 
known inhabitants of any other land. 

Aboukir, a small village on the 
Egyptian coast, 10 miles E. of Alex¬ 
andria. Aboukir bay is celebrated for 
the naval battle in which Nelson an¬ 
nihilated the French fleet on Aug. 1-2, 
1798. This decisive victory gained 
Nelson the title of Baron Nelson of 
the Nile; and the battle is often spo¬ 
ken of as the battle of the Nile. 







About 


Abstinence 


About, Edmond, a French novel¬ 
ist, born in Dieuze, Lorraine, Feb. 
14, 1828. One of the few younger 
authors of note who adhered to the 
second empire, he enjoyed the special 
favor of Napoleon III., and in 1870 
accompanied the army of Marshal 
MacMahon as reporter for “ Le Soir.” 

Abracadabra, a magical word 
among the ancients, recommended as 
an antidote against several diseases. 
It was to be written upon a piece of 
paper as many times as the word 
contains letters, omitting the last let¬ 
ter of the former every time, and sus¬ 
pended from the neck by a linen 
thread. It was the name of a god wor¬ 
shipped by the Syrians, the wearing 
of whose name was a sort of invoca¬ 
tion of his aid. 

ABRACADABRA 
ABRACADABR 
ABRACADAB 
ABRACADA 
A B R A C A D 
A B R A C A 
A B R A C 
A B R A 
A B R 
A B 
A 

At present, the word is used chiefly in 
jest, to denote something without 
meaning. 

Abraham, son of Terah, and 
brother of Nahor and Haran, the 
progenitor of the Hebrew nation and 
of several cognate tribes. At the 
goodly age of 175, he was “ gathered 
to his people,” and laid beside Sarah, 
in the tomb of Machpelah, by his sons 
Isaac and Ishmael. 

Abraham, Plains of and 
Heights of, a table-land near Que¬ 
bec, rising above the St. Lawrence, 
where the battle of Quebec was fought 
between the British and French 
(1759). 

Abranyi, Kornel, a Hungarian 
poet, novelist, and publicist; born in 
Budapest, Dec. 31, 1849. As a mem¬ 
ber of the Hungarian diet and as ed¬ 
itor of the “ Pesti Naplo,” he is an 
important political figure in Hungary. 

Abrogation. The term is used 
popularly as the equivalent of repeal, 
whether by statute or contrary usage. 

Abruzzi, Prince Luigi Amadeo, 
Duke of, Italian explorer; born in 
Rome, Jan. 30, 1873; a nephew of 


King Humbert*, in May, 1899, he 
started on an expedition, in the spe¬ 
cially prepared steamer “ Star of 
Italy,” for Franz Josef Land, intend¬ 
ing, when frozen in, to use sledges in 
a search for the North Pole and the 
balloon explorer, Dr. Andree. He re¬ 
turned to Norway in September, 1900, 
after having reached a point in lati¬ 
tude 86° 33' N., surpassing Nansen’s 
furthest N. record by 19'. 

Absalom, the third son of David, 
king of Israel, remarkable for his 
beauty and for his unnatural rebel¬ 
lion against his father, which led to 
his untimely death. 

Abscess, a gathering of pus in any 
tissue or organ of the body. Abscesses 
may occur in almost any portion of the 
body. They are of three types : the acute 
abscess, or phlegmon, arising from an 
inflammatory tendency in the part; the 
chronic abscess, connected with scrof¬ 
ulous or other weakness in the con¬ 
stitution ; and the diffused abscess, due 
to contamination in the blood. 

Absenteeism, a term applied to 
the owners of estates in a country 
who habitually absent themselves from 
that country, and spend the income 
of their estates in it in another coun¬ 
try. Used more particularly regard¬ 
ing Irish landlords who live elsewhere. 

Absinthe, a liqueur made princi¬ 
pally in Switzerland, and much used 
by the French; composed of volatile 
oil of wormwood, oil of anise and oth¬ 
er ingredients mixed ip alcohol. It is 
an intoxicant, more agreeable to the 
taste than usual alcoholic beverages, 
but its persistent use leads to extreme 
physical and mental disorders. 

Absolution. The Roman Catholic 
Church, since the fourth Lateran coun¬ 
cil in 1215 A. D., invests the priest with 
power in his priestly office to pro¬ 
nounce absolution from sins that have 
been confessed. In most other Church¬ 
es, absolution is no more than 
a geqeral or formal declaration that 
God will forgive the sins of penitents, 
with exhortation to seek such forgive¬ 
ness. 

Abstinence, the act or habit of 
refraining from something to which 
we have a propensity, or in which we 
find pleasure; but it is more particu¬ 
larly applied to the privation or spar¬ 
ing use of food. Abstinence has been 
enjoined and practiced for various 





Abt 


Abyssinia 


ends, as sanitary, moral, or religious. 
Abstinence of flesh on certain days is 
obligatory in the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

The time during which life can be 
supported under total abstinence from 
food or drink, is usually stated to vary 
from eight to ten days; the period 
may, however, be greatly prolonged. 
Total abstinence, as a term, has also 
special reference to alcoholic drinks. 

Abt, Franz, a German song 
writer; born in Saxony, Dec. 22,1819. 
He studied theology at Leipsic, but 
abandoned it for music. He is well 
known as composer of the favorite 
song, “ When the Swallows Homeward 
Fly.” He visited the United States 
in 1872. He died March 31, 1885. 

Abu-Klea, a place ‘in Egypt, on 
the route across the country between 
Korti and Metammeh, both on the 
great bend of the Nile below Khar¬ 
tum ; was the scene of a battle on Jan. 
17, 1885, in which Sir Herbert Stew¬ 
art defeated the Mahdi’s forces. 

Abul-Abbas, Abd-Allab, the 
first of the Arabian dynasty of Ab- 
bassides; a caliph of incredible cruel¬ 
ty, on account of which he was called 
“al Suffah” (“The Sanguinary”). 
On assurances of amnesty, he be¬ 
guiled 90 members of the Ommiad fam¬ 
ily (the preceding dynasty) into a 
hall, where they were slain with whips 
and rods. He died in 754. 

Abuna, the title given by the Ethi¬ 
opian Christians to their metropolitan. 
He is the chief of the secular clergy. 

Abu-Simbel, Ibsambul, or Ip- 
sambul, the site of two temples on 
the Nile, constructed by Rameses II. 
The principal beauties of the facade of 
the larger temple (119 feet broad, and 
more than 100 feet high) are the four 
sitting colossi,, each more than 65 feet 
in height. 

Abydos, a town and castle of Na- 
tolia, on the Straits of Gallipoli. In 
its neighborhood Xerxes, when he in¬ 
vaded Greece, crossed with his im¬ 
mense army the Hellespont, on a 
bridge of boats. Memorable also from 
being the scene of the loves of Hero 
and Leander, and from Byron having 
adopted its name in his “ Bride of 
Abydos.” Also an ancient city of Up¬ 
per Egypt, supposed to hare been the 
ancient This, and to have been sec¬ 
ond only to Thebes. 


Abyssinia, or Habesh, an ancient 

kingdom of Eastern Africa, now un¬ 
der a monarch who claims the title of 
emperor. Abyssinia may be said to 
extend between lat. 8° and 16° N., 
and Ion. 35° and 41° E., having Nu¬ 
bia N. and W., the Sudan W., the Red 
Sea littoral (Erythraea, Danakil coun¬ 
try, etc.), E., and to the S. the Galla 
country. The area within these limits 
is about 160,000 square miles, but the 
present ruler claims a much more ex¬ 
tensive territory; and latterly Abys¬ 
sinia has come to be surrounded by re¬ 
gions belonging to or influenced more 
or less by Italy, France, and Great 
Britain. The principal divisions of 
Abyssinia are the provinces or king¬ 
doms of Shoa in the S., Amhara in the 
center, and Tigre in the N., to which 
may be added Lasta, Gojam, and other 
territories. Addis Abeba in Shoa is 
the present residence of the ruler, but 
the Abyssinian royal residences large¬ 
ly consist of houses very slightly built, 
and thus resemble more or less perma¬ 
nent camps rather than towns. Other 
towns are Gondar, Adua, Aksum, An- 
talo, and Ankober, none with a pop¬ 
ulation exceeding 7,000. 

The Abyssinians are of mixed Semi¬ 
tic and Hamitic descent. They were 
converted to Christianity in the time of 
the Emperor Constantine, by some mis¬ 
sionaries sent from Alexandria. In the 
6th century the power of the sover¬ 
eigns of their kingdom had attained 
its height; but before another had ex¬ 
pired the Arabs had invaded the coun¬ 
try, and obtained a footing in Adel, 
though they were unable to extend 
their conquests farther. For several 
centuries subsequently the kingdom 
continued in a distracted state, being 
now torn by internal commotions and 
now invaded by external enemies (Mo¬ 
hammedans and Gallas). To protect 
himself from the last the Emperor of 
Abyssinia applied, about the middle 
of the 16th century, to the King of 
Portugal for assistance, promising, at 
the same time, implicit submission to 
the Pope. The solicited aid was sent, 
and the empire saved. The Roman 
Catholic priests having now ingrati¬ 
ated themselves w T ith the emperor and 
his family, endeavored to induce them 
to renounce the tenets and rites of the 
Coptic Church, and adopt those of 
Rome. This attempt, however, was 




Acacia 


Academy of Fine Arts 


resisted by the ecclesiastics and the 
people, and finally ended, after a long 
struggle, in the expulsion of the Ro¬ 
man Catholic priests about 1630. The 
kingdom, however, gradually fell into 
a state of anarchy, which, about the 
middle of the 18th century, was com¬ 
plete. The king, or negus as he was 
called, received no obedience from the 
provincial governors, who, besides, 
were at feud with one another, and 
severally assumed the royal title. 

Abyssinia thus became divided into 
a number of petty independent states. 
A remarkable, but, as it proved, quite 
futile attempt to resuscitate the unity 
and power of the ancient kingdom was 
commenced about the middle of the 
19th century by King Theodore, who 
aimed at the restoration of the an¬ 
cient kingdom of Ethiopia, with him¬ 
self for its sovereign. He introduced 
European artisans, and went to work 
wisely in many ways, but his cruelty 
and tyranny counteracted his politic 
measures. In consequence of a slight, 
real or fancied, which he had re¬ 
ceived at the hands of the British gov¬ 
ernment, he threw Consul Cameron 
and a number of other British sub¬ 
jects into prison in 1863, and refused 
to give them up. To effect their re¬ 
lease an army of nearly 12,000 men, 
under the command of Sir Robert Na¬ 
pier, was dispatched from Bombay in 
1867. The force landed at Zoulla on 
the Red Sea in November, and march¬ 
ing up the country came within sight 
of Magdale, the capital of Theodore, 
in the beginning of April, 1868. Af¬ 
ter being defeated in a battle Theodore 
delivered up the captives and shut 
himself up in Magdala, which was 
taken by storm on April 13. Theo¬ 
dore was found among the slain, the 
general opinion being that he had 
fallen by his own hand. 

In i885 Italy asserted a protectorate 
with disastrous results; defeat by 
Menelek’s troops at Adowa in 1896 
made them abandon all claims except 
to the Eritrean colony on the Red 
Sea. Menelek transferred his capital 
to Adis Abeba, where British, Ameri¬ 
can and French interests became 
active. In 1903, Mr. R. P. Skinner, 
of the U. S. Dept, of State, effected a 
commercial treaty, since when over 
$1,000,000 of cotton goods are im¬ 
ported annually from the U. S. The 


city has telegraphic and telephonic 
connection with Jibutil on the Gulf of 
Aden, whence a railway to Harar and 
Dire Dawa, 186 m., will eventually 
reach Adis Abeba. Pop., 3,500,000. 

Acacia, plants which abound in 
Australia, in India, in Africa, tropical 
America, and generally in the hotter 
regions of the world. Nearly 300 spe¬ 
cies are known from Australia alone. 
They are easily cultivated in green¬ 
houses, where they flower, for the most 
part, in winter or early spring. In 
Calfornia several species are cultivated 
in the open for tannin and for timber. 
The Black Watte has in its bark four 
times as much tannin as the best oak. 

Academus, a Greek mythical hero 
who upon the Tyndaridean invasion 
to rescue Helen after her abduction by 
Thesues, revealed her hiding-place and 
was thenceforth held in honor by the 
Lacedaemonians. The term ‘academy* 
is derived from his name. 

Academy, the gymnasium in the 
suburbs of Athens in which Plato 
taught, and so called after a hero, 
by name Academus, to whom it was 
said to have originally belonged. The 
word is also applied to a high school 
designed for the technical or other in¬ 
struction of those who have already 
acquired the rudiments of knowledge; 
also a university. 

Academy, French, an institution 
founded in 1635 by Cardinal Riche¬ 
lieu for the purpose of refining the 
French language and style. It became 
in time the most influential of all lit¬ 
erary societies in Europe. Together 
with the Academy of Inscriptions and 
Belles Lettres, the Academy of Moral 
and Political Sciences and the Acad¬ 
emy of Sciences, it composes the Na¬ 
tional Institute of France. 

Academy of Arts, The Royal, a 
British institution for the encourage¬ 
ment of painting, sculpture, and de¬ 
signing ; founded in 1768 by George 
III., with Sir Joshua Reynolds as 
president. 

Academy of Design, National, 

an American institution, in New York 
city, founded in 1826, conducting 
schools in various branches of the fine 
arts, and holding semi-annual exhibi¬ 
tions at which prizes are awarded. 

Academy of Fine Arts, The, a 
French institution, originally founded 






Academy of France 


Acanthus 


in 1648 at Paris under the name of 
the Academy of Painting and Sulp- 
ture. In 1795 it was joined to the 
Academy of Architecture, and has 
borne its present name since 1819. 

Academy of France at Rome, 
an institution for the advanced study 
of the fine arts in Rome, Italy, found¬ 
ed by Colbert in 1666, during the reign 
of Louis XIV. It was at first estab¬ 
lished in the ruined villa Mancini on 
the Corso, and, in 1803, at the villa 
Medicis. The young artists, painters, 
sculptors, architects, engravers and 
musicians who secure the annual prizes 
of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris 
spend four years there, with an an¬ 
nual pension of 3,500 francs and trav¬ 
eling expenses. 

Academy of Inscriptions and 
Belles Lettres, an institution found¬ 
ed at Paris by Colbert in 1663, under 
the name of Petite Academie. Com¬ 
parative philology. Oriental, Greek, 
and Roman antiquities and epigraphy 
have received the attention of the 
Academy, which has published a series 
of invaluable records and works. 

Academy of Medicine, a French 
institution, founded in Paris in 1820, 
for the purpose of keeping the gov¬ 
ernment informed on all subjects ap¬ 
pertaining to the public health. 

Academy of Moral and Politi¬ 
cal Science, founded at Paris in 
1795, is composed of 30 members, di¬ 
vided into 5 sections, with 5 free acad- 
demicians, 5 foreign associates, and 
30 corresponding members. 

Academy of Natural Sciences 
0; f Philadelphia, an institution 
founded in 1812. 

Academy of Political and So¬ 
cial Science, American, an insti¬ 
tution organized at Philadelphia in 
1889 and incorporated in 1891. 

Academy of Sciences, an insti¬ 
tution founded at Paris, in 1666, by 
Colbert and approved by Louis XIV. 
in 1699, has now 66 members, in 11 
sections, with two perpetual secreta¬ 
ries and 100 corresponding members. 

Academy of Sciences and Arts, 
American, an academy established 
in Boston in 1780 by the Council and 
House of Representatives of Massa¬ 
chusetts; the successor of an institu¬ 
tion founded by Franklin. 


Academy of Sciences, The Im¬ 
perial, a Russian institution, found¬ 
ed in St. Petersburg by Catherine I., 
in 1725, and largely endowed by Cath¬ 
erine II. 

Academy of Sciences, The Na¬ 
tional, an American institution, 
founded in 1863, consisting of 100 
members, elected from among the most 
distinguished scientific men of the 
United States; analogous to the Roy¬ 
al Society of London. 

Academy of Sciences, The Roy¬ 
al, a German institution, in Berlin, 
founded by Frederick I., in 1700; is 
divided into four sections, devoted to 
mathematics, physics, philosophy, and 
history. 

Acadia, a former French colony in 
North America, including Nova Scotia 
and nearly all of New Brunswick, set¬ 
tled in 1604. It grew so slowly that 
it numbered only 900 inhabitants in 
1684. When, by the peace of Utrecht 
(1713), it was given to the English, 
the inhabitants, having refused to take 
the oath of allegiance, were ordered 
to leave their homes, and 5,000 emi¬ 
grated to Louisiana and Georgia, and 
2,000 were transported and scattered 
over New England. The story of their 
sorrow is touchingly introduced into 
Longfellow’s “ Evangeline.” 

Acanthus, the name of three an¬ 
cient cities of Egypt, of Caria and of 
Macedonia. The latter is noted for 



the canal across the peninsula of Mt. 
Athos through which Xerxes sailed on 
his way to Greece. 

Acanthus, a genus of herbaceous 
shrubs, order Acanthaceae, mostly trop¬ 
ical, two species of which, A. mollis 
and A. spinosus (the bear’s-breech or 
brankursine), are characterized by 
large white flowers and deeply indent¬ 
ed shining leaves. They are favorite or¬ 
namental plants in gardens.—In archi¬ 
tecture the name is given to a kind of 
foliage decoration said to have been 













Acapulco 


Acherusia 


suggested by this plant, growing 
around a basket, and much employed 
in Roman and later styles. 

Acapulco, a seaport of Mexico, on 
the Pacific, with a capacious, well- 
sheltered harbor; a coaling station for 
steamers, but with no great trade. 
Pop. 4,000. 

Acclimatization, the process of 
accustoming plants or animals to live 
and propagate in a climate different 
from that to which they are indige¬ 
nous. The numerous varieties which 
many species of plants and animals 
present are sufficient in any view to 
afford considerable scope for adapta¬ 
tion to climate. 

Accolade, in heraldry, the cere¬ 
mony by which in mediaeval times one 
was dubbed a knight. 

Accolti, Bernardo, an Italian 
poet (1465-1535. Leo X. esteemed 
him highly, and made him apostolic 
secretary, cardinal, and papal legate 
at Ancona. He drew- up the papal 
bull against Luther (1520). 

Accordion, a well-known keyed 
instrument with metallic reeds. The 
accordion w r as introduced into Amer¬ 
ica from Germany about 1828. Im¬ 
provements have been made on it in 
the flutina, the organ-accordion, and 
the concertina. 

Account, in banking, commerce 
law, and ordinary language, a regis¬ 
try of pecuniary transactions. 

Aceldama, a field purchased by the 
Jewish chief priests and elders with 
the 30 pieces of silver returned by 
Judas. It was used as a place of in¬ 
terment for strangers. The tradition¬ 
ary site is on a small plateau half way 
up the southern slope of the valley of 
Hinnom, near the junction of the lat¬ 
ter with the valley of Jehoshaphat. 
(See Matt, xxvii: 3-10; Acts i: 18. 

Acetic Acid, an acid produced by 
the oxidation of common alcohol, and 
of many other organic substances. 
Pure acetic acid has a very sour taste 
and pungent smell, burns the skin, and 
is poisonous. From freezing at ordi¬ 
nary temperatures (58° or 59°) it is 
known as glacial acetic acid. Vinegar 
is simply dilute acetic acid. Acetic 
acid is largely used in arts, in medi¬ 
cine, and for domestic purposes. 

Acetylene, a gas composed of car¬ 
bon and hydrogen, colorless and with 

E. 3, 


a disagreeable odor, suggesting garlic. 
Subjected to pressure it will liquefy at 
a weight of 68 atmospheres. It is best 
produced by the action of water on 
carbide of calcium, and is used thus in 
bicycle lamps. The production of the 
gas is attended with considerable risk, 
as a too sudden application of water 
to the carbide will generate enormous 
quantities which is liable to explode 
when mixed with air and subjected to 
the slightest heat, even rubbing the 
vessel in which it is contained being 
sufficient to produce an explosion. The 
gas is much less poisonous than the or¬ 
dinary illuminating gas, and under 
proper conditions can be used as a safe 
and cheap illuminant. 

Achaeans, one of the four races 
into which the ancient Greeks were di¬ 
vided. In early times they inhabited 
a part of Northern Greece and of the 
Peloponnesus. They are represented 
by Homer as a brave and warlike 
people. A confederacy or league ex¬ 
isted among the twelve towns of this 
region. 

Achard, Franz Karl, a German 
chemist, born in Berlin in 1754. He 
devoted himself to the development of 
the beet-sugar manufacture, and, after 
six years of laborious endeavor, he dis¬ 
covered the true method of separating 
the sugar from the plant. He was ap¬ 
pointed director of the class of physics 
in the Academy of Science, in Berlin, 
and died in 1821. 

Achard, Louis Amedee, a French 
novelist and publicist, born in 1814. 
He died in 1875. 

Achates, a friend of iEneas, whose 
fidelity was so exemplary that fidus 
Achates (the faithful Achates) be¬ 
came a proverb. 

Achenwoll, Gottfried, a German 
scholar, born in Elbing, Prussia, Oct. 
20, 1719; became professor at the Uni¬ 
versity of Gottingen, first of philoso¬ 
phy and afterward of law; is regarded 
as the founder of the science of statis¬ 
tics. He died in Gottingen, May 1, 
1772. 

Acheron, the river of sorrow, 
which flowed around the infernal 
realms of Hades, according to the 
mythology of the ancients. 

Acherusia, a lake of Campania, 
near Capua. Diodorus mentions that, 
in Egypt, the souls of the dead were 





Achilles 


Acoustics 


conveyed over a lake called Acherusia, 
and received sentence according to the 
actions of their lives. The boat which 
carried them was called Baris, and the 
ferryman Charon, etc. 

Achilles, son of Peleus, king of 
the Myrmidons, in Thessaly, and of 
Thetis. His mother’s desire for his 
safety made her try to make him in¬ 
vulnerable when a child by anointing 
him with ambrosia, and again by dip¬ 
ping him in the river Styx, from 
which he came out proof against 
wounds, all but the heel, by which she 
held him. He was the bravest of the 
Greeks in the Trojan War, in which he 
was slain. He is the hero of Homer’s 
Iliad, and was said to be invulnerable. 

Achilles’ Tendon, Tendon of 
Achilles, the strong tendon which 
connects the muscles of the calf with 
the heel, and may be easily felt with 
the hand. The origin of name will be 
understood from the above article. 

Achmet Tewfik Pasha, a Turk¬ 
ish statesman, born in 1818, at Con¬ 
stantinople. His father was a Greek 
convert; his mother was a Jewess. In 
1877 the Sultan appointed him Presi¬ 
dent of the first Turkish Chamber of 
Deputies; then he became Governor- 
General of Adrianople, and showed 
himself a stern ruler in the war of 
1877. In 1878 he was Premier and 
signed the Peace of Santo Stefano. 
He died in June, 1891. 

Achromatic, in optics, transmit¬ 
ting colorless light, that is, not de¬ 
composed into the primary colors, 
through having passed through a re¬ 
fracting medium. A single convex lens 
does not give an image free from the 
prismatic colors, because the rays of 
different color made up of white light 
are not equally refrangible, and thus 
do not all come to a focus together, 
the violet, for instance, being nearest 
the lens, the red farthest off. If such 
a lens of crown-glass, however, is 
combined with a concave lens of flint- 
glass—the curvatures of both being 
properly adjusted—as the two mate¬ 
rials have somewhat different optical 
properties, the latter will neutralize 
the chromatic aberration of the form¬ 
er, and a satisfactory image will be 
produced. Telescopes, microscopes, &c., 
in which the glasses are thus com¬ 
posed are called achromatic. 


Acids, in chemistry, a salt of hy¬ 
drogen in which the hydrogen can be 
replaced by a metal, or can, with a 
basic metallic oxide, form a salt of 
that metal and water. Many organic 
acids occur in the juices of vegetables, 
some in animals, as formic acid in ants. 

Acland, Christina Harriet Car¬ 
oline Fox, daughter of the Earl of 
Ilchester, born in 1750; died at Tet- 
ten, near Taunton, England, July 21, 
1815. Her husband, Major John Dyke 
Acland, of the British Army, was cap¬ 
tured with Burgoyne at Saratoga. He 
being severely wounded, she joined 
him in the American lines, and ten¬ 
derly nursed him. Major Acland was 
so touched by the kindness of the 
Americans to himself and wife that, 
after his return to England he fought 
a duel with an officer who spoke in¬ 
sultingly of Americans. 

Acne, a genus of skin diseases con¬ 
taining those characterized by pustules, 
which, after suppurating imperfectly, 
become small, hard, red, circumscribed 
tubercles on the skin. 

Acolyte, Acolyth, and Acolo- 
thist, in the Roman Catholic Church, 
one of the inferior orders of the clergy, 
whose office it is to attend upon the 
deacons and subdeacons in the minis¬ 
try of the altar, to light and hold the 
candles, to bear the incense, to present 
the priest with wine and water, etc. 

Aconite, a plant familiarly known 
as the monk’s-hood, or wolf’s-bane. 
Its active principle is aconitine. 

Acorn, the well known fruit of the 
oak. In the early ages, acorns consti¬ 
tuted a principal part of the food of 
man. At present they are used for the 
feeding of pigs, etc. 

Acosta, Joseph, a Spanish Jesuit, 
who, from being a missionary in Peru, 
became provincial of his order; born 
at Medina del Campo in 1547; died at 
Salamanca in 1600. His “History of 
the West Indies,” first printed in 
Spanish, is universally known. 

Acoustics, the science of sound. 
We are sensible of sound when we are 
affected by certain vibrations in the 
air or other matter in contact with our 
organs of hearing. In ordinary cases 
of hearing the vibrating medium is air, 
but fishes hear under water, and all 
substances that vibrate may be em¬ 
ployed to propagate and convey sound. 




Acre 


Actinism 


Sound is reflected in a manner anal¬ 
ogous to the reflection of light. When 
it is reflected from a plain surface the 
reflected sound comes as if it was prop¬ 
agated from a point beyond the sur¬ 
face at a distance equal to the dis¬ 
tance of the real point of propagation 
from the surface. Sounds produced 
in one focus of a hollow ellipsoid are 
reflected to the other focus. Whisper¬ 
ing galleries are instances of the re¬ 
flection of sound to a focus, or to form 
sound caustics. Echoes are familiar 
instances of reflection of sound. Lens¬ 
es have been formed of collodion filled 
with different gases, and by means of 
these sound has been refracted in a 
manner which is analogous to the re¬ 
fraction of light by glass lenses. 

Acre, an American and English 
measure of land, containing 4,840 
square yards. 

Acre, or St. Jean d’Acre, a sea¬ 
port of Syria, formerly called Ptole- 
mais; on a promontory at the foot of 
Mount Carmel. This town, capital of 
the pashalic of the same name, is fa¬ 
mous for the memorable sieges it has 
sustained. 

Acropolis, the high part of any 
ancient Greek city, usually an emi¬ 
nence overlooking the city, and fre¬ 
quently its citadel. Notable among 
such citadels were the Acropolis of 
Argos, that of Messene, of Thebes, and 
of Corinth, but pre-eminently the Ac¬ 
ropolis of Athens, to which the name 
is now chiefly applied. 

Acrostic, a poetical composition, 
disposed in such a manner that the 
initial letters of each line, taken in or¬ 
der, form a person’s name or other 
complete word or words. 

Act, in dramatic language, a por¬ 
tion of a play performed continuously, 
after which the representation is sus¬ 
pended for a little, and the actors have 
the opportunity of taking a brief rest. 
Acts are divided into smaller por¬ 
tions called scenes. (See Shakespeare 
throughout.) 

In parliamentary language, an ellip¬ 
sis for an act of congress, legislature, 
etc. 

In law : (1) Anything officially done 
by the court. (2) An instrument in 
writing for declaring or proving the 
truth of anything. Such is a report, a 
certificate, a decree, a sentence, etc. I 


In bankruptcy, an act, the commis¬ 
sion of which, by a debtor, renders him 
liable to be adjudged a bankrupt. 

Act of Settlement, an act of the 
Parliament of England in 1701, vest¬ 
ing the hereditary right to the English 
throne in Sophia, Electress of Han¬ 
over, and her Protestant descendants, 
constituting the source of the sover¬ 
eignty of the house of Hanover or 
Brunswick, the present ruling line. 

Act of Supremacy. (1) An act 
of the Parliament of England, in 1534, 
by which the king was made the sole 
and supreme head of the Church of 
England. (2) A re-enactment of the 
above, with changes, in 1559. 

Act of Toleration, an act of the 
reign of William and Mary, granting 
freedom of religious worship, under 
certain comparatively moderate con¬ 
ditions, to all dissenters from the es¬ 
tablished Church of England, except 
Roman Catholics and persons denying 
the Trinity. 

Act of Uniformity. (1) An act 

of the Parliament of England (1559), 
adopting a revised liturgy for the 
Church of England, entitled “An Act 
for the Uniformity of Common Prayer 
and Service in the Church, and Admin¬ 
istration of the Sacraments.” (2) An 
act of Parliament (1662), requiring 
that the revised Book of Common 
Prayer and Ordination of Ministers, 
and no other, should be used in all 
places of public worship and be assent¬ 
ed to by clergymen. By this test more 
than 2,000 non-conforming clergymen 
were ejected from their churches. 

Acta Sanctorum, or Martyrum, 
the collective title given to several old 
writings, respecting saints and mar¬ 
tyrs in the Greek and Roman Catholic 
Churches, but now applied especially 
to one extensive collection begun by 
the Jesuits in the 17th century. 

Actinic Rays, rays capable of 
producing chemical decomposition, as 
in photography, in the coloring of 
flowers and fruit. All ether waves, 
from all sources and of all lengths, 
may now be considered as actinic, som6 
substances being decomposed by cer¬ 
tain wave lengths and other substances 
by different wave lengths. 

Actinism, the chemical principle 
of light. Three distinct principles ema* 




Actium 


Adams 


nate from the sun — light, heat, and 
actinism. Numerous examples of the 
effects of their influence occur daily, 
which are erroneously attributed to 
the light which we see. It is actinism 
which fades .colors, bleaches linen, rots 
fabrics, tans the human skin, puts out 
the fire, and performs the operations of 
photography. It acts principally by 
abstracting oxygen from the bodies 
which it affects. There may be actin¬ 
ism without light, or vice versa. Yel¬ 
low glass transmits the latter, but 
stops the former. Dark blue glass, 
which transmits but little light, is 
quite pervious to actinism. Blue ob¬ 
jects reflect great quantities of it, 
while red or yellow ones reflect but 
little or none. The electric and lime 
lights give out great quantities of ac¬ 
tinism from their blue tinge; and gas 
and candles but very little, from their 
yellow color. The amount of actinism 
received from the sun differs consider¬ 
ably, according to the time of year, 
being at its maximum about the end of 
March, and gradually diminishing un^ 
til the end of December, when it ar¬ 
rives at its minimum. Actinism, in 
large quantities, is necessary to the 
proper condition of the human system. 

Actium, a promontory on the W. 
coast of Greece, jutting out on the 
N. W. extremity of Acarnania, not far 
from the entrance of the Ambracian 
Gulf (Gulf of Arta), at present called 
La Punta. It is memorable on ac¬ 
count of the naval battle fought here 
between Antony and Octavianus Sept. 
2, 31 b. c., ending in victory for Octa¬ 
vianus. 

Actor, in the drama, one who rep¬ 
resents some part or character on the 
stage. 

Acts of the Apostles, the fifth 
book of the New Testament. It con¬ 
tains a narrative of the achievements 
of the leading apostles, and especially 
of St. Paul, the greatest and most suc¬ 
cessful of them all. Its author was 
St. Luke (compare Luke i: 1-4 with 
Acts i: 1), who was Paul’s companion 
from the time of his visit to Troas. 
(Acts xvi: 8-11) to the period of his 
life, when he penned the second epis¬ 
tle to Timothy (II Tim. iv: 11). 

Adah. See Ud-nun-ki. 

Adalbert, a great German eccle¬ 
siastic, born of a noble family about! 


1000; was appointed Archbishop of 
Bremen and Hamburg in 1045, and 
papal legate to the North in 1053. He 
soon extended his spiritual sway over 
Scandinavia, and carried Christianity 
to the Wends. He died at Goslar, 
March 16, 1072. 

Adam and Eve, the names of the 
first pair of human beings in the ac¬ 
count of the creation given in the book 
of Genesis. Adam is strictly a generic 
name, applicable to both man and 
woman, as used in the book of Genesis, 
but it came to be a proper name, used 
with the article, as in chapters ii, iii, 
and iv. The origin of the name is un¬ 
certain, but is usually connected with 
the Hebrew root Adam, “to be red.” 
It is often derived from Adamah, “the 
ground,” but this is taking the simpler 
from the more developed form. 

Adam, Juliette (Mme. Edmond 
Adam, nee Lamber), a French jour¬ 
nalist and author of many works; 
born Oct. 4, 1836; editor of the “Nou- 
velle Revue” (the organ of the Ex¬ 
treme Republicans), which she found¬ 
ed in 1879. Her second husband, Ed¬ 
mond Adam, was a prominent politi¬ 
cian ; became a life senator, and died 
in 1877. She retired from journalism 
in 1899. 

Adam’s Apple, in botany (1) 
the name given by Gerarde and other 
old authors to the plantain tree, from 
the notion that its fruit was that sin¬ 
fully eaten by Adam in Eden. (2) 
The name given, for the same reason, 
to a species of citrus. 

In anatomy, a protuberance on the 
fore part of the throat, formed by the 
“ os hyoides.” The name is supposed to 
have arisen from the absurd popular 
notion that a portion of the forbidden 
fruit, assumed to have been an apple, 
stuck in Adam’s throat when he at¬ 
tempted to swallow it. 

Adam’s Peak, a mountain in the 
middle of the island of Ceylon. It is 
a resort of Moslem and Buddhist pil¬ 
grims, and also notable on account ,of 
an upright shadow which it casts, ap¬ 
parently projected on vapor. Height, 
7,420 feet. 

Adams, Abigail, wife of John 
Adams, second President of the United 
States; born at Weymouth, Mass., 
Nov. 23, 1744. Her letters, contained 




Adams 


Adams 


in “Familiar Letters of John Adams 
and His Wife, Abigail Adams, during 
the Revolution,” evince keen political 
sagacity, and throw valuable light upon 
the men and the public affairs of the 
time. She died at Quincy, Mass., Oct. 
28, 1818. 

Adams, Brooks, an American es¬ 
sayist and politician, born at Quincy, 
Mass., 1848. He is the son of Charles 
Francis Adams, and a lawyer by pro¬ 
fession. Besides contributions to mag¬ 
azines, he has written “The Emanci¬ 
pation of Massachusetts” (1887), and 
“The Law of Civilization and Decay.” 

Adams, Charles, an American his¬ 
torical and religious writer, born in 
New Hampshire in 1808; was a Meth¬ 
odist clergyman. He died in 1890. 

Adams, Charles Francis, an 

American statesman, born in Boston, 
Aug. 18, 1807 ; was candidate for Vice- 
President in 1848, twice elected to 
Congress, was Minister to England 
from 1861 to 1868, and member of the 
Geneva Arbitration Commission of 
1871. His chief literary work was 
“Life and Works of John Adams” (10 
vols., 1850-1856), his grandfather. He 
also edited the writings of his father, 
John Quincy Adams. He died in Bos¬ 
ton, Nov. 21, 1886. 

Adams, Charles Francis, Jr, an 
American soldier and writer, born in 
Boston, May 27, 1834. He graduated 
from Harvard in 1856, served in the 
Civil War from 1861 until 1866 when 
he retired with the brevet rank of 
brigadier-general in the regular army. 
Since 1874 he has given his attention 
to historical and financial questions, 
everything he publishes attracting 
widespread attention. He was presi¬ 
dent of the Union Pacific Railroad un¬ 
til 1890, and is regarded as one of the 
chief living authorities on railroad 
matters. 

Adams, Charles Kendall, an 

American educator and historian, born 
at Derby, Vt., Jan. 24, 1835; died, 
July 26, 1902. After graduating from 
the University of Michigan in 1861, he 
studied abroad, and after holding vari¬ 
ous professorships, became president of 
Cornell University in 1885. In 1892, 
he became President of the University 
of Wisconsin. He was editor of John¬ 
ston’s Encyclopaedia. 


Adams, Henry, an American his¬ 
torian, born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 16, 
1838; grandson of J. Q. Adams. He 
was for some time editor of the “North 
American Review,” and Professor of 
History in Harvard College. His 
principal work is the “History of the 
United States from 1801 to 1817.” 

Adams, John, 2d President of the 
United States; born in Braintree, 
Mass., Oct. 19, 1735. He was educat¬ 
ed at Harvard and adopted the law as 
a profession. His attention was di¬ 
rected to politics by the question which 
began to excite the colonies as to the 
right of the English Parliament to im¬ 
pose taxation upon them, and he took 
up a position strongly opposed to the 
claims of the mother country. In 1765 
he published in the Boston “Gazette” 
some essays, which were reprinted in 
London in 1768, under the title of “A 
Dissertation on Canon and Feudal 
Law,” the subject really treated in 
which was the government of the colo¬ 
nies and the rights of the colonists. 
In 1774 he was chosen a delegate from 
Massachusetts to the 1st Continental 
Congress. On his return he was ap¬ 
pointed a member of the Provincial 
Congress, which had already begun to 
take aggressive measures against the 
home government. In 1775 he again 
attended the Continental Congress at 
Philadelphia, in which he set himself 
in determined opposition to all at¬ 
tempts at reconciliation with the home 
government, and succeeded in persuad¬ 
ing Congress to take means of national 
defense. To secure the good-will of 
Virginia he proposed Washington for 
the command of the army. Next ses¬ 
sion he was appointed a member of 
committee on naval affairs and drew 
up the regulations which still form the 
basis of the American naval code. At 
the beginning of 1776 he accepted the 
post of chief-justice of Massachusetts, 
but he soon after resigned the ap¬ 
pointment. He published at this time 
“Thoughts on Government, applicable 
to the Present State of the American 
Colonies,” in which he supported self- 
government by the different colonies 
with confederation. He seconded the 
motion for a declaration of independ¬ 
ence proposed by Richard Henry Lee 
of Virginia, and was appointed a mem¬ 
ber of committee to draw it up, He 




Adams 


Adams 


was a signer of the Declaration. 
He was also appointed a member of the 
Committee on Foreign Relations. He 
was next appointed chairman of the 
board of war and ordnance, a position 
which he held for 18 months. Near 
the end of 1777 he was sent to France 
on a special mission, and for 10 years 
he resided abroad as representative of 
his country in France, Holland, and 
England. He succeeded in negotiating 
various loans with Holland, and after 
taking part in the peace negotiations 
was appointed, in 1785, the first min¬ 
ister of the United States to the court 
of St. James. He was recalled in 1788 
and elected Vice-President of the re¬ 
public under Washington. In 1790 he 
published “Discourses on Davila,” in 
which he opposed the principles of the 
French revolution. In 1792 he was 
reelected Vice-President, and at the 
following election he became President. 
The country was then divided into two 
parties, the Federalists, who favored 
aristocratic and were suspected of 
monarchic views, and the Republicans. 
Adams adhered to the former party. 
Hamilton did his utmost with his own 
party to prevent the election of Ad¬ 
ams, and his term of office proved a 
stormy one, which broke up and dis¬ 
solved the Federalist party. His re- 
election was again opposed by Hamil¬ 
ton, which ended in effecting the 
return of the Republican candidate 
Jefferson. Living to a great age he be¬ 
came, as one of the last survivors of 
the Revolution, a hero to the following 
generation. In 1820 he became a mem¬ 
ber of a State convention to revise the 
constitution of Massachusetts. He died 
July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary 
of the Declaration of Independence, 
and on the same day as Jefferson. 
Adams’s works were ably and care¬ 
fully edited by his grandson Charles 
Francis Adams. 

Adams, John Quincy, 6th Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, son of John 
Adams, 2d President; born in Brain¬ 
tree, Mass., July 11, 1767. In his 11th 
year he accompanied his father on his 
first embassy to France, and was 
placed at school near Paris. He re¬ 
turned with his father in about 18 
months, but soon went back to Europe, 
and attended school in Plolland and a*t 
the University of Leyden. At the age 


of 15 Francis Dana, his father’s secre¬ 
tary of legation, who had been ap¬ 
pointed on a diplomatic mission to 
Russia, took him with him as his pri¬ 
vate secretary. After 14 months’ stay 
in Russia he traveled back alone 
through Sweden and Denmark to The 
Hague. Soon after his father’s ap¬ 
pointment as ambassador at London 
he returned home to complete his 
studies. He graduated at Harvard in 
1788, entered the office of Theophilus 
Parsons, and in 1791 was admitted to 
the bar. He now began to take an 
active interest in politics. He wrote 
a series of letters to the Boston “Sen¬ 
tinel” under the signature of “Publi- 
cola,” in reply to Payne’s “Rights of 
Man,” and in 1793 defended Washing¬ 
ton’s policy of neutrality under the 
signature of “Marcellus.” These let¬ 
ters attracted attention, and in 1794 
Washington appointed him minister to 
The Hague. In 1798 he received a 
commission to negotiate a treaty of 
commerce with Sweden. On the acces¬ 
sion of Jefferson to the presidency he 
was recalled. The Federalist party 
had still sufficient influence in Massa¬ 
chusetts to elect him to the Senate in 
1803. On the question of embargo, he 
abandoned his party. Having lost his 
reelection on this account, he immedi¬ 
ately resigned his seat and retired to 
the professorship of rhetoric at Har¬ 
vard, which he held from 1806 to 1809. 
On the accession of Madison he was 
appointed (1809) ambassador to Rus¬ 
sia. He assisted in negotiating the 
peace of 1814 with England, and was 
afterward appointed resident minister 
at London. On the accession of Mon¬ 
roe to the presidency he was offered 
and accepted the post of Secretary of 
State, and at the expiration of Mon¬ 
roe’s term of office he succeeded him 
in the presidency (1825). In 1831 he 
was returned to Congress by Massa¬ 
chusetts, and represented that State 
till his death, Feb. 21, 1848. 

Adams, Julius Walker, an 
American civil engineer, born in Bos¬ 
ton, Mass., Oct. 18, 1812; took part of 
the course at the United States Mili¬ 
tary Academy; was Colonel of the 
67th New York Volunteers in the Civil 
War; and was the pioneer engineer of 
the East River bridge. He died Dec. 
13, 1899. 




Adams 


Adelsberg 


Adams, Maude, an American act¬ 
ress, born at Salt Lake City, Nov. 11, 
1872; daughter of an actress who was 
leading woman of a stock company in 
that city, under the stage name of Ad¬ 
ams. At 16 years of age Miss Adams 
joined E. H. Sothern’s company in the 
“ Midnight Bell; ” afterward she was 
in Charles Frohman’s stock company, 
and later supported John Drew. She 
made a great success in J. M. Barrie’s 
“ Little Minister ” in 1899-1900. 

Adams, Oscar Fay, an American 
compiler and miscellaneous writer, 
born in Worcester, Mass. 

Adams, Samuel, an American 
statesman and Revolutionary patriot, 
born at Boston, Mass., in 1722. He 
was elected to the Massachusetts legis¬ 
lature in 1765, was a delegate to the 
first Continental Congress in Philadel¬ 
phia, and a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence. He was active in 
framing the constitution of his native 
state, which he served as President 
of the Senate, Lieutenant-Governor 
(1789-1794), and Governor (1794- 
1797). He was zealous for popular 
rights, and fearless in his opposition to 
monarchism. He died in 1803. 

Adams, Sarah. Flower, an Eng¬ 
lish hymn-writer; born at Great Har¬ 
low, Essex, Feb. 22, 1805. In 1834 
she was married to William Bridges 
Adams, a noted inventor. She wrote 
many lyrics and hymns, the most pop¬ 
ular of which is “ Nearer, My God, to 
Thee.” She died in August, 1848. 

Adams, William Taylor, an 
American author and editor, best 
known by the pseudonym “ Oliver Op¬ 
tic ; ” bom July 30, 1822. He was a 
voluminous and highly popular writer 
of fiction for young readers, his works 
including several series of travel and 
adventure. He died March 27, 1897. 

Addams, Jane, an American phi¬ 
lanthropist, born in Cedarville, Ill., 
Sept. 6, 1860. She was graduated at 
Rockford Coliege in 1881, and after 
post-graduate studies in Europe and 
the United States, became an active 
social reformer. She inaugurated in 
1889 the establishment known as Hull 
House, an adaptation of the “ social 
settlement ” plan to Chicago condi¬ 
tions. She has acted as street clean¬ 
ing inspector in Chicago, and has lec¬ 


tured on the improvement of the con¬ 
dition of the poor in great cities. 

Adder, etymologically, nadder, the 
n having been attracted to the article 
and lost. The adder has a broad, tri¬ 
angular head and a short tail. It rare¬ 
ly exceeds two feet in length. In the 
United States the name is popularly 
applied to several snakes, but the true 
adder does not occur. 

Addison, Joseph, an English es¬ 
sayist, son of the Rev. Lancelot Addi¬ 
son, subsequently dean of Lichfield; 
born at his father’s rectory, Milston, 
Wiltshire, May 1, 1672. Died at Hol¬ 
land House, June 17, 1719. He was 
one of England’s greatest writers. 

Beside the independent efforts of his 
own he aspired to be a judge and cen¬ 
sor of the literary productions of oth¬ 
ers, and he was, perhaps, beyond any 
man of his day, well qualified for the 
task. Certainly his judgments had 
less force and perhaps less depth than 
Johnson’s, but they had much more 
breadth, harmony, and completeness, 
were woven with more art into a sys¬ 
tem depending on theoretical princi¬ 
ples, and were delivered with a grace 
and eloquence of which the oracular 
moralist was no master. If his system 
was somewhat shallow, it had probably 
the merit of directing attention more 
to criticism, and preparing the way 
for better and more philosophic stan¬ 
dards of appreciation. Addison was 
buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Ade, George, an American jour¬ 
nalist and author, bom in Indiana in 
1866. He has published fables, etc* 
and is a popular writer. 

Adee, Alvey Augustus, Second 
Assistant Secretary of State of the 
United States since 1886, bora in As¬ 
toria, N. Y., Nov. 27, 1842; appointed 
Secretary of Legation at Madrid, 
1870; Chief of Diplomatic Bureau, 
1878; Third Assistant Secretary of 
State, 1882; Second Assistant Secre¬ 
tary of State, 1886. Appointed Secre¬ 
tary of State ad interim to fill vacan¬ 
cy, Sept. 17 to Sept. 29, 1898; was 
acting Secretary of State during a 
critical period of the Chinese troubles 
in Aug. and Sept. 1900. 

Adelsberg, a town of Austria- 
Hungary, remarkable for stalactical 
caves in its vicinity. The principal 




Adelung 


Administration 


one, in the mouth of which the Poik 
disappears in a vast chasm, extends to 
the distance of two or three miles, and 
is found to terminate in a lake. After 
proceeding 200 yards into it a vast 
gloomy space, called the Dome, form¬ 
ing a hall 300 feet long by 100 feet 
high, is entered. The river is heard 
rushing below, and on crossing it by a 
wooden bridge and ascending a flight 
of steps cut in the rock, a series of 
lofty halls, supported by gigantic con¬ 
cretions resembling lofty Gothic col¬ 
umns, and apparently filled with stat¬ 
ues of exquisite whiteness and delicacy, 
meets the view. 

Adelung, Johann Christoph, a 

German philologist and lexicographer; 
born in Spantekow, Aug. 8, 1732. His 
life was devoted to an exhaustive in¬ 
vestigation of his native language, 
which he traced to its remotest origins 
with a patience and a thoroughness 
that have remained unsurpassed. He 
died in Dresden, Sept. 10, 1806. 

Aden, a peninsula and town be¬ 
longing to Great Britain, on the S. W. 
coast of Arabia, 105 miles E. of the 
strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, the entrance 
to the Red Sea. The peninsula is a 
mass of volcanic rocks, 5 miles long 
from E. to W., and rising to 1,776 
feet. It is joined to the mainland by 
a narrow, level, and sandy isthmus. 
The town is on the eastern shore of the 
peninsula, stands in the crater of an 
extinct volcano, and is surrounded by 
barren, cinder-like rocks. Frequently 
the heat is intense; but the very dry, 
hot climate, though depressing, is un¬ 
usually healthy for the tropics. It has 
a garrison and strong fortifications, 
and a population of over 41,000. 

Adirondack Mountains, the 
highest range in New York State, 
covering an area of about 12,500 
square miles, and occupying parts 
of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and 
Hamilton counties. These mountains, 
the geological formation of which are 
chiefly granite, run in five parallel 
ranges; the highest range, or Adiron¬ 
dack proper, is on the E. side of the 
district, and the peaks rise to a great 
height. Mt. Marcy is 5,345 feet; Gray 
peak, 4,900 feet; White Face, 4,870 
feet, etc. This whole district, some¬ 
times called the Adirondack Wilder¬ 
ness, is covered with dense forests, ex¬ 


cept the tallest peaks, and some of 
these forests are still unexplored. The 
1,000 lakes in the valleys beautifully 
diversify the scenery. 

Adirondack Park, a large district 
principally forest land, set apart by 
the State of New York, in 1892, for 
the protection of the watershed of the 
Hudson and other rivers of the State, 
for public recreation, and for the prac¬ 
tical study of forestry. It covers 
Hamilton county, and parts of Essex, 
Franklin, Herkimer and St. Lawrence 
counties, and contains many moun¬ 
tains and lakes. Area, 4,387 square 
miles. 

Adjutant, in military language, in 
the United States army, an officer se¬ 
lected by the colonel, whose duties in 
respect to his regiment are similar to 
those of an adjutant general with an 
army. Adjutant general: the principal 
organ of the commander of an army in 
publishing orders. The same organ of 
the commander of a corps, or depart¬ 
ment, is styled assistant adjutant gen¬ 
eral. The adjutant general has charge 
of the drill and discipline of the army. 

Adjutant Bird, a large grallato- 
rial or wading bird of Asia belonging 
to the stork family. 

Adler, Felix, an American lecturer 
and scholar, born at Alzey, Germany, 
1851. The son of an eminent Jewish 
rabbi, he emigrated when young to the 
United States, where, and at Berlin 
and Heidelberg, he was educated. Af¬ 
ter being for some time professor at 
Cornell University, he founded in New 
York (1876) the Society of Ethical 
Culture, of which he is lecturer. Sim¬ 
ilar societies have been established 
elsewhere in the United States and in 
other countries. He is an effective 
writer and speaker. He has published 
“Creed and Deed” (1878); “The 
Moral Instruction of Children ” 
(1892). In June, 1902, he was called 
to the newly-created professorship of 
social and political ethics in the de¬ 
partment of philosophy in Columbia 
University. 

Adler, Hermann, a German writ¬ 
er, born in Hanover, May 29, 1839. 
He has lived most of his life in Eng¬ 
land, having been, since 1891, Chief 
Rabbi of the British Empire. 

Administration, in law, the man¬ 
agement of the personal estate of any- 




Admiral 


Adrian IV« 


one dying intestate, or without an 
executor. The word is also applied to 
the official terms of the President of 
the United States, and the Governors 
of States, mayors, etc., and to their 
official advisers. 

Admiral, the title of the highest 
rank of naval officer. The term is de¬ 
rived from the Arabic amir, or emir. In 
entomology, a large butterfly common 
throughout America and Europe; in 
conchology, a shell, formerly valuable 
because of its rarity. 

Admiralty Inlet, a narrow body 
of water, connecting Puget Sound with 
the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

Admiralty Island, a mountain¬ 
ous island, 90 miles long, off the W. 
coast of Alaska, to the N. E. of Sitka; 
belongs to the United States. 

Admiralty Islands, a group of 
40 islands, to the N.E. of New Guinea; 
Basco, the largest of them, being 60 
miles in length, and is mountainous, 
but fruitful. The total area of the 
islands is 878 square miles. Together 
with New Britain and some adjoining 
groups, they were annexed by Ger¬ 
many, in 1885, and now form part of 
the Bismarck Archipelago. 

Adobe, the name given in south¬ 
western America to sun-dried bricks, 
and the structures built of them. 

Adonai, a Hebrew name for the 
Supreme Being; a plural form of 
Adon, “lord,” combined with the pro¬ 
noun of the first person. In reading 
the Scriptures aloud, the Jews pro¬ 
nounce “Adonai” wherever the old 
name “Jhvh” is found in the text, 
and the name Jehovah has risen out 
of the consonants of “Jhvh,” with the 
vowel points of Adonai. 

Adonis, a pheasant’s eye. A genus 
of plants so called because the red 
color of the species made them look as 
if they had been stained by the blood 
of Adonis. It is a beautiful plant, 
with bright, scarlet flowers, and hav¬ 
ing very markedly composite leaves, 
with linear segments. Plants of this 
genus are easily cultivated. 

Adoption, the act of taking a 
stranger into one’s family, as a son or 
daughter; or the taking of a person, a 
society, etc., into more intimate rela¬ 
tions than formerly existed with an¬ 
other person or society; or the taking 


as one’s own, with or without acknow¬ 
ledgment, an opinion, plan, etc., orig¬ 
inating with another; also the selecting 
one from several courses open to a 
person’s choice. 

Adrian, or Hadrian, Pnblins 
-ZElius, a Roman emperor, born at 
Rome, 76 a. d. Entering the army 
quite young, he became tribune of a 
legion, and married Sabina, the heiress 
of Trajan, whom he accompanied on 
his expeditions, and became successive¬ 
ly praetor, governor of Pannonia, and 
consul. On Trajan’s death, in 117, he 
assumed the government, made peace 
with the Persians, and remitted the 
debts of the Roman people. In his 
reign, the Christians underwent a 
dreadful persecution. He built a tem¬ 
ple to Jupiter, on Mount Calvary, and 
placed a statue of Adonis in the 
manger of Bethlehem; he also had im¬ 
ages of swine engraved on the gates 
of Jerusalem, all of which acts indi¬ 
cate a contempt for Christianity. Ad¬ 
rian died at Baiae, in 139. 

Adrian I., Pope, born at Rome; 
succeeded Stephen III. in 772. Adrian 
died after a pontificate of nearly 24 
years, 795. 

Adrian II., bom at Rome; suc¬ 
ceeded Nicholas I. in the papal chair 
in 867. He had been married, and 
had a daughter by his wife Stephania, 
from whom he afterward separated in 
order to live in celibacy. During the 
pontificate of Adrian, Photius, Patri¬ 
arch of Constantinople, withdrew from 
the Church of Rome, from which time 
the schism between the Greek and 
Latin Churches dates, which continues 
to this day. Adrian died in 872, and 
was succeeded by John VIII. 

Adrian IV., the only Englishman 
who was ever raised to the dignity of 
the papal chair, succeeded Anastasius 
IV. in 1154. His name was Nicholas 
Breakespere; and for some time he 
filled a mean situation in the monas¬ 
tery of St. Albans. Being refused the 
habit in that house, he went to France, 
and became a clerk in the monastery 
of St. Rufus, of which he was after¬ 
ward chosen abbot. Eugenius III. 
created him cardinal, in 1146, and, in 
1148, made him legate to Denmark 
and Norway, which nations he con¬ 
verted to the Christian faith. When 
nominated pope, he granted to Henry 




Adriatic Sea 


JBgiaa 


II. a bull for the conquest of Ireland. 
In 1155, he excommunicated the King 
of Sicily; and, about the same time, 
the Emperor Frederic, meeting him 
near Sutinam, held his stirrup while 
he mounted his horse. Adrian took 
the Emperor with him, and conse¬ 
crated him King of the Romans, in 
St. Peter’s church. The next year the 
King of Sicily submitted, and was ab¬ 
solved. Died, supposed of poison, in 
1159. 

Adriatic Sea, a large arm of the 
Mediterranean Sea, extending, in a 
N. W. direction, between the E. coast 
of Italy and the W. coast of the Bal¬ 
kan peninsula, being terminated to the 
S. by the Strait of Otranto, 45 miles 
wide. In the N. it forms the Gulf of 
Venice, and in the N. E. the Gulf of 
Trieste. The W. coast is compara¬ 
tively low and has few inlets, and the 
N. is marshy and edged with lagoons. 
On the other side, the coasts of Illyria, 
Croatia, Dalmatia, and Albania are 
steep, rocky, and barren, with many 
inlets, and begirt with a chain of al¬ 
most innumerable small, rocky islands. 

Adulteration, a term applied to 
the fraudulent mixture of articles of 
commerce, food, drink, drugs, seeds, 
&c., with noxious or inferior ingre¬ 
dients. The chief objects of adultera¬ 
tion are to increase the weight or vol¬ 
ume of the article, to give a color 
which either makes a good article more 
pleasing to the eye or else disguises 
an inferior one, to substitute a cheap¬ 
er form of the article, or the same 
subtances from which the strength has 
been extracted, or to give it false 
strength. Laws against the practice 
have existed since the 13th century; 
it is forbidden in civilized countries. 

Advent, a term applied to cer¬ 
tain weeks before Christmas. An¬ 
ciently, the season of Advent con¬ 
sisted of six weeks, and this is 
still the duration of it in the 
Greek Church. In the Roman Cath¬ 
olic Church, however, and in the 
Protestant Churches that observe Ad¬ 
vent, it only lasts four weeks, begin¬ 
ning with the Sunday nearest St. An¬ 
drew’s Day (Nov. 30), either before 
or after. 

Adventists, a sect in the United 
States, founded by William Miller, 
and sometimes called Millerites, which 


believed that Christ’s second coming 
would occur in October, 1843. When 
their hopes were not realized, the num¬ 
ber of believers decreased. The Ad¬ 
ventists still look with certainty for 
the coming of Christ, but not at a 
fixed time. They are now divided into 
the following bodies: Evangelical, Ad¬ 
vent Christian, Seventh Day, Church 
of God, Life and Advent Union, and 
Churches of God in Jesus Christ. The 
following table gives a summary of the 
various Adventist Churches in the 
United States, as compiled .by “ The 
Independent ” of New York (Jan. 4, 
1900) : 

. Corn- 

Denominations. Mims- Churches muni 
ters 

1. Evangelical. 34 

2. Advent Christian. 912 

3. Seventh Day.372 

4. Church of God... 19 

5. Life and Advent 

Union. 60 

6. Churches of God in 

Jesus Christ. 94 


Total Adventists. 1,491 2,267 89,482 


cants 
30 1,147 

610 26,500 

1.470 55,316 

29 647 

33 3,000 

95 2,872 


Advocate. (1) Originally one 
whose aid was called in or invoked; 
one who helped in any business mat¬ 
ter; (2) In law, at first, one who 

gave his legal aid in a case, without, 
however, pleading. 

Now, in English and American law, 
one who pleads a cause in any court, 
civil or criminal. It is not, properly 
speaking, a technical word, but is used 
only in a popular sense, as synony¬ 
mous with barrister or counsel. 

In the army the judge-advocate is 
the officer through whom prosecutions 
before courts-martial are conducted. 
There is also a judge-advocate-general 
for the army at large. 

.ZEdile, in ancient Rome magis¬ 
trates wffio had charge of public and 
private buildings, of aqueducts, roads, 
sewers, weights, measures, the national 
worship, and, specially when there 
were no censors, public morality. 

iEgean Sea, the old name of the 
gulf between Asia Minor and Greece, 
now usually called the Grecian Archi¬ 
pelago. 

iEgina, a Greek island about 40 
square miles in area, in the Gulf of 
iEgina. 



























c 




















AERONAUTICS 

















iEgis 


Aeronautics 


2E gis, the shield of Zeus, which 
had been fashioned by Hephaestus 
(Vulcan). When Zeus was angry, he 
waved and shook the aegis, making a 
sound like that of a tempest, by which 
the nations were overawed. It was 
the symbol of divine protection. 

tineas, a Trojan prince, the hero 
of Virgil’s great epic. 

^Bneid, one of the great epic poems 
of the world. It was written in Latin 
by Virgil, and published after his 
death, which took place about 16 b. c. 

JEolian, or .3?olic, one of the 
three great dialects of the Greek lan¬ 
guage, the others being the Doric and 
the Ionic. The expression, Attic dia¬ 
lect, often occurs, but this should be 
regarded as the normal type of Greek 
rather than as a divergent dialect of 
that tongue. 

^Bolian Harp, a harp played by 
iEolus—in other words, by the wind. 
It is made by stretching strings of cat¬ 
gut over a wooden sound-box. 

iEolus, the god of the winds, who 
was fabled by the early poets to have 
his seat in the floating island of 
jEolia; but the Latin and later Greek 
poets placed him in the Lipari isles. 
Here the winds were pent up in vast 
caves, it being the duty of iEolus to 
let them loose and to restrain their 
violence, at the pleasure of Jupiter. 

iEpinus, Francis Maria Ulric 
Theodore, a distinguished electrician, 
who was the first to see the affinity 
between magnetism and electricity in 
its full extent. Born at Rostock, Ger¬ 
many, in 1724; died at Dorpat, in Li¬ 
vonia, in 1802. __ 

Aerodynamics, the science which 
treats of the force exerted by air when 
in motion. 

Aeronautics, the art of aerial 
navigation by ballooning and aviation. 
Ballooning involves the use of a bag¬ 
like receptacle which is made in 
various shapes, of silk or other mate¬ 
rial, rendered impervious by a coating 
of rubber, linseed oil or suitable var¬ 
nish, and inflated with hydrogen, coal- 
gas, or other gaseous matter, specifi¬ 
cally lighter than air. Aviation 
discards anything in the shape of a 
balloon and utilizes aeroplanes or lift¬ 
ing and sustaining surfaces, with ap¬ 
paratus heavier than air. Aerosta¬ 
tion or aerostatics, the science of 


weighing air, has, somewhat errone¬ 
ously, become a synonym for aero¬ 
nautics. 

The first form in which the idea of 
aerial locomotion naturally suggested 
itself was that of providing men with 
wings, and the myths of Daedalus and 
Icarus show that the attempts of man 
to soar above the earth commenced in 
prehistoric times. A wooden pigeon 
which sustained itself in the air for a 
few minutes is recorded as having 
been invented by Archytas of Taren- 
tum, 400 years b. c. Suetonius states 
that Simon Magus was killed in Rome 
during the reign of Nero by attempt¬ 
ing to fly from one house to another. 
Friar Roger Bacon (1214-94) con¬ 
structed a machine consisting of a 
pair of hollow copper globes, ex¬ 
hausted of air, which could rise in the 
air supporting a man seated on a 
chair. In the 13th century, Elmerus, 
a monk, is said to have flown more 
than a furlong from the top of a tower 
in Spain. Father Francesco Lana 
(1631-87), an Italian physicist, de¬ 
scribes an ingenious but impracticable 
flying machine. Giovanna Batista 
Dante, a mathematician of Perugia, 
made several flights above Lake 
Thrasimene by means of artificial 
wings attached to the body, near the 
close of the 15th century, but dis¬ 
continued them after an accident. In 
the 17th century, Besnier, a locksmith 
of Sable, France, prudently began to 
leap from one story windows, and at 
last ventured safely on flights from ele¬ 
vated positions, passing over houses, 
and over rivers of considerable breadth. 
Bishop Wilkins, Sir George Caylay 
and others, towards the end of the 
18th century, busied themselves with 
speculation and experiments on the 
subject of aviation. 

Henry Cavendish, about 1766, dis¬ 
covered the great levity of hydrogen 
gas—slightly over 14 times less than 
that of atmospheric air—and the fol¬ 
lowing year Dr. Black, of Edinburgh, 
announced in his lectures that a thin 
bladder, filled with this gas, must 
ascend into the air. Cavallo made the 
requisite experiments in 1782, and 
found that a bladder was too heavy, 
paper not air-tight, but that soap bub¬ 
bles filled with hydrogen rose to the 
ceiling of the room, where they burst. 
The first successful balloon was made 
by the Montgolfier brothers, sons of 




Aeronautics 


Aeronautics 


Peter Montgolfier, a paper manufac¬ 
turer of Annonay, France. It was 
a parallelepiped or six-sided bag of 
silk, containing 40 cubic ft.; inflated 
with hot air from burning paper it 
rose to a height of 36 ft. The brothers, 
after seeing a petticoat sail to the 
ceiling when left to dry by a fire, had 
conceived the idea that a bag filled 
with a cloud-like substance, such as 
smoke, would float in the air. Larger 
machines were constructed with great¬ 
er success in ascension, a straw fire, 
fed by chopped wool from time 
to time, being kindled under the 
aperture of the balloon to produce 
the smoke cloud; the true cause of 
ascension, the rarefaction of the 
heated air, was not discovered till a 
later period. The Montgolfier suc¬ 
cesses led to Charles’ experiments with 
hydrogen gas. Within a short time 
several captive ascents by human be¬ 
ings were successfully made in heated 
air balloons, and on Nov. 21, 1783, 
Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis 
d’Arlandes made the first independent 
aerial expedition rising 3,000 ft. and 
descending safely, though not without 
being exposed to considerable danger, 
9,000 ft. from their starting point. 
Ten days later, on Dec. 1, Messrs. 
Charles and Roberts ascended in a 
hydrogen balloon fitted with a safety 
valve, and travelled over 31 miles. 
Over 52 balloon ascents are recorded 
in 1784. Blanchard, the first profes¬ 
sional aeronaut, with Dr. John Jeffries 
of Boston, crossed the English Chan¬ 
nel from Dover to France, in a heated 
air balloon, Jan. 1, 1785. On June 
14, 1785. Pilatre de Rozier with Mr. 
Romain attempted to cross from the 
French side, in a combination hydro¬ 
gen and heated-air balloon, but the 
machine caught fire 3,000 ft. in the 
air and both men were killed. The 
disaster was caused through unfor¬ 
tunate negligence and the cause of 
aeronautics did not suffer. The para¬ 
chute (q. v.) was invented by Gar- 
nerin, who first made a descent Oct. 22, 
1797. 

Following these early experiments, 
among notable ascensions during the 
19th century taken in the interests of 
science were those of Messrs. Robert¬ 
son and Lhoest in 1803-04, of Gay 
Lussac and Biot in 1804, of Carlo 
Brioschi and Andreani in 1806, of 
Green, the English aeronaut, with 


Messrs. Holland and Mason in 1836, 
of Bixio and Barral in 1850, of Messrs. 
Glaisher and Coxwell in 1862, when 
they reached a height of 7 miles, and 
of Messrs. Camille Flammarion, W. 
de Fonvieville, and Gaston Tissandier, 
1867-69. In July, 1859, Mr. John 
Wise, the American aeronaut with 
Mr. John La Mountain and two 
others made a remarkable journey 
from St. Louis, Mo., to Henderson in 
Jefferson Co., N. Y., a distance of 
1,150 m., in 19 h. 50 m., or at an aver¬ 
age speed of nearly a mile a minute. 
Since the beginning of the 20th cent, 
this has been exceeded only by Count 
de la Vaulx’s flight of 1,200 m. from 
Paris to Russia. 

Regular balloon corps are attached 
to the armies of leading nations, and 
in their interests numerous attempts 
have been made to construct dirigible 
balloons. Gaston and Albert Tissen- 
dier achieved some success in 1884, 
but the first notable dirigible flight 
was that of Col. Renard on Apr. 9, 
1884, when, in a cigar-shaped balloon, 
with a powerful motor and a front 
screw, he left Chalais-Meudon, and re¬ 
turned to his starting point in 23 min¬ 
utes after describing an oblong course 
of five miles. 

Since then aerial navigation has de¬ 
veloped along the lines of dirigible 
balloons and motor aeroplanes. Not¬ 
able successes in dirigible balloons 
have been achieved since 1900, chiefly 
by Santos-Dumont (q. v.), Count de 
la Vaulx of Paris, Count Almerigo of 
Italy, etc.; but although perfect con¬ 
trol has been attained in a wind vary¬ 
ing from 9 to 11 miles an hour, bulk, 
fragility, structural weakness, unreli¬ 
ableness, and inability to carry heavy 
loads have to be overcome before prac¬ 
tical value is ensured. Besides San- 
tos-Dumont’s and other dirigible bal¬ 
loons, “ La Patrie,” built for the 
French government by M. Lebaudy, 
made a successful flight of more than 
80 miles in 1906. Another powerful 
airship is the dirigible balloon designed 
by Louis Godard for the Wellman 
Polar Expedition in 1907. 

Improvements also have made the 
pear-shaped balloon much lighter than 
formerly, in proportion to the area 
of surface, while increasing its safety, 
and success has been attained in ar¬ 
resting the balloon’s progress over 
water by means of floating anchors. 




Aeronautics 


.ZEtius 


These improvements have done much 
to promote the sport of ballooning and 
aero-clubs exist in the principal coun¬ 
tries, allied for the purpose of inter¬ 
national contests. In 1906 the inter¬ 
national race for the James Gordon 
Bennett Cup began at Paris Sept. 30, 
and ended in England the next day. 
The winners were Lieut. Frank P. 
Lahm, United States, member of the 
Aero-Club of America, 1st; Alfredo 
Vonmiller, Italy, 2d; Count de la 
Yaulx, France, 3d. 

Among interesting attempts to solve 
the problem of aviation or flight with 
apparatus heavier than air, towards 
the close of the 19th century, were 
those of Otto Lilienthal of Germany, 
of Hiram S. Maxim, inventor of the 
Maxim gun, and of Prof. S. Langley 
of the Smithsonian Institution. Lilien- 
thal’s apparatus consisted of a system 
of light and extended aeroplanes 
attached to his person, with which 
he could make soaring flights against 
the wind from the summit of a 
hill, the greatest horizontal distance 
passed being about 1,000 ft. His ex¬ 
periments were ended by a fatal fall 
from his machine, Aug. 11, 1896. 
Maxim’s air-ship (see Flying Ma¬ 
chine) consists of a system of super¬ 
posed aeroplanes, mounted on a car 
driven by a steam engine. Prof. 
Langley’s “ aerodrome ” made success¬ 
ful flights in model form, but the ex¬ 
periments for a practical machine 
ended in failure. 

Recent aviators include Serge de 
Bolotoff’s aeroplane, Dr. J. P. Thomas 
of New York’s helecoptere, Prof. G. 
Bell’s tetrajiedral cell kite, etc. M. 
Santos-Dumont, of dirigible balloon 
fame, also achieved success with an 
aviator on Oct. 23, 1906, winning, at 
Paris, the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize 
of $10,000, for the first aerial appli¬ 
ance, unsupported by gas, which 
should successfully accomplish a circle 
of at least one kilometer. 

The problem of aerial navigation lies 
as much in the question of equilibrium 
as in the principle of flight; scientific 
design and better methods of balanc¬ 
ing and guiding have diminished the 
earlier difficulties, and considerable ad¬ 
vance has been made in rising, steer¬ 
ing, remaining in the air, weight-carry¬ 
ing and landing without mishap. Au¬ 
thorities seem to confirm the opinion 
that Orville and Wilbur Wright, 


brothers, of Dayton, O., have solved 
the problem of aviation. For the pur¬ 
poses of protection, details of their 
machine are kept secret, but their 
success is attested by seventeen per¬ 
sons of high repute named by the 
Aero-Club of America. Their longest 
flight, recorded in 1906, was 24£ m. in 
38 min. 3 sec. 

Aeroplane, the sustaining surface 
of some flying machines; it is usually 
made of canvas or oiled silk, spread 
on a light metal or wooden frame. 
The name is also applied to the com¬ 
plete machine. 

TEschines, a celebrated Athenian 
orator, the rival and opponent of De¬ 
mosthenes ; born in Attica, 389 b. c. 
He died in Samos, 314 b. c. 

iEscliylus, the first in order of 
time of the three tragic poets of 
Greece; born in Eleusis, Attica, in 
525 b. c. He died 456 b. c. 

.ZEsculapius, the god of medicine, 
son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis. 

ZEsop, the Greek fabulist, is said to 
have been a contemporary of Croesus 
and Solon, and thus probably lived 
about the middle of the 6th century 
b. c. He is said to have been original¬ 
ly a slave, and to have received his 
freedom from a Samian master. He 
then visited the court of Croesus, and 
is also said to have visited Pisistratus 
at Athens. Finally he was sent by 
Croesus to Delphi to distribute a sum 
of money to each of the citizens. For 
some reason he refused to distribute 
the money, whereupon the Delphians, 
enraged, threw him from a precipice, 
and killed him. No works of A3sop 
are extant, and it is doubtful whether 
he wrote any. Phsedrus turned into 
Latin verse the .33sopian fables cur¬ 
rent in his day, with additions of his 
own. 

^Esthetics, the philosophy or sci¬ 
ence of beauty. The term received 
this application from Baumgarten, a 
German philosopher, who was the first 
modern author to write systematically 
on this subject. 

ZEtion, a Greek painter, whose pic¬ 
tures of the nuptials of Alexander and 
Roxana, shown at the Olympic games, 
obtained for him, although he was 
quite unknown, the daughter of the 
president in marriage. 

ZEtius, a famous general in the 
reign of Valentinian III., Emperor of 
the West. He was stabbed, in 454, by 




JEtolia 


Afghanistan 


Valentinian, who had become jealous 
of his fame and influence. ' He is 
called “ The Last of the Romans.” 

iEtolia, a district of ancient 
Greece, lying on the N. coast of the 
Gulf of Corinth. The ^Etolian con¬ 
federacy, first called into existence 
about 323 b. c., became an important 
rival to the Achaean League. Their 
assembly was styled the Panaetolicon. 
They sided with the Romans against 
the Achaean League, but afterward 
aided Antiochus III. against the Ro¬ 
mans, and were subjugated by the 
Romans in 189 b. c., though not for¬ 
mally included in a Roman province 
till 146. Along with Acarnania, iEto¬ 
lia now forms a department of the 
modern kingdom of Greece, with a 
united area of over 3,000 square miles. 

Affiliation, the adoption of the 
child of another; the act of connection 
with a society. 

Affinity. In ordinary language and 
law, literally, the relationship con¬ 
tracted by marriage between a hus¬ 
band and his wife’s kindred. It is op¬ 
posed to blood-relationship. 

In chemistry, the force by which 
unlike matters are combined to form 
new compounds, with new properties. 

Affirmation, the act of affirming 
in the sense of solemnly declaring in a 
court of law that certain testimony 
about to be given is true. Also, the 
statement made. First, the Quakers 
and Moravians, who objected on con¬ 
scientious grounds to take oaths, were 
allowed to make solemn affirmations 
instead; now, everyone objecting to 
take an oath has the same privilege; 
but, as is just, false affirmations, no 
less than false oaths, are liable to the 
penalties of perjury. 

Affre, Denis Auguste, was born 
Sept. 27, 1793, and, in 1840, on ac¬ 
count of his prudent and temperate 
character, was made Archbishop of 
Paris by the Government of Louis 
Philippe. When, in 1848, a republic 
was proclaimed, he kept aloof from 
political strife, but displayed earnest 
care for the public welfare. During 
the June insurrection, he climbed on 
a barricade in the Place de la Bastille, 
carrying a green bough in his hand, 
as a messenger of peace; but he had 
scarcely uttered a few words, when 
the firing recommenced, and he fell 


mortally wounded, to die next day, 
June 27th. He was the author of sev¬ 
eral theological writings, and of a 
work on Egyptian hieroglyphics. 

Afghanistan, the land of the Af¬ 
ghans, a country in Asia, of a quad¬ 
rangular shape, lying chiefly between 
lat. 30° and 38° N.; Ion. 61° and 75° 
E. It is bounded on the E. mainly by 
India and Indian frontier tribes, S. by 
Baluchistan, W. by Persia, and N. by 
the Russian Transcaspian territory, 
Bokhara, and the Russian Pamir ter¬ 
ritory. The length from E. to W. is 
about 560, the breadth about 450 miles. 
The boundaries have recently been all 
defined, and the area is about 225,000 
square miles. The population is esti¬ 
mated at between 4,000,000 and 
5,000,000. 

Afghanistan consists chiefly of lofty, 
bare, uninhabited table-lands, ranges 
of snow-covered mountains, and deep 
ravines and valleys. Many of the last 
are well watered and very fertile, but 
about four-fifths of the whole surface 
is rocky, mountainous, and unproduc¬ 
tive. 

The inhabitants belong to different 
races, but the Afghans proper form 
the great mass of the people. These 
call themselves Pushtaneh or Pukta- 
neh, Afghans being the Persian name. 
They are an Iranic race, and are di¬ 
vided into a number of tribes, among 
which the Duranis and Ghilzais are 
the most important, the latter being 
the strongest of all the tribes. A tra¬ 
dition, evidently modern and legendary, 
gives them an Israelitish origin. The 
Afghans are bold, hardy, and warlike, 
fond of freedom and resolute in main¬ 
taining it, but of a restless, turbulent 
temper, and much given to plunder. 
Their language is distinct from the 
Persian, though it contains a great 
number of Persian words, and is writ¬ 
ten like the Persian with the Arabic 
characters. In religion the Afghans 
are Mohammedans of the Sunnite sect. 
Other races in Afghanistan are the 
Hazareh, a Mongol race living chiefly 
in the N. W.; the Tajiks, who are a 
remnant of the aboriginal population, 
and are scattered over the country; 
and the Hindkis, an Indian race living 
in the E. 

The boundary between Afghanistan 
and British India was long uncertain, 
but in 1893 an arrangement was come 
























































































































































































































































































































NATIVE KAFFIR HUTS 


A MOHAMMEDAN TEMPLE 




GENERAL VIEW OF KIMBERLY 


A STREET IN CAPE TOWN 



A CAPE TOWN WHARF 


Stereograph* Copyright by H. C. White Co.. N. Y. 


SOUTH 



TOWN HALL, PORT ELIZABETH 

AFRICA 




































Africa 


Africa 


to between the Ameer Abdur-Rah- 
man, and Sir Mortimer Durand. 
The boundary then agreed on was 
demarcated shortly afterward and 
is so drawn as to leave Chitral, 
Bajaur, Swat, Chilas, and Wazir- 
istan to Great Britain, while Af¬ 
ghanistan is given the territories of 
Asmar, Birmal, and Kafiristan. The 
Ameer’s annual subsidy was also in¬ 
creased from 12 to 18 lacs, and restric¬ 
tions on the import of arms, etc., were 
removed. Abdur-Rahman died in Ka¬ 
bul, Oct. 3, 1901. He was succeeded 
by his son, Habibulla Khan, who is 
said to be more friendly to Russian 
influence than his father was, a fact 
which excites much anxiety in Great 
Britain. 

Africa, one of the three great di¬ 
visions of the Old World, and the 
third in area of the five continents, 
lies nearly due S. of Europe and S. 
W. of Asia. It is of a compact form, 
being nearly equal at its extreme 
points in length and breadth. The N. 
section of the continent, however, has 
an average breadth of nearly double 
the S. This great change of form 
arises mostly from the greater pro¬ 
jection of the upper part toward the 
W., and the transition on this side 
from the broad to the narrow section 
is effected suddenly by an inward turn 
of the W. coast, which faces S. for 
nearly 20° of longitude, forming the 
Gulf of Guinea, the greatest indenta¬ 
tion of the coast. 

Africa is united to Asia at its N. E. 
extremity by the Isthmus of Suez, 
now crossed by a great ship canal. 
From this point the coast runs in a 
W. and somewhat N. direction to the 
Strait of Gibraltar, the point of great¬ 
est proximity to Europe. This N. 
coast forms the S. shore of the Med¬ 
iterranean Sea, and brings all the N. 
countries of Africa into close proxim¬ 
ity with the European and Asiatic 
countries lying contiguous to that 
great ocean highway, which formed 
the chief medium of communication 
between the principal divisions of the 
ancient world. 

The center of Africa possesses an 
exuberant tropical vegetation. The 
open pastoral belt at the extremities 
of the tropics is distinguished by a 
rich and varied flora. A special char¬ 
acteristic of the vegetation of the S. 


extremity of Africa is the remarkable 
variety, size, and beauty of the heaths, 
some of which grow to 12 or 15 feet, 
in the fertile parts of Nubia. 

The fauna of Africa is extensive 
and varied, and numerous species of 
mammals are peculiar to the conti¬ 
nent. According to a common view of 
the geographical distribution of ani¬ 
mals, the N. of Africa belongs to the 
Mediterranean sub-region, while the 
rest of the continent forms the Ethi¬ 
opian region. Africa possesses nu¬ 
merous species of the order quadru- 
mana (apes and monkeys), most of 
which are peculiar to it. They abound 
especially in the tropics. The most 
remarkable are the chimpanzee and 
the gorilla. The lion is the typical 
carnivore of Africa. Latterly he has 
been driven from the coast settlements 
to the interior, where he still reigns 
king of the forest. There are three 
varieties, the Barbary, Senegal, and 
Cape lions. The leopard and pan¬ 
ther rank next to the lion among car¬ 
nivora. Hyenas of more than one 
species, and jackals, are found all 
over Africa. Elephants in large herds 
abound in the forests of the tropical 
regions, and their tusks form a prin¬ 
cipal article of commerce. These are 
larger and heavier than those of 
Asiatic elephants. The elephant is 
not a domestic animal in Africa as it 
is in Asia. The rhinoceros is found, 
like the elephant, in Middle and 
Southern Africa. Hippopotami abound 
in many of the large rivers and the 
lakes. The zebra and quagga used to 
abound in Central and Southern Af¬ 
rica, but the latter is said to be now 
entirely extinct. Of antelopes, the 
most numerous and characteristic of 
the ruminating animals of Africa, at 
least 50 species are considered pecu¬ 
liar to this continent, of which 23 
used to occur in Cape Colony. The 
giraffe is found in the interior, and is 
exclusively an African animal. Sev¬ 
eral species of wild buffaloes have 
been found in the interior, and the 
buffalo has been naturalized in the 
N. The camel, common in the N. as 
a beast of burden, has no doubt been 
introduced from Asia. The horse and 
the ass (onager) are natives of Bar¬ 
bary. The cattle of Abyssinia and 
Bornu have horns of immense size, 
but extremely light. In Barbary and 




Africa 


Africa 


the Cape of Good Hope the sheep are 
broad-tailed; in Egypt and Nubia 
they are long-legged and short-tailed. 
Goats are in some parts more nu¬ 
merous than sheep. The ibex breed ex¬ 
tends to Abyssinia. Dogs are numer¬ 
ous, but cats rare, in Egypt and 
Barbary. 

There is a marked distinction be¬ 
tween the races in the N. and E. of 
the great desert and those in the Cen¬ 
tral Sudan and the rest of Africa and 
the S. The main elements of the 
population of North Africa, including 
Egypt and Abyssinia, are Hamitic 
and Semitic, but in the N. the Ham- 
ite Berbers are mingled with peoples 
of the same race as those of prehis¬ 
toric Southern Europe, and other 
types of various origins, and in the 
E. and S. E. with peoples of the negro 
type. The Semitic Arabs are found 
all over the N. region, and even in 
the Western Sahara and Central Su¬ 
dan, and far down the E. coast as 
traders. The Somalis and Gallas are 
mainly Hamitic. In the Central Su¬ 
dan and the whole of the country 
between the desert and the Gulf of 
Guinea the population is pure negro 
— people of the black, flat- or broad¬ 
nosed, thick-lipped type, with narrow 
heads, woolly hair, high cheek-bones, 
and prognathous jaws. Scattered 
among them are peoples of a probably 
Hamitic stock. Nearly the whole of 
the narrow S. section of Africa is in¬ 
habited by what are known as the 
Bantu races, of which the Zulu or 
Kaffir may be taken as the type. 
The languages of the Bantu peoples 
are all of the same structure, even 
though the physical type vary, some 
resembling the true negro, and others 
having prominent noses and compara¬ 
tively thin lips. The Bushmen of 
South Africa are of a different type 
from the Bantu, probably the remains 
of an aboriginal population, while the 
Hottentots are apparently a mixture 
of Bushmen and Kaffirs. Scattered 
over Central Africa, mainly in the 
forest regions, are pigmy tribes, who 
are generally supposed to be the re¬ 
mains of an aboriginal population. 
The bulk of the inhabitants of Mada¬ 
gascar are of Malay affinities. The 
total population is estimated at about 
175,000,000. 

As regards religion, a great pro¬ 


portion of the inhabitants are heath¬ 
ens of the lowest type. Mohamme¬ 
danism possesses a large number of 
adherents in Northern Africa and 
is rapidly spreading in the Sudan. 
Christianity prevails chiefly among 
the Copts of Egypt, the Abyssinians, 
and the natives of Madagascar, the 
latter having been converted in recent 
times. Elsewhere the labors of the 
missionaries have also been attended 
with promising success. Over a great 
part of the continent, however, civil¬ 
ization is at a low ebb, and in the 
Kongo region cannibalism is exten¬ 
sively prevalent. Yet in various re¬ 
gions the natives who have not come 
in contact with a higher civilization 
show considerable skill in agriculture 
and various mechanical arts, as in 
weaving and metal working. Among 
articles exported from Africa are gold 
and diamonds, palm oil, ivory, wool, 
ostrich feathers, esparto, cotton, ca¬ 
outchouc, etc. The total annual trade 
has been estimated at $500,000,000. 

Political Divisions .— By recent ar¬ 
rangements, mainly since 1884, great 
areas in Africa have been allotted to 
Great Britain, France, Germany, Por¬ 
tugal, Belgium, and Italy, as coming 
within their respective spheres of in¬ 
fluence, in addition to colonial pos¬ 
sessions proper. The areas claimed 
by the various European powers in 
Africa may be roughly estimated as 
follows: France, 4,000.000 square 
miles; Great Britain, 2,700,000 square 
miles; Germany, 1,000,000 square 
miles; Portugal, 825,000 square miles; 
Kongo Free State, 900,000 square 
miles; Italy. 200,000 square miles; 
Spain, 80,000 square miles. The 
chief British colonies, properly so 
called, are the Cape Colony and Na¬ 
tal, others being Lagos, Gold Coast, 
Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Mauritius. 
The Transvaal and Orange River Col¬ 
ony have become British possessions 
since the war with the Boers. Al¬ 
though Egypt, like Tripoli, is nom¬ 
inally under Turkey, it is actually 
under British suzerainty. The Kongo 
Free State is under the King of Bel¬ 
gium. Abyssinia and Morocco are 
the chief native African independent 
States. 

Commercial Conditions .— The an¬ 
nual commerce of Africa amounts to 
over $700,000,000, of which $429,000,- 





Agamemnon 


Agapemone 


000 represents the. value of the im¬ 
ports. Necessarily in so large an area 
with so many tribes and peoples who 
keep no records of their transactions, 
a considerable amount of commerce 
must pass without being recorded in 
lany way. 

Railroad development in Africa has 
[been rapid in the past few years and 
seems but the beginning of a great 
system which must contribute to the 
'rapid development, civilization, and 
enlightenment of the “ Dark Conti-^ 
nent.” Already railroads run N. from 
Cape Colony about 1,500 miles and S. 
from Cairo about 1,200 miles, thus 
completing 2,700 miles of the proposed 
“ Cape to Cairo ” railroad, while the 
intermediate distance is about 3,000 
miles. At the N. numerous lines skirt 
the Mediterranean coast, especially in 
the French territory of Algeria and 
in Tunis, aggregating about 2,500 
miles; while the Egyptian railroads 
are, including those under construc¬ 
tion, about 1,500 miles in length. 
Those of Cape Colony are over 3,000 
miles in length, and those of Portu¬ 
guese East Africa and the Transvaal 
are another 1,000 miles in length. In¬ 
cluding all of the railroads construct¬ 
ed or under actual construction, the 
total length of African railways is 
nearly 12,500 miles, or half the dis¬ 
tance around the earth. A large pro¬ 
portion of the railways thus far con¬ 
structed are owned by the several 
colonies or states which they traverse, 
about 2,000 miles of the Cape Colony 
system and nearly all of that of Egypt 
belonging to the state. 

That the gold and diamond mines 
of South Africa have been, and still 
are wonderfully profitable is beyond 
question. The Kimberley diamond 
mines, about 600 miles from Cape 
Town, now supply 98 per cent, of the 
diamonds of commerce, though their 
existence was unknown prior to 1867, 
and the mines have thus been in op¬ 
eration but about 30 years. It is esti¬ 
mated that $350,000,000 worth of 
rough diamonds, worth double that 
sum after cutting, have been produced 
from the Kimberley mines since their 
opening in 1868-1869, and this enor¬ 
mous production would have been 
greatly increased but for the fact that 
the owners of the various mines there 
formed an agreement to limit the out- 
‘ E. 4. 


put so as not to materially exceed 
the world’s annual consumption. 

Equally wonderful and promising 
are the great Witwatersrand gold 
fields of South Africa, better known 
as the Johannesburg mines. Gold 
was discovered there in 1883, and in 
1898 before the Boer War, which 
temporarily suspended work, the an¬ 
nual yield had reached over $55,000,- 
000. Since the opening of the 20th 
century, the development of the prin¬ 
cipal European colonies has progressed 
more rapidly than previously, not¬ 
withstanding the Herreros war in Ger¬ 
man S. W. Africa, and the maladmin¬ 
istration of the Congo Free State. The 
projection of railroads into the inte¬ 
rior from seaboard towns, many to 
eventually connect with the Cape to 
Cairo route, is a powerful factor in 
internal development. On that line, at 
the great Victoria Falls of the Zambesi 
River, a cantilever bridge, 560 ft. long, 
built across the gorge by the American 
Cleveland Bridge Co., was opened in 
1905. Works, costing $3,000,000, 
develop electric power at the falls and 
operate railroads, copper and coal 
mines, within a radius of 600 miles. 

Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and 
Argos, son of Atreus and Eriphyle, 
brother of Menelaus and commander- 
in-chief of the Grecian army at the 
siege of Troy. Returning from Troy, 
Agamemnon was treacherously mur¬ 
dered by his wife; who, during his 
absence, had formed an attachment 
with iEgisthus, son of the noted Thy- 
estes. This catastrophe is the sub¬ 
ject of the “ Agamemnon ” of Aeschy¬ 
lus, one of the most sublime composi¬ 
tions in the range of the Grecian 
drama. 

Agami, a bird, called also the 
trumpeter from the sound which it 
emits. It is about the size of a large 
fowl, is kept in Guiana, of which it is 
a native, with poultry, which it is said 
to defend, and shows a strong attach¬ 
ment to the person by whom it is fed. 

Agape, a love feast, a kind of feast 
held by the primitive Christians in 
connection with the administration of 
the sacred communion. 

Agapemone, the name given by the 
Rev. Henry James Prince, a clergy¬ 
man who seceded from the Englfeh 
Church, to a religious society founded 






Agassiz 


Agave 


on the principle of a community of 
goods, which he established at Char- 
linch, near Taunton, England, in 
1845. New attention was called to 
this sect in September, 1902, when J. 
,H. Smyth Piggott, successor to Prince, 
publicly declared in the church of the 
sect at Clapham, near London, that 
he, in his own person, was Christ, 
who had come again, and was received 
as such by his congregation. An 
angry mob sought to attack him, but 
he was protected by the police. 

Agassiz, Alexander, an Ameri¬ 
can zoologist and geologist, son of J. 
L. R. Agassiz, born in Neuchatel, 
Switzerland, Dec. 17, 1835. He came 
to the United States with his father 
in 1849; graduated from Harvard in 
1855; and received the degree of B. S. 
from the Lawrence Scientific School 
in 1857. In 1859 he went to Cali¬ 
fornia as assistant on the United 
States Coast Survey. From 1860 to 
1865 he was assistant curator of the 
Museum of Comparative Zoology at 
Harvard University; and, from 1866 
to 1869, superintendent of the Calu¬ 
met and Hecla mines, Lake Superior. 
On the death of his father in 1873, he 
was appointed curator of the Museum 
of Comparative Zoology, holding that 
position until he resigned in 1885. In 
1900 he completed a series of deep sea 
explorations for the United States 
government. His chief works are 
“List of Echinoderms ” (1863); 

“ Exploration of Lake Titicaca ” 
(1875-1876) ; “Three Cruises of the 
Blake, a Contribution to American 
Thalassography ” (1880). 

Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolplie, 
a Swiss naturalist; born in Motier, 
Switzerland, May 28, 1807. In 1846 
he came to the United States on a 
lecturing and exploring tour. The 
professorship of zoology and geology 
in Harvard College was offered him in 
1847, and as he had previously been 
offered the use of the United States 
survey vessels for exploring purposes 
he accepted the offer. While at Har¬ 
vard he wrote several volumes, some 
of which were of a popular nature, 
but most of them were devoted to 
scientific research. 

Among his more important works 
were: “ Principles of Zoology,” in 
connection with Dr. A. Gould (1848) ; 
“ Lake Superior, its Physical Char¬ 


acter ” (1850); “Contributions to 

the Natural History of the United 
States ” (4 vols. 1857-1862) ; “ Zo- 
ologie Gen4rale ” (1854); “Methods 
of Study in Natural History ” 
(1863). His contributions to the de¬ 
velopment of the principles of natural 
science in his special departments are 
very numerous and of high authority. 
In 1855 he was enabled by the liber¬ 
ality of Nathaniel Thayer to make, 
for the sake of his failing health, a 
long-contemplated voyage to Brazil. 
He was accompanied by his wife, who 
wrote an account of the voyage. In 
1871 he visited the S. shores both of 
the E. and of the W. coast of North 
America. After some years of un¬ 
successful efforts to get a government 
marine station established, he was en¬ 
abled by private munificence to fit up 
one on Penekese Island in Buzzard’s 
bay. Agassiz’s last work was the or¬ 
ganization of this establishment, of 
which he wrote an account in 1873 
to the British Association. He died 
in Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 14, 1873. 

His widow, Elizabeth Cary Agas¬ 
siz, was born in Boston, Mass., in 
1823, and married in 1850. She close¬ 
ly identified herself with her husband’s 
scientific work, accompanying him on 
many of his travels, and supplement¬ 
ing his researches with her own lit¬ 
erary work. Probably she will be best 
remembered for her early agitation 
for the collegiate education of women, 
and as the president of the Harvard 
Annex, now Radcliffe College, from 
its institution till November, 1899, 
when she resigned. Mrs. Agassiz pub¬ 
lished “ Louis Agassiz; His Life and 
Correspondence,” and was joint au¬ 
thor, with Alexander Agassiz, of 
“Seaside Studies in Natural History.” 

Agate, a mineral classed by Dana 
as one of the <5ryptocrystalline vari¬ 
eties of quartz, some of the other min¬ 
erals falling under the same category 
being chalcedony, carnelian, onyx, 
hornstone, and jasper. 

Agave, an extensive genus of 
plants. The best-known species is the 
American aloe, called maguey by the 
Mexicans. Its hard and spiny leaves 
form impenetrable hedges. The fiber 
makes excellent cordage. The expressed 
juice is employed as a substitute for 
soap; also manufactured into a cider- 




Age 


Agrarian 


like liquor, called pulque by the Mexi¬ 
cans. 

Age, any period of time attributed 
to something as the whole, or part, 
of its duration; as the age of man, the 
several ages of the world, the golden 
age. 

Ageda, the name of a plain, 90 
miles from Buda, where the Jewish 
rabbis held a meeting, in 1050, to de¬ 
bate whether the Messiah had come; 
the question was decided in the nega¬ 
tive. 

Agesilaus, King of Sparta (397- 
360 b. c.) , was elevated to the throne 
chiefly by the exertions of Lysander. 
He was one of the most brilliant sol¬ 
diers of antiquity. He died in his 
84th year. 

Agincourt, now Azincourt, a 

small village in the center of the 
French department of Pas-de-Calais, 
celebrated for a bloody battle between 
the English and French, Oct. 25, 
1415. The battle lasted three hours, 
and was a signal victory for the Eng¬ 
lish, due mainly to the archers. 

Agnew. Cornelius Rea, an 
American physician, born in New 
York, Aug. 8, 1830; Professor of Dis¬ 
eases of the Eye and Ear in New 
York College of Physicians and Sur¬ 
geons. He was a graduate of Colum¬ 
bia College, and later studied in Eu¬ 
rope ; was surgeon-general of the 
State of New York at the beginning 
of the Civil War, when he became 
medical director of the New York 
State Volunteer Hospital. As mem¬ 
ber of the United States Sanitary 
Commission, he contributed largely to 
its success. In 1868, he founded the 
Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital. He 
was interested in the public schools of 
New York; became founder of the 
Columbia College School of Mines, 
and, in 1874, one of the trustees of 
the college. His writings are chiefly 
monographs on diseases of the eye and 
ear. He died April 8, 1888. 

Agnew, David Hayes, an Amer¬ 
ican surgeon and medical writer, born 
Nov. 24, 1818; for many years Pro¬ 
fessor of Surgery at the University of 
Pennsylvania. He died 1892. 

Agnosticism, a word used by 
Professor Huxley, to express the 
thought, that beyond what man can 
know by his senses, or feel by his 


higher affections, nothing can be 
known. Facts, or supposed facts, 
both of the lower and the higher life, 
are accepted, but all inferences de¬ 
duced from these facts as to the ex¬ 
istence of an unseen world, or of 
beings higher than man, are consid¬ 
ered unsatisfactory, and are ignored. 
Agnostics, positivists, and secularists 
have much in common, and many peo¬ 
ple exist to whom any one of the three 
names might be indifferently applied. 

Agouti, a South American animal. 
The agoutis live for the most part 
upon the surface of the ground, not 
climbing nor digging to any depth; 
and they commonly sit upon their 
haunches when at rest, holding their 
food between their forepaws, in the 
manner of squirrels. By eating the 
roots of the sugar-cane, they are often 
the cause of great injury to the plant¬ 
ers. The ears are short, and the tail 
rudimentary. The animal is nearly 2 
feet long. It is found in Guiana, 
Brazil, Paraguay, and some of the 
Antilles. It feeds voraciously on veg¬ 
etable food, especially preferring vari¬ 
ous kinds of nuts. One of the other 
species of agouti is the acouchy. 

Agra. (1) A division of British 
India; area, 10,151 square miles; 
pop., nearly 5,000,000. (2) The cap¬ 

ital of Agra district, on the right 
bank of the Jumna, 139 miles S. 
E. of Delhi, by rail, and 841 miles 
N. W. of Calcutta. The city is 
considered especially sacred through 
Vishnu’s incarnation there as Parasu 
Rama. Pop. (1901) 188,300. 

Agrarian, as adjective (1) gener¬ 
al, pertaining to fields or lands; (2) 
special, pertaining to laws or cus¬ 
toms, or political agitation in connec¬ 
tion with the ownership or tenure of 
land. 

The agrarian laws, in the ancient 
Roman republic, were laws of which 
the most important were those carried 
by C. Licinius Stolo, when tribune of 
the people, in b. c. 367. The second 
rogation, among other enactments, 
provided (1) that no one should oc¬ 
cupy more than 500 jugera (by one 
calculation, about 280, and by an¬ 
other, 333, acres) of the public lands, 
or have more than 100 large and 500 
small, cattle grazing upon them; (2) 
that such portion of the public lands 
above 500 jugera as was in possession 




Agricola 


Agricultural Colleges 


of individuals should - be divided 
among all the plebeians, in lots of 
seven jugera, as property; (3) that 
the occupiers of public land were 
bound to employ free laborers, in a 
certain fixed proportion to the extent 
of their occupation. When, at a later 
period, efforts were made to revive the 
Licinian rogations, such opposition 
was excited that the two Gracchi lost 
their lives in consequence, and this, 
with their other projects, proved 
abortive. It is important to note 
that the land with which the Licinian, 
or agrarian, laws dealt was public 
land, belonging to the State, and not, 
as is popularly supposed, private prop¬ 
erty. The homestead laws of the 
United States are inspired by a pur¬ 
pose similar to the old Roman agrarian 
agitation — the distribution of lands 
among the people. “ Agrarian ” in 
Germany is the name of a political 
party which seeks to secure special 
protection for agricultural products. 

Agricola, Cnseus Julius, Roman 
statesman and general, born in 37 
a. d. He went to Britain in 77 a. d., 
strengthened the Roman power, and 
extended it to the Scotch Highlands. 
He died in 93. 

Agricola, John, a polemical 
writer of celebrity, born at Eisleben, 
Saxony, in 1492; died at Berlin, in 
1566. From being the friend and 
scholar, he became an antagonist, of 
Martin Luther. He entered into a 
dispute with Melanchthon, advocating 
the doctrine of faith in opposition to 
the works of the law, whence the sect 
of which he became leader received 
the name of Antinomians. 

Agricola, Rudolphus, the fore¬ 
most scholar of the “ New Learning,” 
in Germany, was born near Gron¬ 
ingen, in Friesland, Aug. 13, 1443. 
His real name, Roelof Huysmann 
(husbandman), he Latinized into Ag¬ 
ricola ; and from his native place he 
was also called Frisius, or Rudolf of 
Groningen. He died at Heidelberg, 
Oct. 28, 1485. 

Agricultural Chemistry, that 
department of chemistry which treats 
of the composition of soils, manures, 
plants, etc., with the view of improv¬ 
ing practical agriculture. The sci¬ 
ence is comparatively young. The 
most important bases of agricultural 


chemistry to-day are the experimental 
stations which are found in agricul¬ 
tural colleges, and in many of the 
universities in the United States and 
elsewhere. The literature on the sub¬ 
ject is particularly rich. 

Agricultural Colleges, educa¬ 
tional institutions, chiefly under gov¬ 
ernment patronage, for the promotion 
of scientific farming. In 1862, the 
United States Congress passed a so- 
called land grant act, by which land 
scrip, representing 30,000 acres for 
every Senator and Representative, was 
issued to the States and Territories, 
the object being to provide a special 
fund for the creation of State and 
Territorial agricultural colleges. The 
land granted to the States by the act 
of 1862 amounted to somewhat more 
than 10,000,000 acres, which by 1900 
had produced a permanent fund of 
$10,262,944, with lands still unsold 
of the estimated value of $4,062,850, 
the entire proceeds being in round 
numbers somewhat over $14,250,000. 
To this have been added other land- 
grant funds amounting to $1,441,577; 
other permanent funds, $14,442,194; 
farms and grounds, $5,543,108; 
buildings, $16,274,000; apparatus, 
$1,955,859; machinery, $1,373,696; 
libraries, $1,854,942; and miscellane¬ 
ous equipment, $1,997,690, making a 
grand total of permanent plant of the 
value of $58,944,137. On this basis 
65 of these institutions have been es¬ 
tablished. 

Three of the land-grant colleges in 
Southern States (Mississippi, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina), have 
recently established courses of study 
in textile industry, with special ref¬ 
erence to the manufacture of cotton 
goods. These institutions have pro¬ 
vided buildings of regular cotton-mill 
design, equipped with machinery and 
apparatus for textile work. 

The Act of 1862 was supplemented 
by a second (Aug. 30, 1890), so that 
under both acts, each State and Terri¬ 
tory having an agricultural college re¬ 
ceives an appropriation annually from 
the United States treasury for its sup¬ 
port. The past few years have wit¬ 
nessed the establishment of short 
courses of study in agriculture, dairy¬ 
ing, mechanic arts, household econ¬ 
omy, etc., for persons who cannot 
take a regular course. 








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MOWERS AND HAY RAKE 


HARVESTING — OLD AND NEW METHODS 


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Agriculture 


Aguardiente 


Agriculture, the art of cultivating 
the ground more especially with the 
plow and in large areas or fields, in 
order to raise grain and other crops 
for man and beast; including the art 
of preparing the soil, sowing and plant¬ 
ing seeds, removing the crops, and also 
the raising and feeding of cattle or 
other live stock. This art is the basis 
of all other arts, and in all countries 
is coeval with the first dawn of civiliza¬ 
tion. At how remote a period it must 
have been successfully practised in 
Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China we 
have no means of knowing. Egypt 
was renowned as a wheat country in 
the time of the Jewish patriarchs, who 
themselves were keepers of flocks and 
herds rather than tillers of the soil. 
During the Middle Ages agriculture ad¬ 
vanced but slowly, the tools remained 
unchanged, and the work was done la¬ 
boriously and by rule of thumb, with¬ 
out thought of scientific methods. The 
first treatise on farming in English, 
was published in 1534, but it was not 
until more than 200 years later that 
real progress was made, after the 
introduction of clover into English 
fields. Potatoes were cultivated in the 
16th century, and early in the 17th 
the Dutch gave particular attention to 
the cultivation of root crops. So each 
decade saw some improvement and 
growth, but it was not until the devel¬ 
opment of the virgin lands of the 
United States called for improved ma¬ 
chinery and methods, that agriculture 
advanced with leaps and bounds. Un¬ 
der scientific culture, old lands are re¬ 
claimed and made as fruitful as ever; 
irrigation and the choice of crops 
suited to the soil, bring into profitable 
use lands once so hopeless as to be 
called desert, and the world’s food sup¬ 
ply promises to keep up with the 
growth of population. 

As a result of the new conditions, to 
be a thoroughly trained and competent 
agriculturist requires a special educa¬ 
tion, partly theoretical, partly practi¬ 
cal. In particular, no scientific culti¬ 
vator can now be ignorant of agricul¬ 
tural chemistry, which teaches the con¬ 
stituents of the various plants grown 
as crops, their relation to the various 
soils, the nature and function of differ¬ 
ent manures, &c. In most countries 
there are now agricultural schools or 
colleges supported by the state. In the 


United States nearly all the states 
have colleges, or departments of col¬ 
leges, devoted to the teaching of agri¬ 
culture, and large allotments of public 
land have been made for their support. 
In Germany such institutions are nu¬ 
merous, and highly efficient. For teach¬ 
ing agriculture practically model farms 
are commonly established. In many 
countries too there is a ministry of ag¬ 
riculture, one of the important depart¬ 
ments of government as in the United 
States, where latest available statistics 
(1900), show the quantities of the 
chief crops raised each year to be ap¬ 
proximately : wheat 2,613 million bush¬ 
els ; corn, 2,825 million bushels; rye, 
1,608 million bushels; barley, 930 mil¬ 
lion bushels; oats, 3,055 million bush¬ 
els ; potatoes, 4,166 million bushels; 
cotton, 7,535 million pounds; tobacco, 
444 million pounds, and wool, 2,641 
million pounds. 

Agriculture, Department of, 

an executive department of the United 
States Government, established by 
Congress in 1889; originally a bureau. 
It disseminates throughout the United 
States, by daily, monthly, and annual 
reports, the latest and most valuable 
agricultural information, and intro¬ 
duces and distributes new and desir¬ 
able seeds, plants, etc. It includes the 
Weather Bureau, Bureau of Animal 
Industry, an herbarium, a museum, a 
laboratory, propagating gardens, a 
library, and other useful adjuncts. 

Agrippa II., Herod, tetrarch of 
Abilene, Galilee, Iturea and Trachon- 
itis, born in 27 a. d. During his 
reign he enlarged Caesarea Philippi 
and named it Neronias, in honor of 
Nero. He also beautified Jerusalem 
and Berytus, making the latter his 
capital. Maintained in his power by 
the Romans, he remained faithful to 
their interests, and tried to dissuade 
the Jews from rebelling. After the 
fall of Jerusalem he retired to Rome, 
where he died. Before him the Apos¬ 
tle Paul made his memorable defense. 

Aguardiente, a popular spirituous 
beverage of Spain and Portugal, a 
kind of coarse brandy, made from red 
wine, from the refuse of the grapes 
left, in the wine press, etc., and gener¬ 
ally flavored with anise. The same 
name is also given to a Mexican alco¬ 
holic drink distilled from the fer¬ 
mented juice of the agave. 




Ague 


Air-engine 


Ague, an intermittent fever, in 
whatever stage of its progress or 
whatever its type. A person about to 
be seized by it generally feels some¬ 
what indisposed for about a fortnight 
previously. Then he is seized with a 
shivering fit, which ushers in the cold 
stage of the disease. This passes at 
length into a hot stage, and it again 
into one characteristic of great per¬ 
spiration, which carries off the disor¬ 
der for a time. The remedy is quinine 
or some other anti-periodic. 

Aguilar, Grace, an English nov¬ 
elist, born at Hackney, June 2, 1810; 
was the daughter of Jewish parents of 
Spanish origin. She died in Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main, Sept. 16, 1S47. 

Aguinaldo, Emilio, a leader in 
the Philippine insurrection of 1896, and 
their chief in the Spanish-American 
War of 1898. He was born at Imus, 
in the island of Luzon, in 1870, and 
received all the advantages of such 
educational facilities as existed in 
Manila under the Spanish rule. In 
course of time he became mayor of 
Cavite Viejo, and because of the inter¬ 
est he took in the troubles of 1896, 
was forced to go to Hong Kong, re¬ 
maining there in exile on condition of 
a considerable payment by Spain. He 
returned in 1898, and succeeded in rais¬ 
ing a revolt against Spain. He or¬ 
ganized a provisional government in 
June 1898, of which he became presi¬ 
dent later. During the next year he 
attacked the American troops, and aft¬ 
er many conflicts was captured by a 
stratagem, and in 1901 took the oath 
of allegiance to the United States and 
ceased to be a troublesome factor in 
the Philippine problem. He proved 
himself to be a man of great cunning, 
of marked ability, and of extraordi¬ 
nary personal magnetism. 

Ahasuerus, a King of Persia, the 
husband of Esther, to whom the 
Scriptures ascribe a singular deliver¬ 
ance of the Jews from extirpation, 
which they commemorate to this day 
by the annual feast of Purim. 

Alimedabad, (better Ahmadabad), 
chief town of a district in Guzerat, 
India, second among the cities of the 
Province of Bombay. Pop. 148,412. 

Ahriman, a Persian deity, the de¬ 
mon or principle of evil, the principle 
of good being Oromasdes or Ormuzd. 


Ai, a species of sloth, with three 
toes, on each foot, in this respect dif¬ 
fering from the unau, which has but 
two. It extends from Brazil to Mexico. 

Ailanthus, Aliantus, or Alian- 
thus, a tree introduced into the Uni¬ 
ted States in 1784. During the first 
half-dozen years it outstrips almost 
any other deciduous tree, the leading 
stems grow 12 or 15 feet in a single 
season. In four or five years, there¬ 
fore, it forms a bulky head, but after 
that period it advances more slowly. 
The odor of ailanthus trees is disgust¬ 
ing to many persons, and for this rea¬ 
son they are not so much in favor as 
when first introduced. 

Ainu, or Aino, the name of an un¬ 
civilized race of people inhabitating the 
Japanese island of Yezo, as also Sag- 
lialien, and the Kurile Islands, and be¬ 
lieved to be the aboriginal inhabitants 
of Japan. They do not average over 5 
feet in height, but are strong and ac¬ 
tive. They have matted beards 5 or 6 
inches in length, and black hair which 
they allow to grow till it falls over 
their shoulders. Their complexion is 
dark brown, approaching to black. 
They worship the sun and moon, and 
pay reverence to the bear. They sup¬ 
port themselves by hunting and fishing. 

Air, the gaseous substance of which 
our atmosphere consists, being a me¬ 
chanical mixture of 79.19 per cent, by 
measure of nitrogen and 20.81 per 
cent, of oxygen. The latter is abso¬ 
lutely essential to animal life, while 
the purpose chiefly served by the nitro¬ 
gen appears to be to dilute the oxygen. 
Oxygen is more soluble in water than 
nitrogen, and hence the air dissolved 
in water contains about 10 per cent, 
more oxygen than atmospheric air. The 
oxygen therefore available for those 
animals which breathe by gills, is very 
much diluted with water. 

Air-brake. See Brake. 

Air-engine, an engine in which air 

heated, and so expanded, or compressed 
air is used as the motive power. They 
may be said to be essentially similar in 
construction to the steam-engine, 
though the expansibility of air by heat 
is small compared with the expansion 
that takes place when water is con¬ 
verted into steam. Engines working 
by compressed air have been found 
very useful in mining, tunneling, &c., 




Air-gun 


Alabama 


and the compressed air may be con¬ 
veyed to its destination by means of 
pipes. In such cases the waste air 
serves for ventilation and for reducing 
the oppressive heat. 

Air-gun, an instrument for the 
projection of bullets by means of con¬ 
densed air, generally in the form of an 
ordinary gun. 

Air-pump, an apparatus by means 
of which air or other gas may be re¬ 
moved from an inclosed space; or for 
compressing air within an inclosed 
space. An ordinary suction-pump for 
water is on the same principle as the 
air-pump ; indeed, before water reaches 
the top of the pipe the air has been 
pumped out by the same machinery 
which pumps the water. An ordinary 
pump consists essentially of a clyinder 
or barrel, having a valve opening from 
the pipe through which water is to 
rise and a valve opening into the out¬ 
let pipe, and a piston fitted to work in 
the cylinder. 

Airships. See Aeronautics ; 
Aeroplane ; Balloon ; Flying Ma¬ 
chine. 

Aix-la-Chapelle (Ger. Aachen), 
the capital of a district in Rhenish 
Prussia, situated in a fertile hollow, 
surrounded by heights, and watered by 
the Wurm, 39 miles W. by S. of 
Cologne. Pop. 135,250. 

Ajaccio, the chief town of the 
Island of Corsica, which forms a De¬ 
partment of France. It is the hand¬ 
somest city of Corsica, and the birth¬ 
place of Napoleon I., whose house is 
still to be seen. Pop. 18,846. 

Ajax, the name of two heroes of 
the Trojan War. Ajax, son of Tela¬ 
mon, King of Salamis, was next in 
warlike prowess to Achilles. 

Akbar, “ the Great,” properly Jel- 
al-eddin Mohammed, born in Sind, In¬ 
dia, 1542. He founded the Mogul 
Empire and ruled beneficently. He 
died at Agra, Oct. 13, 1605. 

Aked, Charles F., Baptist minis¬ 
ter, born in Nottingham, England, in 
1864. He was educated at the Mid¬ 
land Baptist College and University 
College, and before becoming a min¬ 
ister was a sheriff’s auctioneer. He 
became pastor of Pembroke Chapel, 
Liverpool, visited the U. S. several 
times, and in 1907 became pastor of the 
Fifth Ave. Baptist Church, N. Y. C. 


Akenside, Mark, an English poet; 
born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nov. 9, 
1721. He died June 23, 1770. 

Akers, Benjamin Paul, an 

American sculptor, born in 1825. 
Studied in Florence and was especial¬ 
ly noted for the rapidity of his work. 
He died in May, 1861. 

Alabama, a State in the South 
Central Division of the North Amer¬ 
ican Union; bounded by Tennessee, 
Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and the 
Gulf of Mexico; gross area, 52,250 
square miles, admitted into the Union, 
Dec. 14, 1819; seceded, * Jan. 11, 1861; 
readmitted, June 25, 1868; number of 
counties, 66; pop. (1890) 1,513,017; 
(1900)1,828,697; capital, Montgomery. 

The State has large wealth in its 
mineral resources, which include coal, 
iron, asbestos, asphalt, pottery and 
porcelain clays, marble, granite, phos¬ 
phates, natural gas, gold, silver, and 
copper. The most valuable of these 
at present are coal and iron. The 
coal is all bituminous, and the iron is 
red and brown hematite. 

In the S. part of the State the soil 
is a light alluvial and diluvial; in the 
central, the cotton belt, limestone and 
chalk lands predominate; and in the 
N. part, which contains the Tennessee 
valley, there are very rich mineral 
lands. Besides the agricultural, min¬ 
eral, and grazing lands, there are large 
tracts of valuable yellow pine forests. 
The most valuable productions are cot¬ 
ton and corn. 

The school population is estimated 
at 621,600, of whom nearly 350,000 
are enrolled in the public schools, and 
over 222,000 are in daily attendance. 
There are over 7,000 public schools, 
white and colored pupils being taught 
separately; 7,500 teachers; public 

school property valued at $1,500,000. 
For higher instruction, there are 48 
public high schools; 66 private sec¬ 
ondary schools; 6 public and 3 private 
normal schools; 9 universities and col¬ 
leges for men and for both sexes; 9 
colleges for women; and a State Agri¬ 
cultural and Mechanical College at 
Auburn. The principal universities 
and colleges are the University of Ala¬ 
bama (opened 1831; non-sectarian); 
the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial 
Institute (1881) ; Blount College 
(1890; non-sectarian) ; Howard Col¬ 
lege (1841; Baptist); Southern Uni- 




Alabama Claims 


Alamo 


versity (1859; Methodist Episcopal, 
South); Lafayette College (1885; 
non-sectarian) ; Lineville College 
(1890; non-sectarian) ; St. Bernard 
College (1892; Roman Catholic) ; 
Alabama Baptist Colored University 
(1878; Baptist) ; Bailey Springs Uni¬ 
versity (1893; non-sectarian); Jud- 
son Female Institute (1839; Bap¬ 
tist) ; Isbell College (1849; Presby¬ 
terian) ; Athens Female College 
,(1842; Methodist Episcopal, South) ; 
and the Alabama Conference Female 
College (1855; Methodist Episcopal). 

The strongest denominations numer¬ 
ically in the State are the Baptist; 
Methodist Episcopal, South; Roman 
Catholic; Methodist Episcopal; and 
the Protestant Episcopal. 

The total length of railroads within 
the State, Jan. 1, 1900, was 4,226 
miles, of which 141.35 miles were con¬ 
structed during the previous year stim¬ 
ulated. by the great development in the 
coal, iron, and manufacturing indus¬ 
tries. A. ranks fifth among coal-pro¬ 
ducing states with an annual output 
of nearly 10,000,000 short tons; iron 
yields nearly 3,000,000 tons. The cot¬ 
ton crop is over 1,010,000 bales an¬ 
nually. 

The new constitution adopted in 
1901, restricts the suffrage in several 
ways, and provides for the election of 
State officers and legislators once 
every four years. 

Alabama Claims, a series of 
claims made in 1871 by the United 
States against the English Govern¬ 
ment for damage's done to shipping 
during the Civil War, after a formal 
discussion between the two govern¬ 
ments in 1865, and fruitless conven¬ 
tions for their settlement in 1868 and 
1869. These damages were inflicted 
chiefly by the “ Alabama,” an armed 
vessel of the Confederate States, 
which was fitted out in a British port 
and permitted to sail in violation of 
existing international law. A tribunal, 
created in 1871 to pass upon these 
claims, held its sessions in Geneva, 
Switzerland, during the year 1872, 
and awarded the United States the 
sum. of $15,500,000 in gold, in satis¬ 
faction of all claims at issue. The 
Geneva tribunal was important as es¬ 
tablishing an example of arbitration 
in place of war in the settlement of 
international differences, which, in this 


case, barely averted a war, and in de¬ 
fining the attitude of neutrals toward 
nations at war. 

Alabama, The, a Confederate 

cruiser which devastated American 
shipping during the Civil War. She 
was a bark-rigged steamer of 1,040 
tons, built under secret instructions 
at Birkenhead, England. Her desti¬ 
nation was suspected by the United 
States minister, but when orders for 
her detention were finally obtained, 
she had departed (July 31, 1862). 
She made for the Azores, where she 
was equipped and manned by an Eng¬ 
lish crew, under the command of Capt. 
Raphael Semmes, of Maryland. She 
then proceeded to capture and burn 
vessels bearing the American flag, and 
the destruction wrought in less than 
two years amounted to 65 vessels, and 
about $4,000,000 in property. In 
June, 1864, she put into Cherbourg, 
France, for repairs. Here she was in¬ 
tercepted by the Federal corvette 
“ Kearsarge,” Captain Winslow, and, 
after an hour’s severe battle, the Ala¬ 
bama was sunk. The vessel was vir¬ 
tually a British privateer, and the 
course of the British authorities in 
permitting her to leave on her mission 
of piracy showed connivance and sym¬ 
pathy with the Confederacy (see Ala¬ 
bama Claims preceding). When 
the Alabama was sinking, a private 
British yacht, in rescuing survivors 
(including Captain Semmes), also 
saved them from capture by the Fed¬ 
eralists. 

Alabaster, In mineralogy, mas¬ 
sive gypsum, white, delicately shaded 
or banded. 

Aladdin, the hero of an Arabian 
Nights’ tale. A poor boy in China, he 
secures, possession of a lamp and ring 
possessing magical powers. Rubbing 
the lamp brings to the service of the 
owner the powers of the slave of the 
lamp, who gratifies every desire. The 
lamp is lost, but the slave of the ring 
enables Aladdin to recover it, and he 
lives happily ever afterwards, enjoying 
wealth and health. 

Alamo, Tbe, a mission church at 
San Antonio, in what is now Bexar 
co., Tex.; converted into a fort. In 
1836 it was occupied by about 150 of 
the revolutionists in the Texan War 
of Independence. Though attacked 















V 












. 





















* 











BOUND FOR THE KLONDIKE 



AT FOOT OF CHILKOOT PASS 



HOME IN THE BRUSH 


PROSPECTING FOR GOLD 


BURNING DOWN A HOLE 



GOLD MINERS AT WORK 




Stereographs Copyright by B. L t Single?, N, Y. 


ALASKA 




















Alarcon 


Albania 


by 4,000 Mexicans under Santa Ana, 
the Texans held it from Feb. 23 to 
March 6, when Santa Ana took it by 
storm. All but seven of the garrison 
perished, six of these being murdered 
after their surrender, and one man 
escaping to report the affair. In this 
garrison were the celebrated David 
Crockett and Col. James Bowie, in¬ 
ventor of the bowie-knife. The mem¬ 
ory of this massacre became an incite¬ 
ment to the Texans in subsequent 
encounters, and “ Remember the 
Alamo! ” became a war-cry in their 
struggle for freedom. 

Alarcon, Hernando, a Spanish 
navigator; flourished in the 16th cen¬ 
tury ; leader of an expedition to Mex¬ 
ico, which set sail in 1540. He proved 
that California was a peninsula and 
not an island, as had been supposed 
previously. He penetrated in boats a 
considerable distance up the Colorado 
river. On his return to New Spain 
he made a valuable map of the Cali¬ 
fornia peninsula. 

Alaric, a celebrated conqueror, 
King of the Visigoths. In 410 he cap¬ 
tured Rome, and his troops pillaged 
the city for six days, Alaric, who was 
an Arian Christian, like his people, 
forbidding his soldiers to dishonor 
women or destroy religious buildings. 
He died, the same year, at Cosenza, in 
Calabria, only 34 years of age. Legend 
tells that, to hide his remains from 
the Romans, they were deposited in 
the bed of the river Busento, and that 
the captives who had been employed 
in the work were put to death. 

Alaska, an unorganized Territory 
in the Western Division of the North 
American Union, comprising the ex¬ 
treme northwestern part of the Amer¬ 
ican continent; bounded by the Arctic 
and Pacific Oceans, Bering Sea, Brit¬ 
ish Columbia, and the Northwest Ter¬ 
ritories of Canada; gross area, as far 
as determined, 581,107 square miles; 
purchased from Russia, in 1867, for 
$7,200,000; given a territorial dis¬ 
trict government in 1884. The popu¬ 
lation by latest census was 63,592, but 
owing to gold discoveries is probably 
much larger now. 

Gold, copper, coal and iron de¬ 
posits abound and with the building 
of railroads, smelters and towns, in 
1906-07, the yield of valuable 


metal promises to be larger than ever 
before. 

The waters of Alaska contain over 
100 species of food fish, but the 
principal fisheries are those confined 
to salmon, cod and herring. In con¬ 
nection with the Alaska coast there 
are at least 125,000 square miles 
of cod fishing banks, the greater 
part of which still awaits develop¬ 
ment. Whales and halibut also 
abound, but as yet they do not sup¬ 
port distinct industries. 

When the United States acquired 
this region, and till gold mining 
set in, fur sealing was the only 
industry. So far there has been but 
little done in the line of systematic 
farming/ Congress made an appro¬ 
priation in 1897 to investigate agri¬ 
cultural possibilities. Oats, wheat, 
rye, barley, and buckwheat, among 
cereals; potatoes, turnips, peas, 
onions, and many minor vegetables; 
a variety of fruit and excellent hay 
are grown to advantage. 

The government is of a tentative 
character, under the authority of 
a governor appointed by the Pres¬ 
ident for a term of four years, at 
an annual salary of $3,000. There 
are judicial, customs, and military 
officers, and, excepting where other¬ 
wise provided, the general laws are 
those established in Oregon. 

Alaska was discovered by Bering 
in 1741, and Russian settlements 
were made to a considerable dis¬ 
tance southward. In 1799 the Terri¬ 
tory was granted to a Russian com¬ 
pany by the Emperor Paul VIII., and 
in 1867 it passed to the United States 
by treaty with Russia on payment of 
$7,000,000. It has proved a profitable 
investment. (For dispute with Great 
Britain concerning the boundary, see 
United States). 

Albani, Marie Emma (Lajeu- 

nesse), a dramatic soprano and opera 
singer, born in 1852, at Chambly, 
near Montreal, Canada. After study¬ 
ing with Lamperti, at Milan, she made 
her debut at Messina (1870), in “ La 
Sonnambula,” under the name Albani, 
in compliment to the city of Albany, 
where her public career began. In 
1878 she married Ernest Gye, of the 
Covent Garden Theater. 

Albania, the name given to a re¬ 
gion of West European Turkey be- 





Alban 


Albert Edward 


tween the Adriatic Sea, Greece, Mace¬ 
donia, and Montenegro. The inhab¬ 
itants form a peculiar people, the 
Albanians, called by the Turks Ar- 
nauts, and by themselves Skipetar. 
The Albanians are half civilized 
mountaineers, frank to a friend, 
vindictive to an enemy. They are 
constantly under arms, and are more 
devoted to robbery than to cattle 
rearing and agriculture. They live 
in perpetual anarchy, every village 
being at war with its neighbor. 
Many of them serve as mercenaries 
in other countries, and they form the 
best soldiers of the Turkish army. At 
one time the Albanians were all Chris¬ 
tians ; but after the death of their last 
chief, the hero Skanderbeg, in 1467, 
and their subjugation by the Turks, a 
large part became Mohammedans. They 
have taken a terrible part in the mas¬ 
sacres in Macedonia of September, 
1903. 

Alban, St., the first Christian mar¬ 
tyr in Great Britain, lived in the 3d 
century. After having served seven 
years as a soldier under the Emperor 
Diocletian, he returned to Britain, 
embraced Christianity, and suffered 
martyrdom in the great persecution of 
Diocletian. 

Albany. A city of the United 
States, capital of the State of New 
York, with a population of about 
95,000. Settled by the Dutch in 1610- 
14. The State capitol is one of the 
grandest buildings in America. Al¬ 
bany has a university, an observatory, 
and a State Library with over 90,000 
volumes. 

Albany Congress, an assembly of 
representatives of the most important 
British North American colonies, which 
was called together in 1754 by the 
British Government to consult in re¬ 
gard to the threatening French war. 
Two plans were proposed: First, a 
league with the Indians, which was 
carried out, and, second, a proposal 
offered by Franklin for a political 
union. In this a common president 
was proposed and a great council, rep¬ 
resenting the different colonies. This 
plan was rejected by the British crown, 
because it gave too much power to the 
colonies, and by the colonies because 
it gave too much power to the crown. 
The significance of this congress lies 
in the fact that it stimulated the union 


of the colonies which was afterward 
accomplished. 

Albany, The, one of two cruisers 
built in Newcastle, England, for the 
Brazilian Government and purchased 
by the United States Government just 
before the declaration of war against 
Spain in 1898. 

Albatross, a genus of natatorial 
birds. It is one of the largest of ma¬ 
rine birds, as its wings, when extend¬ 
ed, measure from 10 to 12 feet from 
tip to tip. 

Albay, a province in the S. E. part 
of Luzon, Philippine Islands, and the 
richest hemp-growing district on the 
island. Pop. (1900) 195,129. 

Albert I., Margrave of Branden¬ 
burg, surnamed the Bear, from his 
heraldic emblem, was the son of Otto 
the Rich, Count of Ballenstadt. In 
1164 he went on a crusade to the Holy 
Land. He-died in 1170. The origin 
of Berlin, Kolln, Aken on the Elbe, 
and other towns, is attributed to the 
colonies founded by him. 

Albert, Prince (Albert Francis 
Augustus Charles Emmanuel), 
Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, hus¬ 
band of the late Queen Victoria, 
of England; the second son of Er¬ 
nest I., Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and 
of his first wife Louise, only 
daughter of the Duke of Saxe- 
Gotha; born Aug. 26, 1819. He died 
Dec. 14, 1861, after a short illness, 
and was buried in St. George’s Chapel, 
Windsor, whence his remains were 
afterward removed to the mausoleum 
built by the queen at Frogmore. 

Alberta, a n. w. province of Can¬ 
ada (the former Territory of Alberta 
with parts of Athabaska and Assini- 
boia, organized 1881), admitted to the 
Federation, Sept. 1, 1905. It lies n. 
of Montana, U. S., and e. of British 
Columbia, with the Rocky Mountains 
as the w. frontier. Area, 253,540 sq. 
m.; pop. 72, 841. From the peaks 11,- 
000 to 13,000 ft. high, with abundant 
forests, coal and other minerals in the 
foothills, the land slopes n., e., and s., 
to well-watered rolling prairies, con¬ 
taining the great cattle ranges of 
Canada, of which the chief centres are 
McLeod, and Calgary, the capital. 
Sheep are raised in the south and cat¬ 
tle and horses in the north. Around 
the growing towns of Lethbridge and 




Albert 


Albret 


Raymond. Mormons from Utah and 
Idaho, with irrigation works, have 
placed large tracts under wheat and 
beet cultivation, and facilitated bv 
neighboring coal fields work flour and 
sugar mills, exporting the products. 
The Canadian Pacific R. R. Co. is 
placing 1,500,000 acres of land under 
irrigation between Calgary and Medi¬ 
cine Hat, and in 1907 with nearly 
150.000 acres ready for occupation 
were offering great inducements to 
northern American farmers to settle 
in the district. 

Albert Coal or Albertite, a 

pitch-like mineral first discovered in 
Albert Co., New Brunswick. It occurs 
in the lower carboniferous group 
and is lighter in weight per bulk com¬ 
pared to coal; it is used for fine var¬ 
nishes, for enriching gas, etc., and its 
selling price in Boston reached $45 
per ton. It is not a true coal. It will 
ignite from a match and burn like a 
candle, leaving a fine, almost impal¬ 
pable residue. It was named after 
Albert, Prince Consort. 

Albert Edward, Prince of 
Wales, from 1841 to 1901, the name 
and title of Edward VII. (q. v.). 

Alberti, Leone Battista, an em¬ 
inent Italian architect, philosopher, 
writer on art, and poet; born in Ven¬ 
ice, Feb. 18, 1404; died in Rome, 
April, 1472. 

Albertns Magnus, or Albert 
tbe Great, Count of Bollstadt, Bish¬ 
op of Ratisbon, a distinguished scholar 
of the 13th century; born in Lauin- 
gen, Suabia, in 1193, or according to 
some authorities in 1205. Among the 
sciences studied or illustrated by him 
were chemistry, botany, mechanics, 
optics, geometry, and astronomy. He 
fell into dotage some time previous to 
his death, in 1280. Albertus was 
probably the most learned man of his 
age, and of course did not escape the 
imputation of using magical arts and 
trafficking with the Evil One. 

Albigenses, a religious sect op¬ 
posed to the Church of Rome, coming 
first into prominence in the 12th cen¬ 
tury, and taking its name from Albiga, 
the old form of Albi, a city of South¬ 
ern France, now capital of the de¬ 
partment of Tarn. What their doc¬ 
trines were has not been determined, 
as no formal statement of them was 


ever drawn up. They inveighed against 
the vices and worldliness of the clergy, 
and there was sufficient truth in their 
censures to dispose their hearers to be¬ 
lieve what they advanced, and reject 
what they decried. They had increased 
very much toward the close of the 
12th century in the S. of France, 
about Toulouse and Albi, and in Ray¬ 
mond, Count of Toulouse, they found 
a patron and protector. As the con¬ 
demnation of their doctrines by the 
Church produced no effect, ecclesias¬ 
tical officials were specially sent by 
the Pope to endeavor to extirpate the 
heresy. The assassination of the 
papal legate and inquisitor, Peter of 
Castelnau, in 1208, led to the procla¬ 
mation of a crusade against them by 
Pope Innocent III., and after a strug¬ 
gle of many years, in which hundreds 
of thousands perished, they were vir¬ 
tually extirpated by the sword and the 
Inquisition. 

Albinos, the name given to those 
persons from whose skin, hair, and 
eyes the dark coloring matter is ab¬ 
sent. The skin of albinos, therefore, 
no matter to what race they belong, is 
of a pale milky hue, their hair is 
white, while the iris of their eyes is 
pale rose color. Their eyes are not 
well suited to endure the bright light 
of day, and they see best in shade or 
by moonlight. The peculiarity of al¬ 
binism or leucopathy is not confined to 
the human race, having been observed 
in horses, rabbits, rats, birds, and fishes. 

Albion, the oldest name by which 
the island of Great Britain was known 
to the Greeks and Romans. 

Alboni, Marietta, an Italian 
contralto, bom in Romagna, 1823. 
She made her debut as Orsini in “ Lu- 
crezia Borgia.” After singing in Eu¬ 
rope for some years, she made a suc¬ 
cessful tour of the United States. On 
the death of her husband, Count Pe- 
poli, in 1866, she left the stage, and 
in 1877 she married M. Ziegir, a 
French officer. She died in France 
in 1894. 

Albret, Jeanne d’, daughter of 
Margaret, Queen of Navarre, born in 
1528. She married Antoine de Bour¬ 
bon in 1548; gave birth in 1553 to a 
son, who was afterward Henry IV. of 
France; and on the death of her 
father, in 1555, became Queen of Na- 





Albright 


Alcohol 


varre. She lost her husband in 1562, 
and eagerly began to establish the 
Reformation in her kingdom. Being 
invited to the French court to assist 
at the nuptials of her son with Mar¬ 
garet of Valois, she suddenly expired, 
not without suspicion of having been 
poisoned. Died in 1572. 

Albright, Jacob, an American 
minister of the Methodist Church, 
born in 1759. His work lay among 
the Germans of Pennsylvania. Be¬ 
coming impressed with the decline of 
religious life and of the doctrines and 
morals of the surrounding churches, 
he began a work of reform in 1790. 
He traveled about the country at his 
own expense, preaching his mission, 
until he founded in 1800 the Evan¬ 
gelical Association. He died in 
1808. 

Albuera, a village of Spain, in the 
province of Badajoz, on the Albuera 
river; 13 miles S. E. of Badajoz. 
Here (May 16, 1811) a British and 
Portuguese army of 82,500, under 
General Beresford, defeated in a san¬ 
guinary battle a French army of 23,- 
000 under Marshal Soult, the total 
loss being 16,000, about equally di¬ 
vided. 

Albumen, or Albumin. In chem¬ 
istry, the name of a class of albumin¬ 
oids that are soluble in water, as 
serum and egg albumen. 

Albuminuria, a disease character¬ 
ized by the presence of albumen in the 
urine. It may be acute or chronic. 
Acute albuminuria is a form of in¬ 
flammation of the kidneys. Chronic 
albuminuria, the commoner and more 
formidable malady, arises from grave 
constitutional disorders. It is often 
attended by or produces dropsy. 
Whether acute or chronic, but espe¬ 
cially when the latter, it is generally 
called Bright’s disease, after Dr. 
Bright, who first described it with ac¬ 
curacy. 

Albuquerque, AfEonso d% “ the 

Great,” Viceroy of the Indies, was 
born in 1453, near Lisbon. Albuquer¬ 
que landed on the Malabar coast in 
1503, with a fleet and some troops; 
conquered Goa, which he made the 
seat of the Portuguese Government, 
and the center of its Asiatic com¬ 
merce ; and afterward Ceylon, the 
Sunda Isles, the Peninsula of Malacca, 


and (in 1515) the Island of Ormuz at 
the entrance of the Persian Gulf. He 
died at sea near Goa, Dec. 16, 1515. 

Alcaeus, a Greek lyric poet; native 
of Mitylene; flourished in the 6th cen¬ 
tury b. c. Of his poems we have only 
fragments. 

Alcala de Henares, a town in 
Spain, Cervantes’ birthplace, on the 
Henares, 21 miles E. of Madrid by 
rail. Here was printed in 1517, 
in six folio volumes, at an expense of 
80,000 ducats, the great Compluten- 
sian Bible. 

Alcazar, the name of many castles 
and palaces in Spain. Ciudad-Ro- 
drigo, Cordova, Segovia, Toledo and 



ALCAZAR IN SEGOVIA. 

Seville have alcazars. The one at 
Seville is an imposing relic of the Arab 
dominion. 

Alcibiades, a famous Grecian 
statesman and warrior, son of Clinias 
and Deinomache, born in Athens about 
450 b. c. After a brilliant and erratic 
career, distinguished equally by great 
achievements and lack of moral prin¬ 
ciple he was assassinated in 404. 

Alcohol, a colorless, inflammable 
liquid, of agreeable odor, and burning 
taste, termed also spirit of wine, and 
ethylic or vinic alcohol. 












Alcoholism 


Aldrich 


Alcoholism, a term applied to the 
diverse pathological process and at¬ 
tendant symptoms caused by the ex¬ 
cessive use of alcoholic beverages. 

Alcott, Amos Bronson, an 
American philosophical writer and 
educator, one of the founders of the 
transcendental school of philosophy 
in New England, born in Wolcott, 
Conn., Nov. 29, 1799. He died in 
Boston, March 4, 1888. 

Alcott, Louisa May, an Ameri¬ 
can author, daughter of the preced¬ 
ing, born in Germantown, Pa., Nov. 
29, 1832. She died in Boston, Mass., 
March 6, 1888. Few writers are 

more popular with children than Miss 
Alcott. 

Alcuin, an English ecclesiastic, 
born at York in 735. He died in 
804. He made with his own hand a 
copy of the Scriptures, which he pre¬ 
sented to Charlemagne, and which be¬ 
came of great assistance to later ed¬ 
itors. 

Alden, Henry Mills, an Ameri¬ 
can editor and prose writer, born at 
Mount Tabor, Vt., Nov. 11, 1836. He 
was graduated at Williams College 
and Andover Theological Seminary; 
settled in New York in 1861, became 
managing editor of “ Harper’s 
Weekly ” in 1864, and editor of “Har¬ 
per’s Monthly Magazine ” in 1868. 
He has published “ The Ancient Lady 
of Sorrow,” a poem; “ God in His 
World”; etc. 

Alden, John, a magistrate of the 
Plymouth colony, born in 1599. His 
name is familiarized by the poem of 
Longfellow, “ The Courtship of Miles 
Standish.” He was originally a 
cooper of Southampton, was employed 
in making repairs on the ship “ May¬ 
flower,” and came over in her with 
the Pilgrim Fathers. By some ac¬ 
counts he was the first to step ashore 
at Plymouth. In Longfellow’s poem 
he is in love with and eventually mar¬ 
ries Priscilla, with whom he had previ¬ 
ously pleaded the cause of Miles 
Standish. He was for over 50 years 
a colonial magistrate. He died in 
1687. 

Alden, William Livingston, an 

American humorous writer and jour¬ 
nalist, born at Williamstown, Mass., 
Oct. 9, 1837. He was for a time 


United States Consul-General at 
Rome. 

Alder, the common name for a 
genus of plants (alnus), of the oak 
family. In the Eastern United States 
it is a very common shrub, branching 
freely from the roots, and forming 
dense clumps along the banks of 
streams and in other wet places. On 
the W. coast it often attains a height 
of from 40 to 60 feet in favorable loca¬ 
tions. It is found in temperate and 
cold regions. 

Alderman, a title pertaining to an 
office in the municipal corporations of 
the United States and England. 

Alderman, Edwin Anderson, an 
American educator, born in Wilming¬ 
ton, N. C., May 15, 1861. In 1896 he 
was chosen President of the Univer¬ 
sity of North Carolina, and in April, 
1900, was elected President of Tulane 
University in New Orleans. 

Alderney, a British island in the 
English channel. 

Aldershot Camp, a permanent 
camp of exercise on the confines of 
Hampshire, Surrey, and Berkshire, 35 
miles S. W. of London. 

Aldine Editions, the books print¬ 
ed by Aldus Manutius and his family, 
in Venice (1490-1597). They com¬ 
prise the first editions of Greek and 
Roman classics; others contain cor¬ 
rected texts of modern classic writers, 
carefully collated with the MSS. 

Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth, 
United States senator from Rhode Is¬ 
land, recognized as the leading Ameri¬ 
can authority on the protective tariff, 
and generally understood to be the real 
author of the McKinley Law as 
adopted. Born, Foster, R. I., No¬ 
vember 6, 1841. President Providence 
Common Council, 1871-73; Speaker 
R. I. General Assembly, 1876; in Con¬ 
gress 1879 to 1883, when he resigned 
to take seat in Senate, in which he 
has since represented his State. 

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, an 
American poet, essayist, and writer of 
fiction, born in Portsmouth, N. H., 
Nov. 11, 1836. He spent his early 
youth in Louisiana, but at the age of 
17 entered a mercantile house in New 
York. Removing to Boston in 1866, 
he became editor of “ Every Satur¬ 
day,” and, in 1881, editor of the “ At- 





Ale 


Alexander 


lantic Monthly.” He became equally 
eminent as a prose writer and poet. 
He died March 19, 1907. 

Ale, a malt liquor, stronger than 
ordinary beer. It was the current 
name in England for malt liquor in 
general before the introduction of “the 
wicked weed called hops ” from ^the 
Netherlands, about the year 1524. 
The two names, ale and beer, are both 
Teutonic, and seem originally to have 
been synonymous. 

Alemanni, or Alamanni, a con¬ 
federacy of several German tribes 
which, at the commencement of the 3d 
century after Christ, lived near the 
Roman territory, and came then and 
subsequently into conflict with the 
imperial troops. It is from the Ale¬ 
manni that the French have derived 
their names for Germans and Ger¬ 
many in general, namely, Allemands 
and Allemagne, though strictly speak¬ 
ing only the modern Suabians and 
Northern Swiss are _ the proper de¬ 
scendants of that ancient race. 

Alembert, Jean le Rond d\ one 
of the most distinguished mathema¬ 
ticians and literary characters of the 
18th century; born in Paris, Nov. 16, 
1717. He died Oct. 29, 1783. 

Alembic, a simple apparatus some¬ 
times used by chemists for distillation. 

Aleppo, a city of Turkey in Asia, 
in Northern Syria, and capital of the 
vilayet of Aleppo; on the Koeik river, 
71 miles E. of the Mediterranean. 
The foundation of Aleppo dates back 
to about 2,000 years B. C. It was 
nearly destroyed by an earthquake 
in 1822, when it lost two-thirds of its 
250,000 inhabitants. The present in¬ 
habitants are Turks, Greeks, Arme¬ 
nians, and Jews. Pop. about 127,000. 

Aleutian Islands, or Catherine 
Archipelago, a group of about 150 
islands, extending W. from Alaska pen¬ 
insula for a distance of 1,650 miles; 
belongs to Alaska Territory. The is¬ 
lands are mountainous, with several 
volcanic peaks. The principal islands 
are Umnak and Unalaska. The in¬ 
habitants are nearly all Aleuts, a peo¬ 
ple allied to the Eskimos. These is¬ 
lands were discovered by Bering in 
1728. Pop. about 3,000. 

Alewife, a North American fish, 
belonging to the same family as the 
herring and the shad. 


Alexander VI., Pope, Rodrigo Len- 
zuoli Borgia, a Spaniard, of Valencia, 
son of Isabelle Borgia, whose family 
name he took, born Jan. 1, 1431. At 
first he studied law, and then was ap¬ 
pointed by his uncle, Pope Calixtus 
III., a cardinal before he was 25 years 
old. In 1458 he was made Archbishop of 
Valencia. After the death of Innocent 
VIII. he was crowned Aug. 26, 1492, 
with great pomp and solemnity. To 
his son John, Duke of Gandia, he pre¬ 
sented the duchy of Benevento, in 
1487, which was separated from the 
estates of the Church. His daughter, 
Lucretia Borgia, was married to Gio¬ 
vanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro, after¬ 
ward to Alfonso di Biseglia, then 
thirdly to Alfonso d’Este, Prince of 
Ferrara. His son, Caesar, who after¬ 
ward got complete control of him, was 
made Archbishop of Valencia, and, in 
1493, was appointed cardinal. After¬ 
ward, in order to create for him a 
secular principality, he made an alli¬ 
ance with Louis XII. of France. 
Caesar Borgia, therefore, left the 
Church and became Duke of Valen- 
tinois. In 1501 he became Duke of 
the Romagna. On May 4, 1493, Alex¬ 
ander issued a bull dividing the New 
World between Spain and Portugal; 
on May 23, 1498, the execution of Sa¬ 
vonarola took place by his order; and 
in 1501 he instituted the censorship 
of books. Alexander died Aug. 18, 
1503, from poison said to have been 
intended for Cardinal Corneto. 

Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, 
son of Paul I. and Maria, daughter of 
Prince Eugene, of Wurtemberg; born 
Dec. 23, 1777. On the assassination 
of his father, March 24, 1801, Alex¬ 
ander ascended the throne. One of 
the first acts of his reign was to con¬ 
clude peace with Great Britain, 
against which his predecessor had de¬ 
clared war. In 1803 he offered his 
services as mediator between England 
and France, and two years later a 
convention was entered into between 
Russia, England, Austria, and Sweden 
for the purpose of resisting the en¬ 
croachments of France on the terri¬ 
tories of independent States. He was 
present at the battle of Austerlitz 
(Dec. 2, 1805), when the combined 
armies of Russia and Austria were de¬ 
feated by Napoleon. Alexander was 
compelled to retreat to his dominions 






Alexander 


at the head of the remains of his 
army. In the succeeding campaign 
the Russians were again beaten at 
Eylau (Feb. 8, 1807), and Friedland 
(June 14), the result of which was 
an interview, a few days after the 
battle, on a raft anchored in the Nie- 
men, between Alexander and Napo¬ 
leon, which led to the treaty signed at 
Tilsit, July 7. The Russian emperor 
now for a time identified himself with 
the Napoleonic schemes. The seizure 
of the' Danish fleet by the British 
brought about a declaration of war by 
Russia against Great Britain and 
Sweden, and Alexander invaded Fin¬ 
land and conquered that long-coveted 
duchy, which was secured to him by 
the peace of Friedrichshamn (1809). 
His having separated himself from 
Napoleon led to the French invasion 
of 1812. In 1813 he published the fa¬ 
mous manifesto which served as the 
basis of the coalition of the other Eu¬ 
ropean powers against France. After 
the battle of Waterloo, Alexander, ac¬ 
companied by the Emperor of Austria 
and the King of Prussia, made his sec¬ 
ond entrance into Paris. He died in 
the Crimea, Dec. 1, 1825. 

Alexander II., Emperor of Rus¬ 
sia ; born April 29, 1818; succeeded 
his father Nicholas in 1855, before 
the end of the Crimean War. After 
peace was concluded the new emperor 
set about effecting reforms in the em¬ 
pire, among the first being the putting 
of the finances in order. The greatest 
of all the reforms carried out by him 
was the emancipation of the serfs by 
a decree of March 2, 1861. The czar 
also did much to improve education in 
the empire, and introduced a reorgan¬ 
ization of the judicial system. During 
his reign the Russian dominions in 
Central Asia were considerably ex¬ 
tended, while to the European portion 
of the monarchy was added a piece of 
territory, S. of the Caucasus, formerly 
belonging to Turkey in Asia. A part 
of Bessarabia, belonging since the Cri¬ 
mean War to Turkey in Europe, but 
previously to Russia, was also restored 
to the latter power. The latter addi¬ 
tions resulted from the Russo-Turkish 
War of 1877-1878, in which the Turks 
were completely defeated, the Russian 
troops advancing almost to the gates 
of Constantinople. Toward the end 
of the czar’s life several attempts at 


Alexander 


his assassination were made by Ni¬ 
hilists, and at last he was killed by an 
explosive missile flung at him in a 
street in St. Petersburg, March 13, 
1881. He was succeeded by his son, 
Alexander III 

Alexander III., of Russia, son of 
Alexander II., was born Match 10, 
1845, and married the daughter of the 
King of Denmark in 1866. After his 
father’s death, through fear of assas¬ 
sination, he shut himself up in his 
palace at Gatschina. His coronation 
was postponed till 1883, and was cele¬ 
brated with extraordinary magnifi¬ 
cence, and with national festivities 
lasting several days. Through the fall 
of Merv, the subjugation of the Turk¬ 
omans in Central Asia was completed. 
In 1885 hostilities with England with 
regard to the defining of the frontier 
between the Russian territories and 
Afghanistan, for a time seemed immi¬ 
nent. In European affairs he broke 
away from the triple alliance between 
Russia, Germany, and Austria, and 
looked rather to France. He was ag¬ 
grieved by the new Bulgarian spirit. 
His home policy was reactionary, 
though strong efforts were made to 
prevent malversation by officials, and 
stern economics were practiced. The 
liberties of the Baltic Provinces and 
of Finland were curtailed, the Jews 
were oppressed, and old Russian or¬ 
thodoxy was favored. Several Ni¬ 
hilist attempts were made on his life, 
and he kept himself practically a pris¬ 
oner in his palace. He died at Li- 
vadia, Nov. 1, 1894. 

Alexander III., King of Scot¬ 
land, born in 1241, in 1249 succeeded 
his father, Alexander II. Riding on 
a dark night between Burntisland and 
Kinghorn, he fell with his horse and 
was killed on the spot, March 12, 1286. 
A monument (1887) marks the scene 
of his death. His death led to the at¬ 
tempt of Edward I. of England to 
destroy the liberties of Scotland, which 
resulted in the crushing defeat of the 
English under Edward II. at Ban¬ 
nockburn. 

Alexander I., King of Servia, 
born Aug. 14, 1876; son of King Milan 
I. In 1889 Milan abdicated and pro¬ 
claimed Alexander king, under a re¬ 
gency till he should attain his ma¬ 
jority (18 years). On April 13, 1893, 
when in his 17th year, Alexander sud- 






Alexander 


Alexander the Great 


denly took the royal authority into his 
own hands, and summarily dismissed 
the regent. On Aug. 5, 1900, he mar¬ 
ried Mme. Draga Maschin. He was 
the fifth of his dynasty, which was 
founded by Milos Todorovic Obrenovic 
in 1829. On the night of June 10, 
1903, the military at Belgrade re¬ 
volted, soldiers surrounded the palace, 
and the leaders broke into the royal 
apartments and murdered King Alex¬ 
ander and Queen Draga, and also two 
brothers of the Queen and members of 
the Cabinet. This extinguished the 
Obrenovitch dynasty, except as repre¬ 
sented by a natural son of former King 
Milan, whom the latter had acknowl¬ 
edged and made legitimate. 

Alexander, Archibald, an Amer¬ 
ican clergyman, of Scottish de¬ 
scent, was born in Virginia, April 17, 
1772, and died at Princeton, N. J., 
Oct. 22, 1851. He studied theology, 
and performed itinerant missionary 
work in various parts of Virginia; be¬ 
came president of Hampton-Sidney 
College in 1796, and pastor of a Pres¬ 
byterian church in Philadelphia in 
1807. On the establishment of Prince¬ 
ton Theological Seminary in 1812, he 
was appointed its first professor, a 
position which he held till his death. 
His eldest son, James Waddell Alex¬ 
ander (1804-1850), was a Presbyte¬ 
rian minister in Virginia, New Jer¬ 
sey, and at New York; and afterward 
professor in Princeton Theological 
Seminary. He contributed to the 
“ Princeton Review,” wrote more than 
30 children’s books, a life of his father, 
and miscellaneous works. Josepii 
Addison Alexander, third son (1809- 
1860), graduated at Princeton in 
1826, lectured there on Biblical Criti¬ 
cism and Ecclesiastical History, and 
for the last eight years of his life filled 
the chair of Biblical and Ecclesiastical 
History. He was engaged at the time 
of his death, along with Dr. Hodge, on 
a commentary of the New Testament. 
He is best known by his commentaries 
and “Prophecies of Isaiah” (1846- 
1847; revised edition, 1864), and the 
“ Psalms Translated and Explained ” 
(3 volumes, 1850), both of wl\ich have 
had a large circulation, and have been 
reprinted in England. 

Alexander Archipelago, or Al¬ 
exander Islands, a group of islands 
on the W. coast of North America, 


extending from 54° 40^ N. to 58° 25' 
N.; belong to Alaska Territory. 

Alexander Jarostowitz Nevski, 
St., Grand Duke of Vladimir and 
Prince of Novgorod, born in 1219; a 
Russian national hero and patron 
saint of St. Petersburg, where Peter 
the Great founded in his honor the 
magnificent monastery and the reli¬ 
gious order that bear his name. He 
died in 1263. 

Alexander, John W., an Amer¬ 
ican portrait painter, born in Pitts¬ 
burg, Pa., Oct. 7, 1856; studied at Mu¬ 
nich, Paris, and in Italy; became a 
societaire of the Beaux Arts in Paris; 
was appointed one of the American 
jurors on paintings for the Paris Ex¬ 
position in 1900. 

Alexander of Hales, a noted 

English philosopher and theologian, 
born at Hales, Gloucestershire. He 
died in Paris, 1245. 

Alexander Severus, (in full, 
Marcus Aurelius Alexander Sev¬ 
erus) , a Roman emperor; born in Ace 
(the modern Acre), Phoenicia, in A. D. 
205. Alexander was favorable to 
Christianity, following the predilec¬ 
tions of his mother, Julia Mammaea, 
and he is said to have placed the 
statue of Jesus Christ in his private 
temple, in company with those of Or¬ 
pheus and Apollonius of Tyana. He 
was murdered a. d. 235. 

Alexander the Great, the 3d 
King of Macedon bearing the name 
which he made so famous; born in 
Pella, 356 b. c. 

Alexander first appeared on the 
stage of universal history in 339 b. c. 
At the age of 16 the regency of Greece 
was intrusted to him by Philip when 
he set out on an expedition against 
Byzantium; and in that capacity it 
fell to his lot to lead his first army 
against an Illyrian rising, to found his 
first Alexandria in the upper valley 
of the Strymon, and to receive a depu¬ 
tation of envoys from the King of Per¬ 
sia. In the year after his appoint¬ 
ment to the regency Alexander showed 
eminent military capacity at the battle 
of Chseronea (338), and, on the mur¬ 
der of Philip, ascended the throne in 
336, before he had reached his 20th 
year. 

In the autumn of 336 Alexander 
marched into Greece, and was con- 





Alexandria 


Alexandrian Library 


firmed ill the chief command against 
Persia by the Amphictyones at Ther¬ 
mopylae. In 335 he advanced to the 
Haemus range (the Balkans), and 
showed great ability in his campaign 
against the Thracians, crossing the 
Danube — apparently out of mere 
bravado — in the face of the enemy 
without losing a single man. He had 
no real friends among the Greek 
States. The Thebans, hearing a false 
report of his death, became overt ene¬ 
mies, proclaimed their independence, 
and slew some Macedonian officers. 
Alexander appeared in Bceotia with 
amazing dispatch, and took Thebes by 
storm on the third day of the siege. 

Leaving Antipater to govern in Eu¬ 
rope, he crossed over into Asia in the 
spring of 334 with 30,000 foot and 
5,000 horse. The Persian empire, the 
conquest of which he undertook, was 
at least 50 times as large as his own 
and numbered about 20 times as many 
inhabitants. It extended from the 
Hellespont to the Punjab, from Lake 
Aral to the cataracts of the Nile. But 
it was a vast congeries of subject prov¬ 
inces having no internal bond, and no 
principle of cohesion but the will of 
the king. Alexander entirely subdued 
Persia, and formed the idea of con¬ 
quering India. He passed the In¬ 
dus in 327, and made an alliance 
with Taxiles, under whose guidance 
he reached the Hydaspes (modern 
Jhelum). Here, after a severe strug¬ 
gle, and unsatisfactory victory, he 
built a fleet, in which he sent part 
of his army down the river, while the 
rest proceeded along the banks. 

In 323 Alexander arrived at Baby¬ 
lon, where he found numberless envoys 
from nations near and far, come to 
pay their homage to the young con¬ 
queror. He was engaged in very ex¬ 
tensive plans for the future, including 
the conquest of Arabia and the reor¬ 
ganization of the army, when he fell 
ill of a fe.ver. He died in 323, after 
a reign of 12 years and eight months. 
The day before a rumor had gone 
abroad that the great general was 
dead, and that his friends were con¬ 
cealing the truth. The dying king 
caused his army to defile past his bed, 
and feebly waved them a last farewell. 

Alexandria, a city of Egypt, 
founded by Alexander the Great in 
331 b. C. The situation of the city, 

E. 5. 


at the point of junction between the 
East and West, rendered it the center 
of the commerce of the world,. and 
raised it to the highest degree of pros¬ 
perity. In the Middle Ages it suf¬ 
fered reverses, and gradually declined, 
and when, in 1517, the Turks took 
the place, the remains of its for¬ 
mer splendor wholly vanished, walls 
and buildings being reduced to ruins. 
In 1778, Alexandria contained no 
more than 6,000 inhabitants. Un¬ 
der Mehemet Ali, however, the tide 
turned, and the city recovered rapidly. 
It is now again one of the most im¬ 
portant commercial places on the 
Mediterranean. 

Recent improvements, undertaken at 
a cost of $10,000,000, are expected to 
make the western or the old harbor by 
far one of the best and most spacious 
on the Mediterranean. There is rail¬ 
way communication with Cairo and 
Suez; the Mahmoudieh canal, made by 
Mehemet Ali, connects Alexandria 
with the Nile. 

Of the few remaining objects of an¬ 
tiquity the most prominent is Pom- 
pey’s Pillar, as it is erroneously called. 
Of the so-called Cleopatra’s Needles — 
two obelisks of the 16th century b. C., 
which long stood there — one was 
taken to England and erected on the 
Thames Embankment in 1878; and the 
other, presented by the Khedive, was 
set up in Central Park, New York, in 
1881. Pop. 319,766. 

Alexandrian Codex, an impor¬ 
tant manuscript of the sacred Scrip¬ 
tures in Greek, now in the British Mu¬ 
seum. It is written on parchment, in 
finely formed uncial letters, and is 
without accents, marks of aspiration, 
or spaces between the words. Its 
probable date is the middle of the 5th 
century. 

Alexandrian Library, a remark¬ 
able collection of books, the largest of 
the ancient world, was founded by the 
first Ptolemy. Theodosius the Great 
permitted all the heathen temples in 
the Roman empire to be destroyed, the 
magnificent temple of Jupiter Serapis, 
containing the library, was not spared. 
A mob of fanatic Christians, led on 
by the Archbishop Theophilus, stormed 
and destroyed the temple, together, it 
is most likely, with the greater part 
of its literary treasures, in 391 a. d. 
It was at this time that the destrwc- 




Alexandrian Philosophy 


tion of the Library was begun, and 
not at the taking of Alexandria by the 
Arabs, under the Caliph Omar, in 641, 
‘when its destruction was merely com¬ 
pleted. 

Alexius Comnenus, Byzantine 
Emperor, was born in 1048, and died 
in 1118. He was a nephew of Isaac 
the first emperor of the Comneni, and 
attained the throne in 1081, at a time 
when the empire was menaced from 
various sides, especially by the Turks, 
the Normans and the Crusaders. From 
these dangers he extricated himself 
by policy or warlike measures, and 
maintained his position during a reign 
of thirty-seven years. 

Alfalfa, a prolific forage plant 
belonging to the Legume family, large¬ 
ly grown in the United States, and in 
parts of Spanish America. Crops are 
gathered three or four times a season. 

Alfieri, Vittorio, Count, an 
Italian dramatist, born in 1749; died 
1803. His style founded a new school 
in Italian drama. 

Alfonso X., surnamed “ the As¬ 
tronomer,” “ the Philosopher,” or 
“the Wise” (El Sabio), King of 
Leon and Castile, born in 1226; suc¬ 
ceeded his father, Ferdinand III., in 
1252. Alfonso was the founder of a 
Castilian national literature. He died 
in 1284. 

Alfonso XII., King of Spain, the 
only son of Queen Isabella II. and her 
cousin, King Francis of Assisi, was 
born Nov. 28, 1857. He left Spain 
with his mother when she was driven 
from the throne by the revolution of 
1868. His mother had given up her 
claims to the throne in 1870 in his 
favor, and in 1874 Alfonso came for¬ 
ward himself as claimant, and in the 
end of the year was proclaimed by 
Gen. Martinez Campos as king. Al¬ 
fonso was successful in bringing the 
Carlist struggle to an end (1876), and 
henceforth he reigned with little 
disturbance until his death in 1885. 
He married first his cousin Maria de 
las Mercedes, daughter of the Duke 
de Montpensier; second, Maria Chris¬ 
tina, Archduchess of Austria. 

Alfonso XIII., King of Spain, son 
of the late Alphonso XII. and Maria 
Christina, daughter of the late Karl 
Ferdinand, Arch-Duke of Austria, born 
after his father’s death, May 17, 1886. 


Alger 


as a male, becoming heir to the throne. 
During his minority his mother was 
made Queen Regent and directed his 
education with great care. He form¬ 
ally ascended the throne May 17, 1902. 
On May 31, 1906, he married the 
British Princess Victoria Ena of Bat- 
tenberg. The wedding festivities were 
marred by an attempt to assassinate 
the royal pair, several persons being 
killed by a bomb. On May 11, 1907, 
their son Alfonso Pio Cristino Ed¬ 
uardo, the heir-apparent, was born. 

Alford, Henry, an English poet 
and miscellaneous writer, philologist, 
critic, artist, and preacher, born in 
London, Oct. 7, 1810. He died at Can¬ 
terbury, Jan. 12, 1871. 

Alfred the Great, King of Eng¬ 
land, and one of the most illustrious 
rulers on record; born in Wantage, in 
Berkshire, 849 A. d. He defeated the 
Danes, who were allotted that portion 
of the E. of England which is now oc¬ 
cupied by the modern counties of Nor¬ 
folk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Lincoln. 
Alfred occupied himself with great 
zeal in literary pursuits and in the 
advancement of learning. This illus¬ 
trious prince died, Oct. 28, 901, in the 
30th year of his reign. 

Algse, the general name for the 
sea-weeds and similar plants, mostly 
growing in salt and fresh water. 

Algebra, that department of math¬ 
ematics which enables one, by the aid 
of certain symbols, to generalize, and, 
therefore, to abbreviate, the methods 
of solving questions relating to num¬ 
bers. It is now regarded as the most 
extensive department of mathematics. 

Alger, Cyrus, an American in¬ 
ventor, born in West Bridgewater, 
Mass., Nov. 11, 1781. He learned the 
iron foundry business, and in 1809 es¬ 
tablished himself in South Boston, 
where he soon made himself widely 
known by the excellence of the ord¬ 
nance he manufactured. He supplied 
the United States Government with a 
large quantity of cannon-balls during 
the war of 1812; produced the first 
gun ever rifled in America, as well as 
the first perfect bronze cannon; and 
supervised the casting of a mortar 
which was the largest gun of cast-iron 
that had then been made in the United 
States. Subsequently he made im¬ 
provements in the construction of time 







Alger 


Algonkian 


fuses for bomb-shells and grenades; 
patented a method of making cast-iron 
Chilled rolls; and was the original de¬ 
signer of the cylinder stove. He died 
in Boston, Mass., Feb. 4, 1856. 

Alger, Horatio, an American 
writer of juvenile books, born at Re¬ 
vere, Mass., Jan. 13, 1834. He died 
in Natick, Mass., July 18, 1899. 

Alger, Russell Alexander, an 
American merchant, capitalist, and 
politician, born in Lafayette, O., Feb. 
27, 1836. He served in the Civil War, 
rising from a captaincy to the rank 
of brevet Major-General of Volunteers. 
He acquired a large fortune in West¬ 
ern enterprises, particularly the lum¬ 
ber business. He was Governor of 
Michigan from 1885 to 1887; a candi¬ 
date for the Republican presidential 
nomination in 1888; Commander-in- 
Chief of the Grand Army of the Re¬ 
public 1889-90 : U. S. Secretary of War 
1897-99: published “ The Spanish- 
American War,” 1901; became U. S. 
Senator for Michigan 1902: re-elected 
1903 died suddenly Jan. 24, 1907. 

Alger, William Rounseville, an 
American Unitarian clergyman and 
writer, born at Freetown, Mass., Dec. 
30 1822. His chief works are ‘ His¬ 
tory of the Doctrine of a Future 
Life” (1863) ; “Genius of Solitude’ 
(1865); and “Friendships of Wom¬ 
en” (1867). He occupied pulpits m 
New York, Denver, Boston, and San 
Francisco. 

Algeria, a French colony in the N. 
of Africa; bounded on the N. by the 
Mediterranean; on the E. by Tunis, on 
the W. by Morocco, and on the S. by 
the desert of Sahara. The country 
now Algeria was for many years the 
seat of a piratical despotism, tribu¬ 
tary to the Sultan of Turkey, but 
virtually independent. . After the 
Americans had gained independence 
the Algerians were encouraged by the 
British to prey on American com¬ 
merce, so that the United . States 
might be prevented from rivalling 
Great Britain in the Mediterranean. 
American merchantmen were cap- 
tured by the Algerian pirates, and 
the crews were ransomed or enslaved. 
In November, 1795, the United States 
made a humiliating treaty agreeing 
to pay to the Dey of Algiers a tribute 
equal to $22,000 yearly for “protec¬ 


tion ” to American commerce. When 
the War of 1812 broke out the Dey 
of Algiers ignored the treaty, and at¬ 
tacked and plundered American ves¬ 
sels. Promptly upon the conclusion 
of peace with England the American 
government proceeded to take ven¬ 
geance on the Algerians, and a 
powerful squadron under Captains 
Decatur and Bainbridge was sent to 
the Mediterranean. The Algerians 
had a strong navy, and met the Amer¬ 
icans with a superior force in ves¬ 
sels and guns. The Mashouda, the 
Algerian flagship, was captured after 
a sanguinary struggle. The Dey in 
terror acceded to all American de¬ 
mands, agreed to forego tribute, and 
gave up the American captives, who 
kissed the American flag and wept 
for joy. In the following year, 1816, 
the British bombarded Algiers, and 
forced the Dey to agree to put a stop 
to piracy — an agreement that was 
not kept. In 1827 the French began 
the work of conquering Algiers, and 
after a struggle of about thirty years 
they completely subdued the country, 
and made it a peaceful and flourishing 
colony of France. Algeria is govern¬ 
ed by a governor-general, who is assist¬ 
ed by a council appointed by the 
French government. The settled por¬ 
tion of the country, in the three de¬ 
partments of Algiers, Constantine, and 
Oran, is treated much as if it were a 
part of France and each department 
sends two deputies and one senator to 
the French chambers. The rest of the 
territory is under military rule. The 
colony costs France a considerable sum 
every year. Pop. of civil territory, 3,- 
636,967; of military territory, 487,- 
765; total 4,124,732. Algiers, the 
capital is a growing city with a flour¬ 
ishing trade and a population of about 
100,000 in 1904. 

Algonkian, or Algonquin, an 

Indian linguistic stock, originally the 
most extensive in North America. 
The constant wars with the English, 
French, and Dutch colonists depleted 
their numbers. Filled at first with 
the idea of freeing the soil from the 
whites, they afterward degenerated 
into mere mercenaries, fighting on 
either side for revenge or gain. After 
the War of 1812, in which they took 
the side of the British, the United 
States Government resolved to send 





Alhambra 


Allegheny 


them as far W. as possible. After 
1840, few of them remained E. of the 
Mississippi. In Canada, they were 
not removed from their homes, but 
were limited as to territory. War and 
disease have thinned their number, 
until only 37,000 remain in the 
United States, and 63,000 in Canada. 
The chief occupations of the Algon- 
kians were hunting, fishing and corn 
raising. In character they were brave, 
strong, and intelligent, but lacking in 
steadfastness. They were not so united 
as the Iroquois, owing to the multipli¬ 
city of their languages. 

Alhambra, the famous palace of 
the Moorish kings of Granada, situat¬ 
ed on a hill N. of the town of Gra¬ 
nada. In spite of its neglected condi¬ 
tion, the Alhambra is the most re¬ 
markable and most perfect specimen 
of Moorish art to be found in Europe. 

Alien and Sedition Acts, a series 
of enactments during the administra¬ 
tion of John Adams, the purpose of 
which was to restrain the activity of 
those who sympathized with France. 
The extreme partisan spirit of these 
acts caused a reaction, which was ex¬ 
pressed in the Kentucky and Virginia 
resolutions. 

Alimentary Canal, the alimen¬ 
tary tube; the great tube or duct by 
which food is conveyed into the stom¬ 
ach, and from which the waste and 
undigested food is excreted. 

Alison, Sir Archibald, a Scot¬ 
tish historian and writer, born at 
Kenley, Shropshire, Dec. 29 1792. 
His mangum opus—“The history of 
Europe from 1789 to 1815” was first 
issued in 10 volumes in 1833-1842. lie 
subsequently brought down the narra¬ 
tive to 1852, the date of the birth of 
the second French empire. Died 1867. 

Alizarine, a substance contained 
in the madder root, and largely used 
in dyeing reds of various shades. Form¬ 
erly madder root was largely employ¬ 
ed as a dye-stuff, but the use of the 
root has been almost superseded by the 
employment of alizarine, prepared arti¬ 
ficially from one of the constituents of 
coal-tar. It forms yellowish-red pris¬ 
matic crystals, nearly insoluble in cold, 
but dissolved to a small extent by boil¬ 
ing water, and readily soluble in alco¬ 
hol and ether. It possesses exceeding¬ 
ly strong tinctorial powers. 


Alkali, a strong base, capable of 
neutralizing acids, so that the salts 
formed are either completely neutral, 
or, if the acid is weak, give alkaline 
reactions. It was formerly restricted 
to the hydrates of potassium, sodium, 
lithium and ammonium, but now in¬ 
cludes the hydrates of alkaline earths 
(baryta, strontia and lime) and many 
organic substances. Alkalies are more 
or less soluble in water. Caustic pot¬ 
ash is used in surgery as a cautery. 

Alkaloid, a term applied to a class 
of nitrogenized compounds having cer¬ 
tain alkaline properties, found in liv¬ 
ing plants, and containing their active 
principles, usually in combination with 
organic acids. Their alkaline quali¬ 
ties depend upon the nitrogen they 
contain. Their names generally end 
in ine, as morphine, quinine, acon¬ 
itine, caffeine, &c. Most alkaloids oc¬ 
cur in plants, but some are formed by 
decomposition. The only property com¬ 
mon to all alkaloids is that of combin¬ 
ing with acids to form salts, and some 
exhibit an alkaline reaction with col¬ 
ors. Alkaloids form what is termed 
the organic bases of plants. Although 
formed originally within the plant, it 
has been found possible to prepare 
several of these alkaloids by purely 
artificial means. 

Allah, compounded of the article 
al and ilah—i. e., “the god,” a word 
cognate with the Hebrew Eloah), the 
Arabic name of the supreme god among 
the heathen Arabs, adopted by Mo¬ 
hammed for the one true God. See 
Mohammed and Mohammedanism. 

Alleghanies, a word used as syn¬ 
onymous with the Appalachian 
Mountains (q. v.), sometimes ap¬ 
plied only to that portion of the sys¬ 
tem w’hich extends from Pennsylvania 
to North Carolina, and which forms 
the watershed between the Atlantic 
and the Mississippi. 

Allegheny, a city in Allegheny co., 
Pa.; at the confluence of the Allegheny 
and Monongahela rivers, which here 
form the Ohio; and on several im¬ 
portant railroads; opposite the city of 
Pittsburg, the county-seat. 

Allegheny was laid out as a town in 
1788; created a borough in 1828, and 
chartered as a second class city in 
1840. Pop. (1890) 105,287; (1900) 
129,896. 




Allegheny River 


All-Hallows’ Eve 


Allegheny River, a river of Penn¬ 
sylvania and New York ; a headstream 
of the Ohio. Its length is about 400 
miles, and it is navigable for about 
150 miles above Pittsburg. 

Allen, Charles Grant Blairfin- 
die, generally known as Grant Allen, 
an English author, born 1848, died 
1899. His best known and most pop¬ 
ular works are on scientific subjects, 
although he also wrote many novels. 

Allen, Charles Herbert, an 
American diplomatist, born in Lowell, 
Mass., April 15, 1848; was graduated 
at Amherst College in 1869; became 
associated with his father in the lum¬ 
ber business in Lowell; served in both 
branches of the State Legislature, and 
in Congress in 1885-1889; was defeat¬ 
ed as the Republican candidate for 
governor of Massachusetts in 1891; 
and succeeded Theodore Roosevelt as 
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, in 
May, 1898. On the passage by Con¬ 
gress of the Porto Rico Tariff and 
Civil Government bill, in April, 1900, 
the President appointed him the first 
civil governor of Porto Rico, an office 
which he resigned in July, 1901. 

Allen, Edward P., an American 
Roman Catholic clergyman, born in 
Lowell, Mass., March 17, 1853; now 
fifth Bishop of Mobile, Ala. 

Allen, Elizabeth Akers, an 
American poet, born ( Elizabeth 
Chase) at Strong, Me., Oct. 9, 1832. 
She was married in 1860 to Paul 
Akers, the sculptor, who died in 1S61, 
and in 1865 to E. M. Allen, of New 
York. 

Allen, Ethan, an American Revo¬ 
lutionary hero, born at Litchfield, 
Conn., Jan. 10, 1737. His services in 
the War of Independence, as Colonel 
of the “ Green Mountain Boys,” cap¬ 
turing Fort Ticonderoga “ in the name 
of the Great Jehovah and the Conti¬ 
nental Congress,” his attack on Mon¬ 
treal, sufferings as a prisoner in Eng¬ 
land, skillful diplomacy in behalf of 
Vermont, etc., are well known. He 
died near Burlington, Vt., Feb. 12, 
1789. 

Allen, James Lane, an Amer¬ 
ican novelist, born near Lexington, 
Ky., in 1850. His fame rests mainly 
upon his powerful and popular novels 
of manners and people in the “ blue 
grass ” region and elsewhere. 


Allen, Joel Asaph, an American 
mammalogist, born in Springfield, 
Mass., July 19, 1838. He went with 
Agassiz on his expedition to Brazil in 
1865; became assistant in ornithology 
at the Cambridge Museum of Compar¬ 
ative Zoology in 1870, and was ap¬ 
pointed curator of the department of 
vertebrate zoology in the American 
Museum of Natural History, New 
York, in 1885. 

Allen, Joseph Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican Unitarian minister, educator, his¬ 
torian, and essayist, born at North- 
boro, Mass., Aug. 21, 1821. He was 
senior editor of the “ History of Uni- 
tarianism.” He died in 1898. 

Allen, Thomas, an American 
landscape and animal painter, born at 
St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 19, 1849. After 
an education in St. Louis, he grad¬ 
uated from the Royal Academy at 
Diisseldorf, Germany. He studied in 
France; exhibited his first picture at 
the Academy of Design in New York, 
and at the salons at Paris; became 
vice-president of the Boston Art Stu¬ 
dents’ Association: member of the 
committee of the School of Drawing 
and Painting of the Boston Museum 
of Fine Arts. 

Allen, William, an American 
preacher and miscellaneous writer, 
born at Pittsfield, Mass., Jan. 2, 1784; 
died at Northampton, Mass., July 16, 
1868. 

Allen, William Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican naval officer, born at Providence, 
R. I., in 1784. He entered the navy 
in 1800, and was in some of the great¬ 
est naval battles in Amei ican history. 
For bravery displayed on the “ Chesa¬ 
peake ” and “ United States,” he was 
made commander of the brig “ Argus,” 
in June, 1813. Having taken the 
American Minister to France, he went 
to the Irish Channel, where he did 
great damage to English commerce, 
capturing in a month 27 ships, one of 
which had a cargo worth $500,000. In 
a few days the “ Argus ” was taken 
by the English brig “ Pelican.” In 
the battle Allen was shot, and died 
soon after (1813) ; he was buried 
with military honors in Plymouth, 
England. 

All-Hallows’ Eve, the 31st of Oc¬ 
tober, the evening before All-Hallows 
(commonly known as Hallow E’en). 





Allibone 


Almagro 


Allibone, Samuel Austin, an 

American bibliographer, born at Phil¬ 
adelphia, April 17, 1816. He was at 
one time librarian of the Lenox Li¬ 
brary, New York. He died at Lu¬ 
cerne, Switzerland, Sept. 2, 1889. 

Alligator, the name of a large rep¬ 
tile belonging to the order Crocodilia 
derived from a corruption of the Span¬ 
ish el lagarto, that is the lizard, from 
the Latin lacertus, a lizard. These 
reptiles are confined to the rivers of 
the New World, in which they typi¬ 
cally represent the crocodiles of the 
Eastern Hemisphere. 

Allison, William Boyd, an 
American legislator, born in Perry, O., 
March 2, 1829; was brought up on a 
farm; and subsequently educated at 
Allegheny College, Pa., and Western 
Reserve College, O. He practiced law 
in his native State till 1857, when he 
removed to Dubuque, la. In the early 
part of the Civil War he served on 
the governor’s staff, and was actively 
engaged in raising troops for the 
Union army. In 1863'-1871 he was a 
representative in Congress; and on 
March 4, 1873, entered the United 
States Senate as a Republican, to 
which he was re-elected in 1878, 1884, 
1890, and 1896. He was a delegate to 
the Republican National Convention 
in Chicago, in 1860; and several times 
has been a conspicuous candidate for 
the presidential nomination of his 
party. 

Allopathy, a system of medicine 
the object of which is to produce in 
the bodily frame another condition of 
things than that in or from which the 
disease has originated. Allopathy is 
opposed to homoeopathy, which aims 
at curing diseases by producing in 
antagonism to them symptoms similar 
to those which they produce. Up-to- 
date doctors practise what they believe 
to be good in both systems, and the 
distinction is now largely nominal. 

Alloy, a compound or mixture of 
two or more metals. 

All-Saints’ Bay, in the State of 
Bahia, on the coast of Brazil, forms 
a superb natural harbor, in which the 
navies of the whole world might ride 
at anchor. Its length from N. to S. 
is 37 miles; its breadth from E. to W., 
27. The town of Bahia lies just with¬ 
in it. 


All-Saints’ Day, a festival insti¬ 
tuted by Pope Boniface IV., early in 
the 7th century, on the occasion of 
his transforming the Roman heathen 
Pantheon into a Christian temple or 
church, and consecrating it to the Vir¬ 
gin Mary and all the martyrs. 

Allspice, a kind of pepper, consist¬ 
ing of the dried berries of pimenta 
officinalis, a tree belonging to the or¬ 
der myrtaceae (myrtle blooms). It 
is imported almost entirely from Ja¬ 
maica, and is hence called Jamaica 
pepper. 

Allston, Washington, an emi¬ 
nent American painter, poet, and ro¬ 
mancer, born at Waccamaw, S. C., 
Nov. 5, 1779; graduated at Harvard 
in 1800; -studied at the Royal Acad¬ 
emy, London, and in Rome, and re¬ 
turned to Boston in 1809. He died in 
Cambridge, Mass., July 9, 1843. 

Alma, a river in the Crimea, Rus¬ 
sia, flowing westward into the Bay of 
Ivalamita, about half way between Eu- 
patoria and Sebastopol. On the steep 
banks of the stream, through the chan¬ 
nel of which the British troops waded 
amid a shower of bullets, a brilliant 
victory was won on Sept. 20, 1854, 
by the allied armies of England and 
France, under Lord Raglan and Mar¬ 
shal St. Arnaud, over the Russian 
army commanded by Prince Menschi- 
koff. It was the first battle of the . 
Crimean War. 

Almaden, a town in Spain, 50 
miles S. W. of Ciudad Real, situated 
in the chain of the Sierra Morena. It 
is famous for its 12 rich quicksilver 
mines, employing about 4,000 miners, 
and yielding an annual output of 2,- 
500,000 pounds. 

Almagro, Diego d’, a Spanish 

conquistador, v/as born in 1464 or 
1475, and was a foundling who de¬ 
rived his name from the town near 
which he was found. After serving 
in the army, he sailed to seek his for¬ 
tune in the New World, where he 
amassed considerable wealth by plun¬ 
der, and became one of the leading 
members of the young colony of Dar¬ 
ien. In 1522 he formed, with Pizarro, 
the design of conquering Peru — an 
undertaking crowned 10 years after¬ 
ward with marvellous success. Receiv¬ 
ing permission from the Spanish court 
to conquer for himself a special prov- 




Almanac 


Alphabet 


ince S. of Pizarro’s territory, he 
marched on Chile in 1536, penetrated 
as far as the Coquimbo, and returned 
in 1537, just when the Peruvians had 
flown to arms and shut up the Span¬ 
iards in Cuzco and Lima. As these 
towns lay S. of Pizarro’s district, they 
were claimed by Almagro. He dis¬ 
persed the Peruvian army before Cuz¬ 
co, and advanced against Lima, hoping 
to make himself sole master of the 
country. But on April 6, 1538, he 
was defeated in a desperate engage¬ 
ment with the Spaniards under Pizar- 
ro near Cuzco; and on the 26th he was 
strangled in prison, and his corpse be¬ 
headed in the market place of Cuzco. 
His half-caste son, Diego, collecting 
some hundreds of his father’s follow¬ 
ers, stormed Pizarro’s palace, and 
slew him (1541) ; then proclaimed 
himself captain-general of Peru; but, 
defeated in the bloody battle of Chu- 
pas, Sept. 16, 1542, he was executed 
along with 40 of his companions. 

Almanac, an annual compilation, 
based on the calendar, embracing in¬ 
formation pertinent to the various 
days of the year, the seasons, etc., 
with astronomical calculations and 
miscellaneous intelligence more or less 
detailed, according to the special pur¬ 
pose for which it is prepared. 

Alma-Tadema, Laurenz, a dis¬ 
tinguished figure painter, born in 
Friesland, Jan. 8, 1836; educated 

principally at the Antwerp Academy; 
elected to the Royal Academy, London, 
in 1879; officer of the Legion of Honor, 
1878; and member of the leading 
academies of Europe; studio in Lon¬ 
don. 

Almohades, the name of a Mos¬ 
lem dynasty that ruled in Africa and 
Spain during the 12th and 13th cen¬ 
turies. 

Almond, the fruit of the almond 
tree, which grows usually to the height 
of 12 or 14 feet. Its pink flowers, 
composed of five petals, grow in pairs, 
and appear very early in spring. The 
almonds which are consumed in the 
United States are imported, some¬ 
times in the shell, and often without, 
from France, Spain, Italy, and the 
Levant. 

Almonte, Juan Nepomuceno, a 

Mexican general, believed to be the 
son of the priest Morelos, born in 


1804. As a boy he took part in the war 
for independence. He took part in the 
battles of Buena Vista and Cerro Gor¬ 
do in 1847. In 1861, when Juarez at¬ 
tained power, he deposed Almonte, 
who, led by party hatred and ambi¬ 
tion, invited the French expedition to 
Mexico. In the beginning of 1862 he 
joined the French troops of occupation 
at Vera Cruz; but, as the Mexicans 
saw in him only a tool of the French 
plans, they renounced the idea of 
making him French dictator, support¬ 
ed by French bayonets. The French 
general, himself, deprived him of pow¬ 
er, but when, on the 10th of June, 
1863, he reached the City of Mexico 
with the French, he was placed by the 
conquerors at the head of the Regency 
of the Mexican Empire. The Emperor 
Maximilian appointed him field-mar¬ 
shal, but, after Maximilian’s death, he 
fled to Europe, and died in Paris, 
March 22, 1869. 

Almquist, Karl Jonas Ludvig, 

a notable Swedish poet, novelist and 
miscellaneous writer, born in Stock¬ 
holm, Nov. 28, 1793. He died in Bre¬ 
men, Sept. 26, 1866. 

Aloe, any species of the genus de¬ 
scribed under botany (below), or even 
of one, such as agave, with a close an¬ 
alogy to it. The American aloe is 
the agave americana, an amaryllid. 
The aloe of Scripture is probably the 
agallochum. 

Alopecia, a variety of baldness in 
which the hair falls off from the beard 
and eyebrows, as well as the scalp. 

Alpaca, the name given to a spe¬ 
cies of llama, which has for a long 
time back been domesticated in Peru. 

Alpha and Omega, the first and 
last letters of the Greek alphabet, 
sometimes used to signify the begin¬ 
ning and the end, or the first and the 
last of anything; also as a symbol of 
the Divine Being. They were also 
formerly the symbol of Christianity, 
and engraved accordingly on the tombs 
of the ancient Christians. 

Alphabet, so called from alpha 
and beta, the first two Greek letters, 
is the name given to a set of graphic 
signs, called letters, denoting element¬ 
ary sounds, by the combination of 
which words can be visibly repre¬ 
sented. Nearly 200 alphabets, ancient 
and modern, are known, of which 




Alpine Plants 


Altar 


about 50 are now in use. Most of 
them are developments from the prim- 


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ALPHABETS. 

itive Phoenician alphabet, which was 
itself ultimately derived from the 
Egyptian hieroglyphic picture-writing. 

Alpine Plants, the name given 
to those plants whose habitat is in 
the neighborhood of the snow, on 
mountains partly covered with it all 
the year round. As the height of the 
snow-line varies according to the lati¬ 
tude and local conditions, so also does 
the height at which these plants grow. 

Alps, the highest and most exten¬ 
sive system of mountains in Europe, 
included between lat. 44° and 48° N., 
and long. 5° and 18° E., covering the 
greater part of Northern Italy, several 
departments of France, . nearly the 
whole of Switzerland, and a large part 
of Austria, while its extensive ramifi¬ 


cations connect it with nearly all the 
mountain systems of Europe. The 
culminating peak is Mont Blanc, 15,- 
781 feet high, though the true center 
is the St. Gothard, or the mountain 
mass where it belongs, from the slopes 
of which flow, either directly or by 
affluents, the great rivers of Central 
Europe, the Danube, Rhine, Rhone, 
and Po. 

Alsace-Lorraine (German, El- 
sass-Lotliringen), since its cession by 
France, in 1871, a State or “ imperial 
territory” (Reichsland) of the Ger¬ 
man empire. Area, 5,580 square 
miles; population, 1,719,470, of whom 
eighty per cent speak German. It 
is governed as a subject province. 

On May 9, 1902, Emperor William 
directed that a bill be laid before 
the Federal Council abolishing para¬ 
graph 10 in the imperial constitution, 
which imposed practically a dictator¬ 
ship on the reichsland of Alsace-Lor¬ 
raine. This imperial action was 
wholly unexpected, and excited the 
marked gratitude of the people 
affected. The bill was passed. 

Altar, an erection made for the of¬ 
fering of sacrifices for memorial pur¬ 
poses, or for some other object. An 



GOTHIC ALTAB. 

altar designed for sacrifice is men¬ 
tioned in Scripture as early as the 












































































Alterative 


Alva 


time of Noah (Genesis viii: 20). 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob built sev¬ 
eral altars in places where for a brief 
or more lengthened period they so¬ 
journed. Most of these appear to 



ALTAE-OLD GREEK. 

have been for sacrificial purposes, and 
one or two seem to have been for me¬ 
morial ends; but the most unequivocal 
case of the memorial altar was subse¬ 
quently. (Josh, xxii: 10-34; Gen. 
xii: 7, 8 ; xiii: 4, 18; xxii: 9; xxvi: 
25; xxxiii: 20; xxxv: 1, 7.) 

Alterative, a kind of medicine 
which, when given, appears for a time 
to have little or no effect, but which 
ultimately changes, or tends to change, 
a morbid state into one of health. 

Altgeld, John Peter, author, 
lawyer, and judge, born in Germany, 
in December, 1847. When but a few 
months old he was taken to Mansfield, 
Ohio. He was Judge of the Supreme 
Court at Chicago, in 1886-1891, and 
Governor of Illinois in 1893. His 
pardon of the Anarchists caused much 
controversy. He died March 12, 1902. 

Altitude, in mathematics the per¬ 
pendicular height of the vertex or 
apex of a plane figure or solid above 
the base. In astronomy it is the ver¬ 
tical height of any point or body above 
the horizon. 

Altranstadt, an important village 
in the Prussian Province of Saxony, 


near Lutzen. Through the Treaty of 
Altranstadt of Aug. 30, 1707, Charles 
XII. obtained from the Emperor Jo¬ 
hann Joseph I. religious liberty and 
toleration for the Protestants of Si¬ 
lesia. 

Altruism, a term used in psychol¬ 
ogy and ethics to denote disposition 
and conduct directed toward the well¬ 
being of others. It is contrasted with 
egoism, or self-seeking disposition and 
conduct. 

Alum, the name given to double 
salts of sulphate of aluminum with 
sulphates of potassium, sodium, am¬ 
monium, or of other monatomic met¬ 
als, as silver, thallium, caesium, ru¬ 
bidium. They crystallize in octo- 
hedra. Alum has a sweet astringent 
taste, reddens litmus paper, and dis¬ 
solves in its own weight of boiling 
water. 7 

Aluminum, a metal discovered by 
Wohler in 1827, as a gray powder, but 
in 1847 in the form of small, glittering 
metallic globules. It is a white m’etal, 
somewhat resembling silver, but pos¬ 
sessing a bluish hue, which reminds 
one of zinc. It is very malleable and 
ductile, in tenacity it approaches iron, 
and it takes a high polish. 

Alva, or Alba, Ferdinand Al¬ 
varez de Toledo, Duke of, prime 
minister and general of the Spanish 
armies under Charles V. and Philip 
II., was born in 1508, of one of the 
most illustrious families of Spain. 
He entered the army a mere youth, 
and fought in the wars of Charles V. 
in France, Italy, Africa, Hungary, 
and Germany. He is more specially 
remembered for his bloody and tyran¬ 
nical government of the Netherlands 
(1567-1573), which had revolted, and 
which he was commissioned by Philip 
II. to reduce to entire subjection to 
Spain. Among his first proceedings 
was to establish the “ Council of 
Blood,” a tribunal which condemned, 
without discrimination, all whose 
opinions were suspected, and whose 
riches were coveted. The present and 
absent, the living and the dead, were 
subjected to trial and their property 
confiscated. Many merchants and me¬ 
chanics emigrated to England; people 
by hundreds of thousands abandoned 
their country. The most oppressive 
taxes were imposed, and trade was 








Alvary 


Amazon 


brought completely to a standstill. As 
a reward for his services to the faith, 
the Pope presented him with a conse¬ 
crated hat and sword, a distinction 
previously conferred only on princes. 
Resistance was only quelled for a 
time, and soon the provinces of Hol¬ 
land and Zealand revolted against his 
tyranny. A fleet which was fitted out 
at his command, was annihilated, and 
he was everywhere met with insuper¬ 
able courage. Hopeless of finally sub¬ 
duing the country, he asked to be re¬ 
called, and, accordingly, in December, 
1573, Alva left the country, in which, 
as he himself boasted, he had executed 
18,000 men. He died Jan. 12, 1582. 

Alvary, Max, a German tenor, 
son of the painter, Andreas Achen- 
bach, whose name, however, he never 
used, born at Diisseldorf, May 1, 1858. 
He w r as first a merchant; then an 
architect in Cologne; studied singing 
with Lamperti in Milan, and with 
Stockhausen in Frankfort-on-the- 
Main; and joined the court opera in 
Weimar. In 1884 he went to New 
York, where for five years he distin¬ 
guished himself as “ Tannhauser,” 
“ Siegfried,” “ Tristan,” “ Loge,” 
“ Walter Stolzing,” and other Wag¬ 
nerian characters. In 1890, he re¬ 
turned to Germany and sang at the 
City Theater in Hamburg. He re¬ 
turned to the United States again in 
1896. He died near Grosstabarz, Nov. 
7, 1898. 

Amadeus, a common name in the 
house of Savoy. Amadeus I., of Spain, 
born in 1845, brother of King Victor 
Emmanuel of Italy, was elected King 
of Spain in 1870, abdicated in 1873, 
and died in 1890. 

Amalfi, a city and seaport, in the 
Province of Salerno, Italy; on the 
Gulf of Salerno; 22 miles S. E. of 
Naples. It contained a cathedral 
with bronze doors cast in Constanti¬ 
nople in 1066, and a Capuchin mon¬ 
astery, which, in recent years, became 
a popular hotel. On Dec. 24, 1899, a 
portion of the rocks and land facing 
the Gulf suddenly slid into the water, 
carrying down the ancient monastery 
building and other structures. 

Amalgam, the union or alloy of 
any metal with quicksilver (mercury). 

Amana, a communistic German col¬ 
ony in Iowa, 28 miles W. of Iowa 


City, founded by the Amanites, who 
branched out from the so-called “ In¬ 
spiration Congregation,” consisting of 
seven villages, with over 2,000 inhabi¬ 
tants, which, through agriculture, wool 
and cotton spinning, have attained 
great prosperity. 

Amanita, a genus of fungi, nearly 
allied to the mushrooms. Several of 


YOUNG AMANITA. ADULT AMANITA. 

the species are edible, notably the de¬ 
licious orange (A. csesarea), but the 
majority are poisonous. 

Amaranth, an order of herbs or 
shrubs, remarkable for the dry col¬ 
ored scales of which all their bractae 
and floral envelopes are composed. 

Amaryllis, a genus of plants, the 
typical one of the order amaryllidaceae. 
The species are numerous, and splen¬ 
did in appearance; many are culti¬ 
vated in green houses, flower pots, etc. 
The amaryllis ornata is astringent. 

Ainati, a family of Cremona, in 
the 16th and 17th centuries, famous 
for their violins, which are at the 
present time valued very highly on ac¬ 
count of their tone, which is beautiful 
and pure, though not very strong. 
They are sometimes called Cremona 
violins. 

Amaurosis, a disease of the eye, 
arising from impaired sensibility of 
the retina. 

Amazon, a river of South America, 
the largest in the world, formed by a 
great number of sources which rise in 
the Andes; general course N. of E.; 









Amazon 


America 


length, including windings, between 
3,000 and 4,000 miles; area of drain¬ 
age basin, 2,300,000 square miles. 

Amazon, or Amazone (from a = 
without, and mazos=the breast, from 
the story that the Amazons cut off 
their right breast to prevent its inter¬ 
fering with the use of the bow), a na¬ 
tion on the river Thermodon, the mod¬ 
ern Termeh in Pontus, in Asia Minor, 
said to consist entirely of women re¬ 
nowned for their love of manly sports, 
and as warriors. Men were excluded 
from their territory, and commerce 
was held only with strangers, while all 
male children born among them were 
killed. 

Amber, as a mineral, called also 
succinite, from Latin succinum = am¬ 
ber. Its color is generally yellow, but 
sometimes reddish, brownish, or whit¬ 
ish and clouded. It is resinous in lus¬ 
ter, always translucent, and sometimes 
transparent. It is brittle, and yields 
easily to the knife. 

Ambergris, a substance derived 
from the intestines of the sperm whale, 
and found floating or on the shore; 
yellowish or blackish white; very 
light; is soluble in ether, volatile oils, 
and partially in alcohol, and is chiefly 
composed of a peculiar fatty sub¬ 
stance. Its odor is very agreeable, 
and hence it is used as a perfume. 

Ambrose, St., a celebrated father 
of the Church; born in 333 or 334 
a. d., probably at Treves, where his 
father was prefect; died in 397. He 
introduced the Ambrosian chant, a 
mode of singing more monotonous 
than the Gregorian which superseded 
it. He also compiled a form of ritual 
known by his name. 

Ambrosia, in Greek mythology, 
the food of the gods, as nectar was 
their drink. 

Ambrosian Library, a public li- 
urary in Milan, founded by the Cardi¬ 
nal Archbishop Federigo Borromeo, a 
relation of St. Charles Borromeo, and 
opened in 1609; now containing 160,- 
000 printed books and 8,000 MSS. It 
was named in honor of St. Ambrose, 
the patron saint of Milan. 

Ambrosius, Johanna, a German 
poet and story writer, born at Leng- 
wethen, East Prussia, Aug. 3, 1854. 
Daughter of an artisan, and married 
in 1874 to a peasant’s son by the name 


of Voigt, she led the hard life of a 
peasant woman till, in middle age, she 
wrote verses, which were published in 
a weekly newspaper; their success led 
to the publication of other poems and 
stories of hers, which have had ex¬ 
tremely wide circulation. 

Ambulance, a hospital establish¬ 
ment which accompanies an army in 
its movements in the field for the pur¬ 
pose of providing assistance and surgi¬ 
cal treatment to the soldiers wounded 
in battle. The name is also given to 
one of the carts or wagons used to 
transfer the wounded from the spot 
where they fell to the hospital. Also 
to the vehicles used in cities to con¬ 
vey the very sick or injured to 
hospitals. 

Amen, a Hebrew word of assever¬ 
ation, equivalent to “ Yea,” “ Truly,” 
which has been commonly adopted in 
the forms of Christian worship. It is 
also used by the Mohammedans. 

Amendment, in law, the correc¬ 
tion of any mistake discovered in a 
writ or process. 

In legislative proceedings, a clause, 
sentence, or paragraph proposed to be 
substituted for another, or to be in¬ 
serted in a bill before Congress, and 
which, if carried, actually becomes 
part of the bill itself. As a rule 
amendments do not overthrow the 
principle of a bill. 

In public meetings, a proposed alter¬ 
ation of the terms of a motion laid 
before a meeting for acceptance. 

A Mensa et Thoro, a legal term 
used when a wife is divorced from her 
husband (as far as bed and board are 
concerned), liability, however, re¬ 
maining on him for her separate main¬ 
tenance. 

Amentbes, the unseen world of 
the ancient Egyptians, the Hades of 
the Greeks, who borrowed their ideas 
about the lower world from Egypt. 

America, or the New World, the 
largest of the great divisions of the 
globe except Asia, is washed on the 
W. by the Pacific, on the E. by the At¬ 
lantic, on the N. by the Arctic, and on 
the S. by the Antarctic Ocean. On 
the N. W. it approaches at Bering 
Straits within 48 miles of Asia, and 
on the N. E. Greenland approaches 
within 370 miles of the European is¬ 
land Iceland; but in the S. the dis- 




America 


America 


tance between the American mainland 
and the E. continent is much greater, 
the shortest distance between its E. 
coast and the W. coast of Africa being 
1,600 miles, and between its W. coast 
and the E. coasts of Asia and Aus¬ 
tralia from six to eight times more. 
The extreme points of America are — 
N., the point of Boothia Felix, in the 
Strait of Bellot, lat. 71° 56' N., Ion. 
94° 34' W.; S., Cape Froward, lat. 
53° 53' 45" S., Ion. 71° 18' 30" W., 
or, if the archipelago of Tierra del 
Fuego is included, Cape Horn, lat. 55° 
59' S., Ion. 67° 16' W.; W., Cape 
Prince of Wales, lat. 65° 33' N., Ion. 
167° 59' W.; and E., the Point de 
Guia, lat 7° 26' S., Ion. 34° 47' W. 
The entire American continent has a 
length of about 9,500 miles; a maxi¬ 
mum breadth, between Cape Prince of 
Wales and Cape Charles in North 
America, of 3,500 miles; a coast-line 
of 43,200 miles; and a total area, in¬ 
cluding the islands, estimated at about 
15,896,000 square miles. 

The climate of America, even in the 
equatorial regions, is characterized as 
comparatively cool and humid. This 
is justly ascribed to the vast extent 
of territory that may be classed as 
insular — to the copious waters of 
the interior, together with the mag¬ 
nificent vegetation produced by them 
— to the configuration of the surface 
and the nature of the soil— T to the 
possession of a polar shore — and to 
the prevailing winds. The rainy zone 
is disproportionately extended in 
America; and as the continent 
stretches over all the zones, the vege¬ 
tation is remarkably diversified, from 
the lowly moss of the N. to the lord¬ 
ly banana of the tropics. The giant 
coast chain of the Andes everywhere 
rises above the snow-line. From the 
sterile Peruvian coast, burned up by 
tropical heats, one can look up to 
summits covered with perpetual snow 
and ice; and one may climb from the 
gigantic equatorial vegetation of Qui¬ 
to to heights where only the condor 
testifies to the existence of organic 
life, and wings his flight over snow 
fields and glaciers. In Peru the cul¬ 
ture of cereals is carried on at the 
height of 12.000, and near Quito at 
9,000 feet. The N. and S. of Amer¬ 
ica have the same length of day; out 
in the seasons, which depend not mere¬ 


ly on astronomical but on a variety 
of local causes, the analogy does not 
hold, and very remarkable discrepan¬ 
cies appear. Thus, for example, the 
E. coast of Brazil has the rainy sea¬ 
son from March to September, while 
Peru, lying under the very same lati¬ 
tude, has it from November to March. 
Within the tropics the transition from 
the rainy to the dry season takes place 
almost instantaneously; but in re¬ 
ceding from the tropics on either side 
the change of seasons becomes more 
and more gradual, till at last in the 
polar zones, nature, bound in icy 
chains, affords for living existence 
only a short awakening out of a long 
winter sleep. 

If America, in respect of the devel¬ 
opment of vegetable life, takes prece¬ 
dence of all other quarters of the 
globe, it cannot advance the same 
claim in respect of the animal world, 
though it must be admitted that here 
too it has its own peculiar features. 
The American jaguar and cougar, or 
puma, have not the majesty of the 
Asiatic tiger or the African lion; the 
tapir is only a very humble represen¬ 
tative of the elephant or hippopota¬ 
mus, and the llama falls far short of 
the camel. Still, America has many 
animals which belong only to itself. 
It has its own species of bears (the 
grizzly being most formidable), wolf, 
and deer, the bison and musk ox, 
with special kinds of squirrels, etc. 
To it also belong the Virginia stag, 
the wild sheep of California, the opos¬ 
sum, and raccoon. Characteristic of 
Central and South America are sloths, 
ant-eaters, and armadillos, the con¬ 
dor among the heights of the Andes, 
the most beautiful parrots as well as 
peculiar monkeys in the woods, the- 
humming bird with its rich metallic 
plumage, the rattlesnake, the alliga¬ 
tor or cayman on the banks of the 
streams, the electrical eel in the trop¬ 
ical waters, swarms of mosquitoes on 
the wide plains, and sea fowl in such 
numbers on the W. coast as to have 
furnished large deposits of guano, to 
which some of the richest countries 
of Europe are indebted for the means 
of extending and largely increasing 
the product of their agriculture. 

The independent States of both 
North and South America are now 
all republican in their form of 





American Federation 


Americanisms 


government, though it was only in 
1889 that Brazil became a republic 
instead of an empire. The differ¬ 
ent independent States are as 
follows: In North America — 1. 

The United States; 2. Mexico; 3. Ni¬ 
caragua ; 4. Honduras; 5. Guatema¬ 
la; 6. Costa Rica; 7. (San) Salva¬ 
dor. In the West Indies — 8. Cuba; 
9. Haiti; 10. San Domingo. In 

South America — 11. Venezuela ; 
12. Colombia; 13. Peru; 14. Ecuador; 
15. Bolivia; 16. Argentine Republic; 
17. Uruguay; 18. Paraguay; 19. Chi¬ 
le ; 20. Brazil; 21. Panama. The 
European colonies in America are : the 
Dominion of Canada, including the 
provinces of Ontario, ‘Quebec, Nova 
Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, 
British Columbia, Prince Edward Is¬ 
land, and the Northwest Territories, 
etc.; Newfoundland; and the Bermu¬ 
das, all belonging to Great Britain; 
Greenland, belonging to Denmark; 
and St. Pierre and Miquelon to 
France. The West Indian Islands 
comprise the republics of Haiti, San 
Domingo, and Cuba; Porto Rico, for¬ 
merly Spanish, is now a territory of 
the United States; the British pos¬ 
sessions of Jamaica, Trinidad, Bar¬ 
bados, Grenada, St. Vincent, Tobago, 
St. Lucia, Antigua, Montserrat, St. 
Christopher, Anguilla, Nevis, Virgin 
Islands, Dominica, the Bahamas, 
Turk’s Island, etc.; the French pos¬ 
sessions of Guadeloupe and depen¬ 
dencies (including St. Bartholo¬ 
mew’s), Martinique, the N. part of 
the island of St. Martin’s; the Dutch 
possessions, the S. side of St. Mar¬ 
tin’s Curasao and its dependencies; 
Santa Cruz, St. Thomas and St. 
John’s, possessions of Denmark 
which agreed by treaty (Jan. 24, 
1902) to sell them to the United 
States. In South America the Brit¬ 
ish possess (besides the Falkland 
Islands) an important part of Gui¬ 
ana, the remaining portions being 
owned respectively by the French and 
Dutch. 

The merit of first unlocking the 
American continent to modern 
Europe belongs to the Genoese 
Christopher Columbus, who, after a 
voyage of discovery as dangerous 
as it was fortunate, discovered, in 
October, 1492, Guanahani, one of 
the Bahamas, and named it San 


Salvador. It is certain, however, 
that Europeans had in the earlier 
part of the Middle Ages, and on dif¬ 
ferent occasions, discovered the 
American coasts. Northmen proceed¬ 
ing from Iceland discovered the N. 
polar land of Greenland. The Ice¬ 
lander Bjorne Herjulfson in 986, got 
a glimpse of the coasts of Massachu¬ 
setts and Rhode Island, which in the 
year 1000 were visited by Leif the 
Lucky, and named by him Vinland. 
In 1388 and 1390 Niccolo and Anto¬ 
nio Zeni undertook voyages to the 
North Atlantic Ocean, and were 
wrecked on Frieslanda, probably the 
Faroe Islands; thereafter they saw 
a part of the N. E. coast of Amer¬ 
ica, probably Nova Scotia, which they 
named Drogno. These discoveries, 
however, had no influence on the en¬ 
terprise of Columbus, and cannot de¬ 
tract in the least from his merit; 
they were forgotten, and had never 
been made known to the inhabitants 
of the S. of Europe. Though Colum¬ 
bus was the first of his time who 
set foot on the New World, it has 
taken its name not from him, but 
from Amerigo Vespucci. The main¬ 
land was first seen in 1497 by Sebas¬ 
tian Cabot, who sailed under the 
patronage of Henry VII. of England. 

American Federation of La¬ 
bor, a general representative organ¬ 
ization of the labor unions and socie¬ 
ties of the United States; founded at 
Columbus, O., in December, 1886, as 
the successor of a somewhat similar 
association which dated back to 1866. 
Its principal objects are to promote 
the interests and influences of trades 
unions, to aid in creating new unions, 
and to advance the general cause of 
organized labor. It does not under¬ 
take, however, to exercise any ab¬ 
solute authority over affiliated socie¬ 
ties, as is done by the Knights of 
Labor. It has been especially active 
in agitating for “ eight-hour ” legis¬ 
lation. In 1903 it was composed of 
101 affiliated national unions, 26 state 
branches, 473 city central unions, and 
1823 local unions, and had a member¬ 
ship of over 1,100,000. 

American Indians. See Indians, 
American. 

Americanisms, a word defined as 
a term, phrase, or idiom of the Eng¬ 
lish language as spoken in America 





Americanisms 


Americanisms 


(or in the United States) which either 
(a) originated in America; or, (b) 
is peculiar to America; or, (c) is 
chiefly employed in America. The fol¬ 
lowing is a list of a few of the more 
noteworthy Americanisms: 

Around or round. —About or near. 
To hang around is to loiter about a 
place. 

Backwoods. — The partially cleared 
forest regions in the western states. 

Bayou. — A small bay in Louisiana. 

Bee. — An assemblage of persons to 
unite their labors for the benefit of 
an individual or family or to carry 
out a joint scheme. 

Bogus. — False; counterfeit. 

Boss. — An employer or superinten¬ 
dent of laborers; a leader. 

Bulldoze, to. —To intimidate. 

Bunco. — A swindling game. 

Buncombe or Bunkum. — A speech 
made solely to please a constituency; 
talking for talking’s sake, and in an 
inflated style. 

Calculate. — To suppose, to believe, 
to think. 

Camp-meeting. — A meeting held in 
the fields or woods for religious pur¬ 
poses, and where the assemblage en¬ 
camp and remain for several days. 

Car. — A carriage or wagon of a 
railway train. The Englishman “trav¬ 
els by rail,” the American takes, or 
goes by, the cars. 

Carpet-bagger. — A needy political 
adventurer who carries all his earthly 
goods in a carpet-bag; originally ap¬ 
plied to politicians from the Northern 
States who sought offices in the South 
after the Civil War. 

Caucus. — A private meeting of the 
leading politicians of a party to agree 
upon the plans to be pursued in an 
approaching election. 

Chunk. — A short, thick piece of 
wood or any other material. 

Corn. — Maize. In England, wheat 
or grain in general. 

Corn-husking or Corn-shucking .— 
An occasion on which a farmer invites 
his neighbors to assist him in strip¬ 
ping the husks from his corn. 

Creek. —A small tributary of a large 
river. Used chiefly in the West. 

Dead-heads. — People who have free 
admission to entertainments, or who 
have the use of public conveyances, or 
the like, free of charge. 

Down East. — In or into the New 


England States. A down-easter is a 
New Englander. 

Drummer. — A commercial traveler. 

Dry goods. — A general term for 
such articles as are sold by linen- 
drapers, haberdashers, hosiers, etc., in 
England. 

Fix, to. — To put in order, to pre¬ 
pare, to adjust. To fix the hair, the 
table, the fire, is to dress the hair, lay 
the table, make up the fire. 

Fixings. — Arrangements, dress, em¬ 
bellishments, luggage, furniture, gar¬ 
nishments of any kind. 

# Fork. —Used in the Southwest in a 
similar sense to “ creek.” 

Freeze out. — To get rid of objec¬ 
tionable persons. 

Gerrymander. — To arrange politi¬ 
cal divisions so that in an election one 
party may obtain an advantage over 
its opponent, even though the latter 
may possess a majority of votes. 

Grab. — To gain a privilege without 
proper payment. 

Greenback. — A former kind of pa¬ 
per money. 

Guess, to. — To believe, to suppose, 
to think. 

Gulch. — A deep, abrupt ravine, 
caused by the action of water. 

Happen in, to. — To happen to come 
in or call. 

Hatchet, to bury or take up the .— 
To end or begin war. 

Help. — The labor of hired persons 
collectively; the body of servants be¬ 
longing to a farm or household or fac¬ 
tory. 

Hoe-cake. — A cake of corn meal 
baked on or before the fire. 

Hoodlum.— A rough. 

How! —Indian abbreviation of “How 
do you do?” 

Jolly, to. — To flatter, to tease, to 
poke fun at. 

Jolmny cake. — A cake made of corn 
meal mixed with milk or water. 

Log-rolling. — The assembly of sev¬ 
eral parties of wood-cutters to help 
one of them in rolling their logs to 
the river after they are felled and 
trimmed; also employed in politics to 
signify a like system of mutual co¬ 
operation. 

Lynch law. — An irregular species 
of justice executed by the people or a 
mob, without legal authority or trial. 

Mail letters, to. — To post letters. 

Make tracks, to. — To run away. 





American Legion of Honor 


American Party 


Mush. — A kind of hasty-pudding. 

Nickel. — A five-cent coin. 

Notions. — A term applied to every 
variety of small wares. 

One-horse. — A one-korse thing is a 
thing of no value or importance; a 
mean or trifling thing. 

Oxbow. — The bend in a river or 
the land inclosed within such a bend. 

Peart (in the South).— Equal to 
smart or well. 

Piazza. — A veranda. 

Picayune. — A trifle. 

Pickaninny. — A negro child. 

Pile. — A quantity of money. 

Planks. — In politics, the several 
principles which appertain to a party ; 
“ platform ” is the collection of such 
principles. 

Pull. — A special individual favor. 

Reckon, to. — To suppose, to think, 

Right smart. — Very well. 

Roast, to. — To criticise severely. 

Scab. — A non-union workman. 

Scalawag. — A scamp, a scapegrace. 

Shake. — To leave a person. 

Skedaddle, to. — To run away, a 
word introduced during the Civil war. 

Smart. — Used in the sense of con¬ 
siderable, a good deal, as a smart 
chance; also equal to well, as “ right 
smart,” very well. 

Stakes, to pluck or pull up. — To 
remove. 

Stampede. — The sudden flight of a 
crowd, or of cattle or horses. 

Stiff. — In medical schools, a corpse. 

Store. — Same as shop in Great 
Britain; as a book store, a grocery 
store. 

Strike oil, to. — To come upon pe¬ 
troleum ; hence, to make a lucky hit, 
especially financially. 

Stump speech. —A speech calcu¬ 
lated to please the popular ear, such 
speeches in newly settled districts 
being often delivered from the stumps 
of trees. 

Ticker. — A watch; also a telegraph 
receiver. 

Ticket, to vote the straight. — To 
vote for all the men or measures on 
the ticket. 

Truck. — The small produce of gar¬ 
dens ; truck patch, a plot in which the 
smaller fruits and vegetables are 
raised. 

Turn down, to. — To reject or ig¬ 
nore ; used of office seekers especially. 

Vamose, to. — To run off. 


Vendue .— An auction; to vendue, 
to sell at auction. 

Whoop it up .— To create an ex¬ 
citement. 

Wilt .— To become soft or languid, 
to lose energy, pith, or strength. 

American Legion of Honor, a 
beneficial fraternal organization found¬ 
ed in 1878, reported recently total 
membership of 17,979; grand councils, 
8; sub-councils, 525. 

American Party, The, the name 
of three separate organizations which 
at different times held a prominent 
place in the political affairs of the 
United States. The first, organized 
about 1852, at a time when the Whig 
Party was near its dissolution was, 
in fact, a secret society, and was bet¬ 
ter known in later years as the “Know 
Nothings,” from the assumed ignor¬ 
ance of its members when questioned 
in regard to the objects and name of 
the order. Its principal doctrine was 
opposition to all foreigners and Ro¬ 
man Catholics, and its motto was 
“ Americans must rule America.” The 
first National Convention of the Par¬ 
ty was held in February, 1856, at 
which resolutions were adopted, de¬ 
manding a lengthening of the resi¬ 
dence necessary to naturalization, and 
condemning President Pierce’s admin¬ 
istration for the repeal of the Mis¬ 
souri Compromise. A number of the 
members withdrew because of the re¬ 
fusal to consider a resolution regard¬ 
ing the restriction of slavery. Millard 
Fillmore, of New York, was nominated 
for President, and Andrew Jackson 
Donelson for Vice-President, which 
nominations were subsequently in¬ 
dorsed by a Whig Convention. Fill¬ 
more carried but one State, Maryland ; 
his popular vote being about 850,000. 
The party was successful in carrying 
the State elections in Rhode Island 
and Maryland in 1857, but never 
gained any popularity in the Western 
States. A second party, bearing the 
same name, but directly adverse to the 
first in that it was founded in opposi¬ 
tion to secret societies, was organized 
for political purposes by the National 
Christian Association, at the adjourn¬ 
ment of a convention held by the lat¬ 
ter body at Oberlin, O., in 1872. The 
organization was completed and the 
name adopted at a convention in Syra¬ 
cuse, N. Y., in 1874. At Pittsburg, 




American Protective Asso. 


America’s Cup 


June 9, 1875, a platform was adopted 
in which were demanded recognition 
of the Sabbath, the introduction of 
the Bible into public schools, prohibi¬ 
tion of the sale of liquors, the with¬ 
drawal of the charters of secret socie¬ 
ties, and legislative prohibition of 
their oaths, arbitration of internation¬ 
al disputes, the restriction of land 
monopolies, resumption of specie pay¬ 
ment, justice to the Indians, and a 
direct popular vote for President and 
Vice-President. James B. Walker of 
Illinois was nominated for President. 
In 1880, the party again made nom¬ 
inations, and in 1884, S. C. Pomeroy 
was nominated, but withdrew in favor 
of John P. St. John, the Prohibition 
candidate. The third party to be called 
by the name of American Party was 
organized at a convention held at Phil¬ 
adelphia, Sept. 16-17, 1887. Its prin¬ 
cipal aims, as set forth in its plat¬ 
form, were, to oppose the existing 
system of immigration and naturaliza¬ 
tion of foreigners; to demand its re¬ 
striction and regulation so as to make 
a 14-years’ residence a prerequisite of 
naturalization; to exclude from the 
benefits of citizenship all anarchists, 
and other dangerous characters; to de¬ 
fend free schools; to condemn 
alien proprietorship; to declare for 
the permanent separation of Church 
and State, and in favor of the enforce¬ 
ment of the Monroe Doctrine. But 
little has been heard of the American 
Party in the past few years. 

American Protective Associa¬ 
tion, popularly known as the “A. P. 
A.,” a secret order organized through¬ 
out the United States, with branches 
in Canada, which has attracted much 
attention by its aggressive platform 
and active agitation. Its chief doc¬ 
trine, as announced in its declaration 
of principle, is that “ subjection to 
and support of any ecclesiastical pow¬ 
er not created and controlled by Amer¬ 
ican citizens, and which claims equal, 
if not greater, sovereignty than the 
Government of the United States of 
America, is irreconcilable with Amer¬ 
ican citizenship; ” and it accordingly 
opposes “ the holding of oflices in Na¬ 
tional, State, or Municipal Govern¬ 
ment by any subject or supporter of 
such ecclesiastical power.” Another 
of its cardinal purposes is to prevent 
all public encouragement and support | 


of sectarian schools. It does not con¬ 
stitute a separate political party, but 
seeks to control existing parties, and 
to elect friendly and defeat objection¬ 
able candidates, by the concerted ac¬ 
tion of citizens affiliated with all par¬ 
ties. The order was founded March 
13, 1887, and claims a membership of 
about 2,000,000. 

American Psychological Asso¬ 
ciation, an organization founded in 
1892 for the advancement of psychol¬ 
ogy as a science. 

American Social Science Asso¬ 
ciation, a society organized in 1865. 

American Society of Civil En¬ 
gineers, an association instituted in 
1852; holds two meetings each month 
(excepting in July and August) at 
headquarters, 220 W. 57th st., New 
York city; membership, 2,200. 

American Society of Mechani¬ 
cal Engineers, an organization char¬ 
tered in 1881; annual dues, members 
and associates, $15; juniors,$10; en¬ 
trance fee, members and associates, 
$25, juniors, $15; membership unlim¬ 
ited ; holds two meetings annually; 
headquarters, 12 W. 31st St., New 
York city. 

American System, a term used 
by Henry Clay and applied to his plan 
of protective duties and internal im¬ 
provements, as proposed in the de¬ 
bates in Congress which resulted in 
the tariff law of 1824. At present it 
is used to denote the policy of protec¬ 
tion to home industries by means of 
duties on imports. 

America’s Cup, a yachting trophy, 
originally known as the Queen’s Cup, 
offered as a prize to the yachts of all 
nations by the Royal Yacht Squadron 
of Great Britain, in 1851. The first 
contest for it was held Aug. 22 of that 
year, when it was won by the Ameri¬ 
can yacht “ America,” whose owners 
deeded it in trust to the New York 
Yacht club. The subsequent success 
of American yachts in keeping the cup 
caused it to become known as the 
“ America’s ” Cup. 

In 1903 Sir Thomas Lipton pre¬ 
sented Shamrock III. as challenger 
for the America’s Cup, Reliance, built 
by the Herreshoffs, being presented as 
defender of the Cup by an American 
syndicate, with Mr. Iseiin as manager. 
Several of the races were called off 




America’s Cup 


America’s Cup 


RECORD OF CONTESTS FOR THE AMERICANS CUP. 


Date. 


Names of Yachts. 


Course. 


Time. 
H. M. S. 


Aug. 

Aug. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Nov. 

Nov. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Sep. 


22, 1851 

8, 1870 
16, 1871 

18, 1871 

19, 1871 
21, 1871 

23, 1871 

11, 1876 

12, 1876 

9, 1881 

10, 1881 

14, 1885 
16, 1885 
9, 1886 
11, 1886 
27, 1887 
30, 1887 
7, 1893 
9, 1893 

13, 1893 
7, 1895 

10, 1895 
12, 1895 

20, 1899 

3, 1901 

4, 1901 
3, 1903 


America. 

Aurora. 

Magee. 

Cambria. 

Columbia. 

Livonia. 

Columbia. 

Livonia. 

Livonia. 

Columbia. 

Sappho. 

Livonia. 

Sappho. 

Livonia. 

Madeleine. 

Countess of Dulferin. 

Madeleine. 

Countess of Dufferin. 

Mischief. 

Atalanta. 

Mischief. 

Atalanta. 


Puritan. 

Genesta. 

Puritan. 

Genesta. -. 

Mayflower. 

Galatea. 

Mayflower. 

Galatea. 

Volunteer. 

Thistle. 

Volunteer. 

Thistle. 

Vigilant. 

Valkyrie.. 

Vigilant. 

Valkyrie.. 

Vigilant. 

Valkyrie. 

Defender. 

Valkyrie III. .. 

Defender. 

Valkyrie III. .. 

Defender. 

Valkyrie III... 

Columbia. 

Shamrock. 

Columbia. 

Shamrock II.. 

Columbia. 

Shamrock II.. 

Reliance . 

Shamrock III. 


From Cowes, around the Isle of 1 

Wight, English Channel.) 

j. N. Y. Y. C. course, about 39 miles j 

| N. Y. Y. C. course.j 

c 20 miles to windward off Sandy / 

} Hook lightship, and return.) 

( N. Y. Y. C. course — Columbia / 

} disabled....) 

( 29 miles to windward off Sandy } 

( Hook lightship and return. ) 

j- N. Y. Y. C. course.j 

^ N. Y. Y. C. course...j 

5 20 miles to windward off Sandy ) 

} Hook lightship, and return.) 

j-N. Y. Y. C. course.j 

5 16 miles to leeward from buoy 5 ) 
off Sandy Hook lightship, and ( 
return.) 

^ N. Y. Y. C. course.j 

( 20 miles to leeward off Sandy > 
} Hook lightship, and return.j 

|N. Y. Y. C. course.j 

( 20 miles to leeward off Sandy ) 

} Hook lightship, and return.) 

j. N. Y. Y. C. course. j 

r 20 miles off Scotland lightship, ) 

| and return.j 

( 15 miles to windward off Sandy > 

| Hook, and return.J 

(Irregular course: io miles to a) 

| length... \ 

1 15 miles to windward off Sandy ) 

Hook, and return.) 

15 miles to windward off Sandy ) 

Hook, and return.i 

i 15 miles to windward off Sandy / 

) Hook, and return.) 

( 15 miles to windward off Sandy ) 

I Hook, and return.) 

5 15 miles to windward off Sandy 1 

( Hook, and return. ) 

^ 30 miles triangular course.j 

^15 miles leeward and back.j 

( 15 miles to leeward off Sandy ) 
) Hook, and return.) 


10 37 00 


58 21 
37 38 

10 44 
46 45 
07 41 
18 15 
02 25 

17 35 
39 02 
09 23 

16 17 

11 55 
23 54 
34 53 

18 46 
46 00 

17 00 
45 39 
54 32 
33 47 


6 06 05 
6 22 24 
63 14 
04 52 
26 41 
38 43 
49 10 
18 09 

53 18 
12 41 
42 56 

54 45 
05 47 
11 35 
25 01 

55 36 

24 39 

25 19 
59 54 
08 44 
55 56 
55 09 
48 48 


38 09 
44 43 
12 35 
16 10 

32 57 

33 38 
00 28 
t 


* Did not finish. 

Shamrock II. finished first, but lost race on time allowance of 43 seconds, 
t Reliance won by 11 minutes. 

E. 6. 


























































































Amerigo Vespucci 


Amharic 


on account of the time limit, Reliance 
being ahead in all of them, as well as 
in the three races which decided the 
contest. In the final race, Thursday, 
Sept, 3, Reliance started at 1:01:56 



p. m., Shamrock at 1:02 :00 p. m. Re¬ 
liance turned the outer mark at 
3:40:30, to Shamrock III.’s 3:51:40. 
Reliance won the race in four hours 
and twenty-eight minutes. 

Amerigo Vespucci. See VES¬ 
PUCCI. 

Ames, Adalbert, an American 
military officer, born in 1835; gradu¬ 
ated at West Point, 1861; became 
Brigadier-General and brevet Major- 
General United States Volunteers, in 
the Civil War; Provisional Governor 
of Mississippi,\ 1868; resigned army 
commission, 1870; United States Sen¬ 
ator from Mississippi, 1870-1873, 
Governor 1874-1876; and Brigadier- 
General United States Volunteers in 
the war with Spain, 1898. 

Ames, Charles Gordon, an 
American clergyman, editor, and lec¬ 
turer, bom in Dorchester, Mass., Oct. 


3, 1828. He graduated at the Geauga 
Seminary, Ohio; was ordained in 1849 
as a Free Baptist, but later became a 
Unitarian, and pastor of the Church 
of the Disciples, Boston. He was eu- 
itor of the Minnesota “ Republican ” 
and the “ Christian Register,” of Bos¬ 
ton. He wrote “ George Eliot’s Two 
Marriages,” some poems, etc. 

Ames, Eleanor Kirk, an Ameri¬ 
can author, born at Warren, R. I., 
Oct. 7, 1831. Among her many 

books are “ Information for Authors,” 
“ Beecher as a Humorist,” “ The In¬ 
fluence of the Zodiac on Human Life,” 
etc. 

Ames, Fisher, an American ora¬ 
tor and statesman, born in Dedham, 
Mass., April 9, 1758. Admitted to the 
bar in 1781, he became a member of 
Congress in 1789, where he gained a 
national reputation by his oratory. 
Two of his finest efforts were in sup¬ 
port of John Jay’s treaty with Great 
Britain, and a eulogy on Washington 
before the Massachusetts Legislature. 
He was elected president of Harvard 
College in 1804, but declined. A bril¬ 
liant talker, he was distinguished in 
conversation for wit and imagination, 
while his character was spotless. His 
works consist of orations, essays, and 
letters (2 vols., 1854). He died in 
Dedham, July 4, 1808. 

Ames, Mary Clemmer, an Amer¬ 
ican author, born in Utica, N. Y., in 
1839; was a frequent contributor to 
the Springfield “ Republican,” and 
afterward to the New York “ Inde¬ 
pendent.” Married to and divorced 
from the Rev. Daniel Ames, she be¬ 
came, in 1883, the wife of Edward 
Hudson at Washington. Among her 
works are a volume of “ Poems ” 
(1882) ; and biographies of Alice and 
Phoebe Cary. She died in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., Aug. 18, 1884. 

Ametabola, a class of wingless in¬ 
sects, which do not undergo metamor¬ 
phosis. They include bird lice, etc. 

Amethyst, a precious stone, a va¬ 
riety of quartz, named by Dana ame¬ 
thystine quartz. The Oriental amethyst 
is a rare purple variety of sapphire. 
The best specimens are brought from 
India, Armenia, and Arabia. 

Amharic, or Amarinna, a Se¬ 
mitic language with an intermixture 
of African words; since the 14th cen- 










Amherst College 


Ammonite 


tury the court and official language 
of Abyssinia. 

Amherst College, an educational 
institution in Amherst, Mass.; found¬ 
ed in 1821 and incorporated in 1825. 

_ Amiel, Henri Frederic, a dis¬ 
tinguished Swiss essayist, philosophi¬ 
cal critic, and poet, born at Geneva, 
Sept. 27, 1821. He died in Geneva, 
March 11, 1881. 

Ammen, Daniel, an American na¬ 
val officer, born in Brown county, O., 
May 15, 1820; entered the United 
States navy, July 7, 1836. He was 
executive officer of the North Atlantic 
Blockading Squadron at the outbreak 
of the Civil War. From 1861 to 1865 
he rendered signal service in the at¬ 
tacks on Port Royal, Fort Macallister, 
Fort Fisher, and both the ironclad at¬ 
tacks on Fort Sumter. On June 4, 
1878, he was. retired with the rank 
of Rear-admiral. He was the designer 
of the Ammen life raft and harbor de¬ 
fense ram. Among his works are “The 
Old Navy and the New,” and “ Navy 
in the Civil War” (1883). He died 
in Washington, D. C., July 11, 1898. 

Ammergau, Ober- and Unter, 
two adjoining villages in Upper Ba¬ 
varia, in the higher part of the valley 
of the Ammer, 42 miles S. W. by S. of 
Munich. Ober-Ammergau is noted for 
the performance of the “ Passion 
Play,” a series of dramatic represen¬ 
tations of the sufferings of Christ, 
which is produced every tenth year 
by about 500 performers, in accord¬ 
ance with a vow made at the time of 
the pestilence of 1634. During the in¬ 
tervening years, the actors give a 
series of representations of Old Tes¬ 
tament legends. The performance gen¬ 
erally lasts seven or eight hours, often 
without intermission, and is partly a , 
religious service and partly a popular | 
festival. In 1889, a theater was built 
just outside the place, with a stage 
and auditorium capable of seating 
6,000 persons. On the height near by 
is a colossal memorial of “ Christ on j 
the Cross, with Mary and John,” 
modeled by Halbig, the gift of King 
Ludwig II. 

Ammianus Marcellinus, a Ro¬ 
man historian, born of Greek parents 
at Antioch, in Syria, about 330. 

Ammon, the eponymic ancestor of 
a people, known in Hebrew and Bibli¬ 


cal history as the “ children of Am¬ 
mon ” or Ammonites; frequently men¬ 
tioned in the Old Testament. Ac¬ 
cording to the account in Genesis 
(xix: 38), Ammon was the son of 
Lot. 

Ammon, a god of the ancient 
Egyptians, worshipped especially in 
Thebes (No-Ammon), and early rep¬ 
resented as a ram with downward 
branching horns, the symbols of pow¬ 
er; as a man with a ram’s head; and 
as a complete man with two high 
feathers on his head, bearded, sitting 
on a throne, and holding in his right 
hand the scepter of the gods, in his 
left the handled cross, the symbol of 
divine life. The worship of Ammon 
spread at an early period to Greece, 
and afterward to Rome, where he was 
identified with Zeus and Jupiter. 

Ammonia, a colorless, pungent 
gas, with a strong alkaline reaction. 
It can be liquefied at the pressure of 
seven atmospheres ,at 15°. Ammonia 
is obtained by the dry distillation of 
! animal or vegetable matter containing 
nitrogen; horns, hoofs, etc., produce 
large quantities; hence its name of 
spirits of hartshorn. Guano consists 
chiefly of urate of ammonia. But 
ammonia is now obtained from the 
liquor of gasworks, coal containing 
about 2 per cent, of nitrogen. It is 
used in medicine as an antacid and 
stimulant; it also increases the secre¬ 
tions. Externally, it is employed as a 
rubefacient and vesicant. Ammonia 
is used as an antidote in cases of poi¬ 
soning by prussic acid, tobacco, and 
other sedative drugs. 



AMMONITES. 

Ammonite, a large genus of fossil 
chambered shells. 









Ammonites 


Amsterdam 


Ammonites, a Semitic race of 
people, living on the edge of the Syr¬ 
ian Desert; according to. Gen. xix : 38, 
the descendants of Lot, and closely 
akin to the Moabites. They inhabited 
the country lying to the N. of Moab, 
between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok. 
Their chief city was Rabbath-Ammon. 
The Israelites were often at war with 
them. From the name of. their 
princes, it is evident that their lan¬ 
guage was closely akin to Hebrew. 
Their chief deity was Moloch. 

Amnesty, an act of oblivion passed 
after an exciting political period. Its 
object is to encourage those who have 
compromised themselves by rebellion 
or otherwise to resume their ordinary 
occupations, and this it does by giving 
them a guarantee that they shall never 
be called upon to answer for their 
past offenses. 

Amor, the god of love among the 
Romans, equivalent to the Greek Eros. 

Amorites, a powerful tribe of Ca- 
naanites, who inhabited the country 
N. E. of the Jordan, as far as Mount 
Hermon. 

Amos, one of the so-called minor 
prophets of the Hebrews, was a herds¬ 
man of Tekoa, in the neighborhod of 
Bethlehem, and also a dresser of syca¬ 
more trees. During the reigns of 
Uzziah in Judah, and Jeroboam II. in 
Israel (about 800 b. c.), he came for¬ 
ward to denounce the idolatry then 
prevalent. 

Amoy, a seaport town and one of 
the treaty ports of China; on a small 
island of the same name in the Prov¬ 
ince of Fukien; 325 miles E. by N. E. 
of Canton, and directly opposite the 
island of Formosa. During the in¬ 
ternational military operations in 
China, in 1900, the city was occu¬ 
pied by the Japanese. 

Ampere, the practical unit of elec¬ 
tric current strength. It is the mea¬ 
sure of the current produced by an 
electro-motive force of one volt through 
a resistance of one ohm. In electric 
quantity it is the rate of one coulomb 
per second. 

Ampere, Andre Marie, a French 
mathematician and physicist,, was 
born at Lyons in 1775. He died at 
Marseilles, June 10, 1836. 

Amphibia, in zoology, animals 
which can live indiscriminately on 


land or water, or which at one part 
of their existence live in water and 
at another on land. 

Amphictyonic Council, a cele¬ 
brated council of the States of ancient 
Greece. The members of this confed¬ 
eration bound themselves by an oath 
not to destroy any city of the Am- 
phictyons, nor cut off their streams 
in war or peace, and to employ all 
their power in punishing those who 
did so, or those who pillaged the prop¬ 
erty of the god, or injured his temple 
at Delphi. 

Amphion, in mythology, the son 
of Jupiter and Antiope; the eldest of 
the Grecian musicians. To express 
the power of his music, and, perhaps, 
of his eloquence, the poets said, that, 
at the sound of his lyre, the stones 
voluntarily fornfed themselves into 
walls; that wild beasts, and even 
trees, rocks, and streams, followed 
the musician. 

Amphipolis, an important city of 
Thrace or Macedonia; at the mouth 
of the Strymon river; 33 miles from 
the Aegean. The site is now occupied 
by the Turkish town of Yenikeui. 

Amphitheater, a double theater. 
The ancient theaters were nearly semi¬ 
circular in shape ; or, more accurately, 
they were half ovals, so that an am¬ 
phitheater, theoretically consisting of 
two theaters, placed with their 
concavities meeting each other, was, 
loosely speaking, a nearly circular, or, 
more precise 1 y, an oval building. The 
Romans built amphitheaters wherever 
they went. Remains of them are still 
to be found in various parts of Eu¬ 
rope ; but the most splendid ruins ex¬ 
isting are those of the Coliseum at 
Rome, which was said to have held 
87,000 people. 

Amphitrite, The, a twin-screw, 
iron, double-turreted monitor of the 
United States navy. 

Amphora, a two-hhndled vessel, 
generally made of clay, and used for 
holding wine, oil, honey, or even the 
skeletons or ashes of the dead. 

Amsterdam (“dam” or “ dike of 
the Amstel”), the capital of the 
Netherlands. Almost the whole city, 
which extends in the shape of a cres¬ 
cent, is founded on piles driven 40 or 
50 feet through soft peat and sand to 
a firm substratum of clay. 





Amulet 


Anabaptists 


The population, which from 217,024 
in 1794, sank to 180,179 in 1815, rose 
steadily to the present figure of over 
half a million, of whom the ma¬ 
jority belong to the Dutch Re¬ 
formed Church. Of the remainder, 
about 80,000 are Catholics, 30,000 
German Jews, and 3,200 Portuguese 
Jews. The chief industrial establish¬ 
ments are sugar refineries, engineer¬ 
ing works, mills for polishing dia¬ 
monds and other precious stones, dock¬ 
yards, manufactories of sails, ropes, 
tobacco, silks, gold and silver plate 
and jewelry, colors, and chemicals, 
breweries, distilleries, with export 
houses for corn and colonial produce; 
cotton-spinning, book-printing, and 
type-founding are also carried on. The 
present Bank of the Netherlands dates 
from 1824, Amsterdam’s famous bank 
of 1609 having been dissolved in 1796. 

Amulet, anything hung around the 
neck, placed like a bracelet on the 
wrist, or otherwise attached to the 
person, as an imagined preservative 
against sickness, witchcraft, or other 
evils. Amulets were common in the 
ancient world, and they are so yet in 
nations where ignorance prevails. 



amphobj:. 


Amur, a river formed by the junc¬ 
tion (about 53° N. lat., and 121° E. 
long.) of the Shilka and the Argun, 
which both come from the S. W.— 
the former rising in the foothills of 
the Yablonoi Mountains. From the 
junction, the river flows first S. E. 
and then N. E., and, after a total 
course of 3,060 miles, falls into the 
Sea of Okhotsk, opposite the island of 
Sakhalin. Its main tributaries are 
the Sungari and the Ussuri, both from 
the S. Above the Ussuri, the Amur 
is the boundary between Siberia and 


Manchuria; below it, the river runs 
through Russian territory. 

Amylic Alcobol, one of eight al¬ 
cohols having the same chemical formu¬ 
la, but with different properties. Two 
of these are large constituents of 
fusel oil. The union of some of these 
alcohols with the compound ethers, 
produce odors resembling pineapple, 
strawberries, etc. Therefore fusel oil 
is often used in making artificial fruit 
flavors. The poisonous properties of 
fusel oil, make such products highly 
dangerous and justify the prohibitive 
legislation which has been enacted in 
some of the States. 

Anabaptists, a name given in re¬ 
proach A. d. 253 by Stephen, Bishop of 
Rome, to the Christians of Asia Minor, 
Cappadocia, Galatea and Cilicia, who 
held that no baptism was valid but that 
administered to adults by immersion. 
They are mentioned by Tertullian and 
Agrippinus. The sect appeared in 
1520. The most eminent of its early 
leaders were Thomas Munzer Mark 
Stubner, and Nicholas Storck. They 
had been disciples of Luther; but, be¬ 
coming dissatisfied with the moderate 
character of his reformation, they cast 
off his authority, and attempted more 
sweeping changes than he was pre¬ 
pared to sanction. During his ab¬ 
sence, they, in 1521, began to preach 
their doctrines at Wittenberg. Laying 
claim to supernatural powers, they 
saw visions, uttered prophecies, and 
made an immense number of prose¬ 
lytes. The ferment which the exciting 
religious events taking place in Cen¬ 
tral Europe had produced in men’s 
minds, had made them impatient of 
social or political as well as of spir¬ 
itual despotism; and, in 1525, the 
peasants of Suabia, Thuringia, and 
Franconia, who had been much op¬ 
pressed by their feudal superiors, rose 
in arms, and commenced a sanguinary 
struggle, partly, no doubt, for religious 
reformation, but chiefly for political 
emancipation. The Anabaptists cast 
in their lot with the insurgent peas¬ 
antry, and became their leaders in 
battle. After a time the allied princes 
of the empire, led by Philip, Land¬ 
grave of Hesse, put down the rebellion, 
and Munzer was defeated, captured, 
put to the torture, and ultimately be¬ 
headed. In 1532, some extreme Ana- 






















Anabasis 


Anam 


baptists from Holland, led by a baker 
called John Matthias, and a tailor, 
John Boccoldt, called also, from the 
place whence he came, John of Ley¬ 
den, seized on the city of Munster, in 
Westphalia, with the view of setting 
up in it a spiritual kingdom, in which, 
at least nominally, Christ might reign. 
The name of Munster was changed to 
that of Mount Zion, and Matthias be¬ 
came its actual king. Having soon 
after lost his life in a mad, warlike 
exploit, the sovereignty devolved on 
Boccoldt, who, among other fanatical 
freaks, once promenaded the streets of 
his capital in a state of absolute nud¬ 
ity. On June 24, 1535, the Bishop of 
Munster retook the city by force of 
arms, and Boccoldt was put to death 
in the most cruel manner that could 
be devised. The excesses of the Ana¬ 
baptists were eagerly laid hold of to 
discredit the Reformation. 

Anabasis, the name given by Xen¬ 
ophon to his celebrated work describ¬ 
ing the expedition of Cyrus the young¬ 
er against his brother Artaxerxes 
Mnemon, King of Persia. 

Anaconda, a large serpent of the 
boa family, common in inter-tropical 
America. The head is comparatively 
small, conical, very flat below, and 
truncated in front. The color is gray¬ 
ish-brown or olive above, with two 
rows of large black spots running 
down the back and tail; the sides are 
adorned with black rings on a yellow 
ground; the under surface is ochre- 
yellow with black spots. The anaconda 
is the largest of living snakes, some¬ 
times reaching a length of over 30 
feet. Brazil and Guiana form its 
chief habitat. It always lives in or in 
the neighborhood of water; lies in 
wait for its prey in the water, or 
stretched on the sand; seldom attacks 
man; and during the dry season buries 
itself and becomes torpid. 

Anacreon, a renowned lyric poet 
of Greece, born at Teos in Ionia, 562 
(?) b. c. He died 477 b. c. 

Anaemia, bloodlessness; a morbid 
state of the system produced by loss 
of blood, by deprivation of light and 
air. The patient is characterized 
by great paleness, and blood-vessels, 
easily traceable at other times, be¬ 
come unseen after great hemorrhage, 
or in cases of anaemia. 


Anaesthesia (Greek, “lack of 
sensation”), a term used to express 
a loss of sensibility to external im¬ 
pressions, which may involve a part 
or the whole surface of the body. It 
may occur naturally as the result of 
disease, or may be produced artificial¬ 
ly by the administration of anaesthet¬ 
ics, such as ether, etc. 

The fact that sulphuric ether could 
produce insensibility was shown by 
the American physicians, Godwin 
(1822), Mitchell (1832), Jackson 
(1833), Wood and Bache (1834); 
but it was first used to prevent the 
pain of an operation in 1846, by Dr. 
Morton, a dentist of Boston. 

The employment of general anaes¬ 
thetics in surgery has greatly increased 
the scope of the surgeon’s usefulness, 
and has been a great boon to suffering 
humanity. It is, however, fraught 
with a certain amount of danger. 
However much care may be taken in 
its administration, an occasional fatal 
accident occurs from the action of the 
anaesthetics employed. In these cases, 
there is generally disease of the heart, 
or a hyper-sensitive nervous system, 
predisposing to sudden sinking, or to 
shock. 

Local anaesthesia, artificially pro¬ 
duced, is of great value in minor op¬ 
erations, and, in painful affections of 
limited areas of the body. It may be 
induced by the application of cold, or 
of medical agents. 

Anagram, the letters of any word 
read backward, or transposed to make 
a new word or sentence, which has 
some reference to the original. 

Anakuac, a term signifying, in the 
old Mexican language, “ near the 
water,” the original name of the an¬ 
cient kingdom of Mexico. 

Analogy, similitude of relations 
between one thing and other. The 
thing to which the other is compared 
is preceded by to or with. When both 
are mentioned together they are con¬ 
nected by the word between. 

Analysis, in ordinary language, the 
act of analyzing; the state of being 
analyzed; the result of such investi¬ 
gation. The separation of anything 
physical, mental, or a mere conception 
into its constituent elements. 

Anam, or Annam, a name given 
by the Chinese in the 3d century a. d. 





Anarajapura 


Anatomy 


to an empire occupying the E. side of 
the Indo-Chinese peninsula, along the 
China Sea. It comprised Tonkin in 
the N.; Cochin-China in the S.; and 
the territory of the Laos tribes S. W. 
of Tonkin ; with an aggregate area of 
196,500 square miles, and a popula¬ 
tion of 15,000,000. Since the French 
occupation in 1884 Anam while theo¬ 
retically still a native monarchy, ad¬ 
ministratively forms the central divi¬ 
sion of French Indo-China with an 
area of 52,100 square miles. The King 
rules with a council of six members 
under the supervision of a French 
resident at Hu6. Pop. 6,124,000. 

Anarajapura, or Anuradha- 
poora, a ruined city, the ancient cap¬ 
ital of Ceylon, built about 510 b. c., 
and said to have covered an area of 
200 square miles. The spacious main 
streets seemed to have been lined with 
elegant structures. There are still 
several dagobas in tolerable preserva¬ 
tion, but the great object of interest 
is the remains of the sacred Bo-tree 
planted over 2,000 years ago, and the 
oldest historical tree in the world. 

Anarchists, a revolutionary sect 
or body setting forth as the social 
ideal the extreme form of individual 
freedom, and holding that all govern¬ 
ment is injurious and immoral, that 
the destruction of every social form 
now existing must be the first step to 
the creation of a new world. Their 
recognition as an independent sect 
may be dated from the secession of 
Bakunin and his followers from the 
Social Democrats at the congress of 
the Hague in 1872, since which they 
have maintained an active propaganda. 
The congress at London in 1881 de¬ 
cided that all means were justifiable 
as against the organized forces of 
modern society. The Haymarket ex¬ 
plosion at Chicago, May 4, 1886, and 
the assassination of President McKin¬ 
ley, Sept, 6, 1901, are the only violent 
manifestations of anarchism that have 
been shown in the United States. 
Their principal journals have been La 
Revolte (Paris), the Freiheit (New 
York), Liberty, (Boston), and the 
Anarchist, (London). 

Anastasius, the name of four 
Popes, the first and most eminent of 
whom held that office for only three 
years (398-401). He enforced celi¬ 


bacy on the clergy, and was an oppo¬ 
nent of the Manichseans and Origen. 

Anathema, a word originally sig¬ 
nifying some offering or gift to the 
gods, generally suspended in the tem¬ 
ple. It also signifies a thing that 
has been devoted to destruction (the 
equivalent of the Hebrew Cherem) ; 
and was ultimately used in its strong¬ 
est sense, implying perdition, as in 
Rom. ix., 3: Gal, i., 8-9. In the Ro¬ 
man Catholic Church, from the 9th 
century, a distinction has been made 
between excommunication and anathe¬ 
matizing ; the latter being employed 
only against obstinate offenders. 

Anatomy, in the literal sense, 
means simply a cutting up, but is now 
generally applied both to the art of 
dissecting or artificially separating the 
different parts of an organized body 
(vegetable or animal) with a view to 
discover their situation, structure, and 
economy; and to the science which 
treats of the internal structure of or¬ 
ganized bodies. The branch which 
treats of the structure of plants is 
called vegetable anatomy or phytotomy, 
and that which treats of the structure 
of animals animal anatomy or zootomy, 
a special branch of the latter being 
human anatomy or anthropotomy. 
Comparative anatomy is the science 
which compares the anatomy of differ¬ 
ent classes with quadrupeds, or that of 
quadrupeds with fishes; while special 
anatomy treats of the construction, 
form, and structure of parts in a sin¬ 
gle animal. The history of anatomy is 
virtually the history of medicine, the 
practice of which is based upon the 
revelations of anatomical study. 

Among the ancient, writers or auth¬ 
orities on human anatomy may be 
mentioned Hippocrates the vounger 
(460-377 b.c.), Aristotle (384-322 
b.c.), Herophilus and Erasistratus of 
Alexandria, (about 300 b.c.,), Celsus 
(53 b.c. —37 a.d.), and Galen of Per- 
gamus (140-200), the most celebrated 
of all the ancient authorities on the 
science. From his time till the revival 
of learning in Europe in the 14th cen¬ 
tury anatomy was checked in its pro¬ 
gress. In 1315 Mondino, professor at 
Bologna, first publicly performed dis¬ 
section, and published a System of 
Anatomy, which was a text-book in 
the schools of Italy for about 200 
years. In the 16th century Fallopio of 




Anaxagoras 


Anderson 


Padua, Eustachi of Venice, Vesalius 
of Brussels, Varoli of Bologna, and 
many others, enriched anatomy with 
new discoveries. In the 17th century 
Harvey discovered the circulation of 
the blood, Asellius discovered the man¬ 
ner in which the nutritious part of the 
food is conveyed into the circulation, 
while the lymphatic system was de¬ 
tected and described by the Dane T. 
Bartoline. Among the renowned anat¬ 
omists of later times we can only men¬ 
tion Malpighi, Boerhaave, William and 
John Hunter, the younger Meckel, 
Bichat, Rosenmuller, Quain, Sir A. 
Cooper, Sir C. Bell, Carus, Joh, Mul¬ 
ler, Haeckel, Owen, and Huxley, and 
the Americans, Jeffries Wyman, 
Dwight, Leidy, Marsh, and Cope. 

Anaxagoras, a famous Greek phi¬ 
losopher of the Ionic school, born 
about 500 (?) b. c. He explained 
eclipses and advanced physical science. 

Anaximander, a Greek mathema¬ 
tician and philosopher, successor of 
Thales as head of the physical school 
of philosophy, was born at Miletus, in 
611 B. c. He is said to have discov- 
’ ered the obliquity of the ecliptic, and 
he certainly taught it. He appears to 
have applied the gnomon, or style set 
on a horizontal plane, to determine the 
solstices and equinoxes. The inven¬ 
tion of maps is ascribed to him. 

Anaximenes, a philosopher of 
Miletus, flourished about 556 b. c. 
Pliny attributes to him the invention 
of the sun-dial. 

Anchoret, Anachoret, or An¬ 
chorite, any person who, from reli¬ 
gious motives, has renounced the 
world, and retired into seclusion. 

Anchovy, a fish which belongs to 
the herring family. In general, its 
length is from 4 to 5 inches; but 
specimens are found 7 y 2 inches long. 

Anchovy Pear, a tree, with large 
leaves, which grows in the West In¬ 
dies. The fruit which is eaten, tastes 
like that of the mango. 

Ancus Marcius, the fourth King 
of Rome was the grandson of King 
Numa Pompilius. He died in 616 
b. c., after reigning 24 years. 

Andalusia, a large and fertile re¬ 
gion occupying the S. of Spain. Its 
shores are washed both by the Mediter¬ 
ranean and the Atlantic; and, though 
it is not now a political division of 


Spain, it is more frequently spoken of 
than the eight modern provinces into 
which it has been divided. Its 
breeds of horses and mules have long 
been celebrated. The mountains yield 
silver, copper, lead, iron, and coal; 
and some ores are extensively worked. 
The Andalusians speak a dialect of 
Spanish, manifestly tinctured with 
traces of Arabic. Andalusia is divided 
into the Provinces of Almeria, Jaen, 
Malaga, Cadiz, Huelva, Seville, Cor¬ 
dova, and Granada. The chief towns 
are Seville, Cordova, and Cadiz. Area, 
33,663 square miles. Pop. 3,450,209 

Andamans, a group of thickly 
wooded islands toward the E. side of 
the Bay of Bengal, about 680 miles S. 
of the Hooghly mouth of the Ganges, 
with a British convict settlement. 
In 1872 Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India, 
was assassinated on Viper Island, by 
a Mussulman convict. Pop. 18,190. 

Andersen, Hans Christian, a 
Danish novelist, poet, and writer of 
fairy tales; born in Odense, April 2, 
1805. His father, a poor shoemaker, 
had acquired some literary tastes, and 
though he died when his son was quite 
young he seems to have given his mind 
the earliest bent to the studies which 
determined his future career. Hans 
learned to read and write in a charity 
school, and eagerly availed himself of 
these elements of instruction for 
further improvement. After many 
struggles he became a successful 
author, and his fairy tales gained 
world wide fame. He died in Roli- 
ghed, Aug. 4, 1875. Andersen’s tales 
are distinguished by humor, tender¬ 
ness, and poetical imagination. 

Anderson, Alexander, an Amer¬ 
ican wood engraver, born in New York 
city, April 21, 1775; began engraving 
on copper and type metal when 12 
years old, without instruction and 
with a knowledge of the art gained 
solely by watching jewelers. He pro-, 
duced the first wood engravings ever 
made in the United States, and for 
many years was the only engraver on 
wood in New York. He made the 
plates for the fractional paper curren¬ 
cy issued by the Federal government, 
and for the cuts in the first editions of 
Webster’s Spelling Book. He died 1870. 

Anderson, Elizabeth Garrett, 

an English physician, born in London 




Anderson 


Andersonville 


in 1837. From 1876 to 1898 she was 
Dean of the London Medical School 
for Women. 

Anderson, Martin Brewer, an 

American educator, born in Bruns¬ 
wick, Me., Feb. 12, 1815; was chosen 
President of the newly organized Uni¬ 
versity of Rochester (N. Y.), in 1853, 
holding the post till 1888. He died 
Feb. 26, 1890. 

Anderson, Mary (Mrs. Navar¬ 
ro), an American actress, born in 
Sacramento, Cal., July 28, 1859. 
She played for the first time in Louis¬ 
ville, in 1875, in the character of Ju¬ 
liet. Her success was marked and 
immediate, and during the following 
years she played with increasing popu¬ 
larity in the principal cities of the 
United States in various roles. In 
1883 she appeared at the Lyceum 
Theater, in London, and speedily be¬ 
came well known in England. Since 
her marriage in 1890 to Antonio Na¬ 
varro de Viana, of New York, she has 
retired from the stage, but it was 
stated in September, 1903, that she 
would probably consent to give the¬ 
atrical readings in the United States. 

Anderson, Rasmus Bjorn, an 
American author, born in Albion, 
Wis., Jan. 12, 1846, of Norwegian pa¬ 
rents. He was educated at Norwegian 
Lutheran College, Decorah, la.; be¬ 
coming Professor of Scandinavian 
Languages in the University of Wis¬ 
consin in 1875-1884, and United 
States Minister to Denmark in 1885. 

Anderson, Robert, an American 
military officer; born near Louisville, 
Ky., June 14, 1805; was graduated at 
the United States Military Academy 
in 1825, and entered the artillery; 
was private secretary to the United 
States minister to Colombia in 1825- 
1826; instructor at the Military Acad¬ 
emy for a while; on ordnance duty 
in 1828-1835; served in the Black 
Hawk War in 1832 as colonel of vol¬ 
unteers, taking part in the battle of 
Bad Axe; and in the Florida War in 
1837-1838 on General Scott’s staff, 
and was made assistant adjutant-gen¬ 
eral on the staff in May of the latter 
year. He was with General Scott in 
his campaign in Mexico, taking part 
in the engagements at Vera Cruz, Cer- 
ro Gordo, Amozoque, and at Molino del 
Key, where he was severely wounded. 


He was commissioned major and was 
placed in command of Charleston har¬ 
bor, to succeed Colonel Gardiner, with 
headquarters at Fort Moultrie, in 

1860. After arriving at Fourt Moul¬ 
trie he informed the government of the 
weakness of the forts in the harbor, 
and urged the necessity of immediately 
strengthening them. As the govern¬ 
ment did not respond, and he was left 
to his own resources, he began to 
strengthen Castle Pinckney and Fort 
Moultrie. Fearing that Fort Moultrie 
would be attacked at any moment he 
applied to the government for instruc¬ 
tions. Receiving none he decided to 
remove with his garrison to Fort Sum¬ 
ter. This he did on the evening of 
Dec. 26. The Confederates were much 
surprised the next day on discovering 
the change, and asked him to explain 
his conduct in acting without orders, 
to which he replied that he did it to 
save the government works. He was 
attacked and surrendered the fort after 
a heavy bombardment, April 12-13, 

1861. In 1861 he was promoted Brig¬ 
adier-General, U. S. A., and placed 
in command of the Department of 
Kentucky and of the Cumberland, but 
failing health caused him to retire 
from active service in 1863, when he 
was brevetted Major-General. He 
died in Nice, France, Oct. 26, 1871. 

Anderson, Rufus, an American 
missionary, born in North Yarmouth, 
Me., Aug. 17, 1796; was graduated at 
Bowdoin College in 1818, and Andover 
Theological Seminary in 1822; Assist¬ 
ant Secretary of the American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Mis¬ 
sions in 1824-1858; a founder of 
Mount Holyoke Seminary. He died 
in Boston, May 30, 1880. 

Andersonville, a village in Geor¬ 
gia, noted as having been the seat of 
a Confederate States military prison, 
which was notorious for unhealthful- 
ness and for barbarity of discipline. 
Between Feb. 15, 1864, and April, 
1865, 49,485 prisoners were received, 
of whom 12,926 died in that time of 
various diseases. Henry Wirz, the 
superintendent, was tried for injuring 
the health and destroying the lives of 
the soldiers confined here, was found 
guilty, and hanged, Nov. 10, 1865. The 
long trenches where the soldiers were 
buried have since been laid out as a 
National cemetery. 




Andersson 


Andre 


Andersson, Carl Jan, an African 
traveler; born in the province of 
Wermland, Sweden, in 1827. He died 
in the land of the Ovampos, in West¬ 
ern Africa, in July, 1867. 

Andes, The, or, as they are called 
by the Spanish in South America, Cor¬ 
dilleras, a range of mountains, of 
such vast extent and altitude as to 
render them one of the most remark¬ 
able physical features of the globe. 
It follows the whole of the W. coast 
of South America, from Cape Horn to 
the Isthmus of Panama and the Car¬ 
ibbean Sea. Sometimes it is spoken 
of as a continuation of the Rocky 
mountains in North America, but 
there seems to be no other reason for 
doing this than the continuity of the 
two divisions of America, and the fact 
that both ranges lie in the W. of their 
respective continents. There is a suf¬ 
ficiently marked break between the 
ridges of the Isthmus of Panama and 
the range of the Andes of South Amer¬ 
ica, and a still more distinct hiatus be¬ 
tween the Sierras of Central America 
and Mexico and the Rocky mountains. 

Andorra, a valley in the Eastern 
Pyrenees, between the French depart¬ 
ment of Ari6ge and the Spanish pro¬ 
vince of Lerida, part of Catalonia. It 
is inclosed by mountains, through 
which its river, the Balira, breaks to 
join the Segre at Urgel; and its inac¬ 
cessibility naturally fits it for being 
the seat of the interesting little re¬ 
public which here holds a kind of semi¬ 
independent position between France 
and Spain. Area (divided into six 
communes), 175 square miles. Popu¬ 
lation about 15,000. 

Andover Theological Semi¬ 
nary, a noted Congregational institu¬ 
tion at Andover, Mass.; founded in 
1807. 

Andral, Gabriel, a French phy¬ 
sician and pathologist, born in Paris, 
Nov. 6, 1797. He died Feb. 13, 1876. 

Andrassy, Julius Count, Hun¬ 
garian statesman, born March 8, 1823. 
He was a conspicuous member of the 
Congress of Berlin in 1878; negotiat¬ 
ed the German-Austrian alliance with 
Bismarck in 1879; and the same year 
retired from public life. He died Feb. 
18, 1890. 

Andre, John, a British military 
officer, born in London in 1751; enter¬ 


ed the army in 1771; went to Canada 
in 1774; and was made prisoner by the 
Americans in 1775. After his ex¬ 
change, he was rapidly promoted, and 
in 1780 was appointed Adjutant-Gen¬ 
eral, with the rank of Major. His 
prospects were of the most flattering 
kind when the treason of Arnold led 
to his death. The temporary absence 
of Washington having been chosen by 
the traitor as the most proper season 
for carrying into effect his design of 
delivering to Sir Henry Clinton the 
fortification at West Point, then un¬ 
der his command, and refusing to con¬ 
fide to any but Major Andr6 the maps 
and information required by the Brit¬ 
ish general, an interview became neces¬ 
sary, and Sept. 19, 1780, Andr6 left 
New York in the sloop-of-war “ Vul¬ 
ture,” and on the next day arrived at 
Fort Montgomery, in company with 
Beverly Robinson, an American re¬ 
siding at the lines, through whom the 
communications had been carried on. 
Furnished with passports from Ar¬ 
nold, Robinson and Andre the next 
day landed and were received by the 
traitor at the water’s edge. Having 
arranged all the details of the proposed 
treason, Arnold delivered to Andre 
drafts of the works at West Point 
and memoranda of the forces under his 
command, and the latter returned to 
the beach in hopes of being immediate¬ 
ly conveyed to the “ Vulture.” But 
the ferrymen, who were Americans, re¬ 
fused to carry him, and as Arnold 
would not interpose his authority, he 
was compelled to return by land. Un¬ 
fortunately for him he persisted, 
against the advice of Arnold, in re¬ 
taining the papers, which he concealed 
in his boot. Accompanied by Smith, 
an emissary of Arnold, and provided 
with a passport under his assumed 
name of Anderson, he set out and 
reached in safety a spot from which 
they could see the ground occupied by 
the English videttes. At Tarrytown 
he was first stopped, and then arrested, 
by three Americans. Andre offered 
them his money, horse, and a large re¬ 
ward, but without avail. They ex¬ 
amined his person, and, in his boots, 
found the fatal papers. He was then 
conveyed to Colonel Jameson, com¬ 
mander of the American outposts. 
On the arrival of Washington, Andre • 
was conveyed to Tappan and tried by 





Andre 


Andrews 


a board of general officers, among 
whom were General Greene, the presi¬ 
dent, Lafayette, and Knox. Every ef¬ 
fort was made by Sir Henry Clinton 
to save him, and there was a strong 
disposition on the American side to do 
so. His execution, originally appoint¬ 
ed for Sept. 30, did not take place till 
Oct. 2. If possession could have been 
obtained of the traitor, the life of 
Andr6 would have been spared. His 
remains, which were buried on the 
spot, were afterward removed to Lon¬ 
don, and now repose in Westminster 
Abbey. 

Andre, Louis Joseph. Nicolas, 

a French military officer, born in 
Nuits, Burgundy, March 29, 1838. He 
was graduated at the Polytechnic 
School, and in 1865 became captain, 
serving in that capacity throughout the 
Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. 
He became Major in 1877, Lieutenant- 
Colonel in 1885, and Colonel in 1888. 
He was made General of Brigade in 
1893, and placed in charge of the Poly¬ 
technic School. He married, in 1875, 
Mile. Chapuis, a talented singer of the 
Opera Comique. On May 29, 1900, he 
was appointed Minister of War by 
President Loubet, succeeding General 
the Marquis de Gallifet , who held the 
office during the exciting period of the 
Dreyfus revision. 

Andrea, Jakob, a German Pro¬ 
testant theologian, born in Wiirtem- 
berg, March 25, 1528; died in Tubin¬ 
gen, Jan. 7, 1590. 

Andrea, Johann Valentin, a 

very original thinker and writer, born 
in 1586, near Tubingen. He studied 
at Tubingen, became a Protestant pas¬ 
tor, and died in 1654 at Stuttgart, 
where he was chaplain to the court. 
Eminently practical in mind, he was 
grieved to see the principles of Chris¬ 
tianity made the subject of mere empty 
disputations, and devoted his whole 
life to correct this prevailing tendency 
of his age. 

Andree, Solomon Auguste,^ a 

Swedish aeronaut, born Oct. 18, 1854; 
educated for a civil engineer. In 1882, 
he took part in a Swedish meteoro¬ 
logical expedition to Spitzbergen. In 
1884 he was appointed chief engineer 
to the patent office, and from 1886 to 
1889 he occupied a professor’s chair 
at Stockholm. In 1892 he received 


from the Swedish Academy of Sci¬ 
ences a subvention for the purpose of 
undertaking scientific aerial naviga¬ 
tion. From that time Dr. Andree de¬ 
voted himself to aerial navigation, and 
made his first ascent at Stockholm in 
the summer of 1893. In 1895 he pre¬ 
sented to the Academy of Sciences a 
well-matured project for exploring the 
regions of the North Pole with the aid 
of a balloon. The estimated cost 
amounted to about $40,000. A na¬ 
tional subscription was opened, which 
was completed in a few days, the King 
of Sweden contributing the sum of 
$8,280. With two companions, Dr. S. 
T. Strindberg and Herr Fraenckell, he 
started from Dane’s island, Spitzber¬ 
gen, July 11, 1897. His balloon was 
67*4 feet in diameter, with a capacity 
of 170,000 cubic feet. Its speed was 
estimated at from 12 to 15 miles an 
hour, at which rate the Pole should 
have been reached in six days, pro¬ 
vided a favorable and constant wind 
had been blowing. Two days after his 
departure, a message was received from 
Dr. Andree by carrier pigeon, which 
stated that at noon, July 13, they were 
in latitude 82.2°, and longitude 15.5° 
E., and making good progress to the 
E., 10° southerly. This was the last 
word received from the explorer. 

Andrew, the first disciple, one of 
the apostles of Jesus. His career 
after the Master’s death is unknown. 
Tradition tells us that, after preach¬ 
ing the gospel in Scythia, Northern 
Greece, and Epirus, he suffered mar¬ 
tyrdom on the cross at Patrae, in 
Achaia, 62 or 70 a. d. 

Andrew I., King of Hungary, in 
1046-1049; compelled his subjects to 
embrace Christianity; he was killed in 
battle in 1058. 

Andrew, John Albion, war gov- 

enor of Massachusetts. Was born at 
Windham in 1818, died 1867. His “Let¬ 
ters and Life” was published in 1904. 

Andrews, Christopher Colum¬ 
bus, an American diplomat and 
writer, born at Hillsboro, N. II., Oct. 
27, 1829; was brevetted Major-Gen¬ 
eral in the Civil War; United States 
Minister to Sweden from 1869 to 1877, 
and Consul-General to Brazil from 
1882 to 1885. 

Andrews, Elisha Benjamin, an 

American educator, born in Hinsdale, 




Andrews 


N. H., Jan. 10, 1844; he was grad¬ 
uated at Brown University, 1870, and 
Newton Theological Seminary, 1874; 
President of Brown University in 
1889-1898; became Superintendent of 
Public Schools in Chicago in 1898, 
and Chancellor of the University of 
Nebraska in 1900. 

Andrews, Ethan Allen, an 
American educator and lexicographer, 
born at New Britain, Conn., April 7, 
1787. He died in 1858. 

Andrews, Jane, an American ju¬ 
venile story writer, born in Massachu¬ 
setts in 1833. She died in 1887. 

Andrews, John N., an American 
military officer, born in Delaware, in 
1838; was graduated at West Point 
in 1860; served with distinction 
through the Civil War; commissioned 
Colonel of the 12th United States in¬ 
fantry in 1895; and appointed a Brig¬ 
adier-General of Volunteers for the 
war against Spain in 1898. 

Andrews, Eorrin, an American 
missionary, born in East Windsor, 
Conn. , April 29, 1795; was educated 
at Jefferson College and Princeton 
Theological Seminary, and went as a 
missionary to the Hawaiian Islands in 
1827. He founded, in 1831, the La- 
hainaluna Seminary, which later be¬ 
came the Hawaii University, where he 
served 10 years as a professor. He 
translated a part of the Bible into the 
Hawaiian language. In 1845 he be¬ 
came a judge under the Hawaiian 
Government and Secretary of the 
Privy Council. He produced several 
works on the literature and antiquities 
of Hawaii, and a Hawaiian diction¬ 
ary. He died in 1868. 

Andrews, Stephen Pearl, an 
American writer, born at Templeton, 
Mass., March 22, 1812; was a promi¬ 
nent abolitionist, practiced law in the 
South, and settled in New York in 
1847. He died at New York, May 21, 
1886. 

Andromache, a daughter of 
iEtion, King of Thebes in Cilicia, and 
wife of Hector. After the conquest of 
Troy she became the prize of Pyrrhus, 
son of Achilles, who carried her to 
Epirus and had three sons by her, 
but afterward left her to Helenus, 
brother of Hector, to whom she bore 
a son. Euripides has made her the 
chief character of a tragedy. 


Angel 


Andromeda, in classical mythology 
a daughter of Sepheus, King of Ethi¬ 
opia and Cassiope. It was fabled that 
she was chained to a rock by order of 
Jupiter Ammon, and then exposed to 
the attacks of a monster. Perseus re¬ 
leased, and afterward married her. On 
her death she was changed into the 
constellation which bears her name. 

In astronomy, a constellation, fanci¬ 
fully supposed to resemble a woman 
chained. 

Andros Islands, a group of islands 

belonging to the Bahamas. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, an Eng¬ 
lish provincial governor, born in 1637; 
was governor of New York in 1674- 
1682, and of New England, with New 
York included, in 1686-1689. His 
harsh execution of the orders of the 
Duke of York caused him to be gener¬ 
ally execrated, and, after his attempt 
to deprive Connecticut of its royal 
charter, he was seized by the people 
of Boston and sent to England under 
charges. He was also Governor of 
Virginia in 1692-1698, and of the Is¬ 
land of Jersey in 1704-1706. He died 
in 1714. 

Anemometer, an instrument de¬ 
signed to measure the velocity of the 
wind, on which its strength depends. 

Anemone, a genus of plants be¬ 
longing to the crowfoots. 

In zoology, it is a popular name 
given to various radiated animals 
which present a superficial resemb¬ 
lance to the anemone. 

Anemoscope, an instrument for 
rendering visible the direction of the 
wind. In that commonly used there 
is a vane exposed to the wind acting 
upon an index moving round a dial- 
plate on which the 32 points of the 
compass are engraved. 

Aneroid, not containing any li¬ 
quid; used chiefly in the expression, 
“ aneroid barometer.” 

Aneurism, a morbid dilation of the 
aorta, or one of the other great arter¬ 
ies of the body. 

Angel, a messenger, one employed 
to carry a message, a locum tenens, a 
man of business. 

In a special sense an angel is one of 
an order of spiritual beings superior to 
man in power and intelligence, vast in 
number, holy in character, and thor¬ 
oughly devoted to the worship and ser- 








Angel Fish 


Angle 


vice of God, who employs them as his 
heavenly messengers. Their existence 
is made known to us by Scripture, and 
is recognized also in the Parsee sacred 
books. 

Angel Fish, a fish of the shark 
family, the reverse of angelic in 
its look, but which derived its name 
from the fact that its extended pec¬ 
toral fins present the appearance ot 
wfings. It is called also monk-fish, 
fiddle-fish, shark-ray, and kingston. 

Angelica, a genus of plants mostly 
herbaceous and perennial, natives of 
the temperate and colder regions of 
the northern hemisphere. Wild angel¬ 
ica (A. sylvestris) is a common plant 
in moist meadows, by the sides of 
brooks, and in woods. The garden an¬ 
gelica is a biennial plant, becoming 
perennial when not allowed to ripen 
its seeds. 

Angelico, Fra, the commonest 
designation of the great friar-painter 
— in full, “ II beato Fra Giovanni An¬ 
gelico da Fiesole,” “ the blessed 
Brother John the angelic of Fiesole.” 
Born in 1387 at Vicchio, in the Tus¬ 
can province of Mugello, in 1407, he 
entered the Dominican monastery at 
Fiesole, in 1436 he was transferred to 
Florence, and in 1445 was summoned 
by the Pope to Rome, where thence¬ 
forward he chiefly resided till his 
death in 1455. 

Angell, George Thorndike, an 

American reformer, born in 1820. He 
was graduated at Dartmouth, 1846, 
and admitted to the bar, 1851. He 
has been active in promoting measures 
for the prevention of crime, cruelties, 
and the adulteration of food. He 
founded and is President of the Amer¬ 
ican Humane Educational Society. 

Angell, James Bnrrill, an Amer¬ 
ican educator and diplomatist, born in 
Scituate, R. I., Jan. 7, 1827; was 
graduated from Brown University in 
1850. He assumed the presidency of 
the University of Vermont in 1866, 
and that of the University of Michigan 
in 1871. He was Minister to China, 
1880-1881, and to Turkey, 1897-1898. 
In 1900 he resumed the presidency of 
the University of Michigan. 

Angell, Joseph Kinnicnt, an 
American lawyer, born in Providence, 
R. I., in 1794; best known for his 
works on “ Treatise on the Right of 


Property in Tide-Waters,” and “ The 
Limitation of Actions at Law and in 
Equity and Admiralty.” He died in 
1857. 

Angelo (Michael Angelo Buo¬ 
narroti), (See Michaelangelo.) 

Angelas, The, a painting by J. F. 
Millet. It represents two French 
peasants who have stopped their work 
in the field to listen to the Angelus 
bell, and to pray. The American Art 
Association bought the picture in 1899 
for about 580,000 francs, exhibited it 
about the country and sold it in 1890 
for $150,000. 

Angelas, in the Roman Catholic 
Church, a short form of prayer in 
honor of the incarnation, consisting 
mainly of versicles and responses. 

Angina Pectoris, the name first 
given by Dr. Heberden in 1768, and 
since then universally adopted as the 
designation of a very painful disease, 
called by him also a disorder of the 
breast; by some others, spasm of the 
chest, or heart stroke, and popularly 
breast pang. It is characterized by 
intense pain in the praecordial region, 
attended by a feeling of suffocation 
and a fearful sense of impending 
death. These symptoms may continue 
for a few minutes, half an hour, or 
even an hour or more. During the 
paroxysm the pulse is low, with the 
body cold, and often covered with 
clammy perspiration. Death does not 
often result from the first seizure, but 
the malady tends to return at more or 
less remote intervals, generally prov¬ 
ing fatal at last. There are several 
varieties of it: an organic and func¬ 
tional form; and again a pure or idio¬ 
pathic and a complex or sympathetic 
one have been recognized. Angina is 
produced by disease of the heart. It 
especially attacks elderly persons of 
plethoric habits, men oftener than 
women, generally coming on when 
they are walking, and yet more, it 
they are running up stairs or exerting 
great effort on ascending a hill. Stim¬ 
ulants should be administered during 
the continuance of a paroxysm; but it 
requires a radical improvement of the 
general health to produce a permanent 
effect on the disorder. 

Angle, the point where two lines 
meet, or the meeting of two lines in a 
point. Technically, the inclination ot 
two lines to one another. 




Angler Fish. 


Angling 


Angler Fish, a fish called also sea 
devil, frog, or frog fish. It has an 
enormous head, on which are placed 
two elongated appendages or filaments, 
the first of them broad and flattened 
at the end. These, being movable, are 
maneuvered as if they were bait; and 
when small fishes approach to examine 
them, the angler, hidden amid mud and 
sand, which it has stirred up by means 
of its pectoral and ventral fins, seizes 
them at once; hence its name. 

Angles, a German tribe who ap¬ 
pear to have originally dwelt on the E. 
side of the Elbe between the mouth of 
the Saale and Ohre, and to have re¬ 
moved N. from their old abodes to the 
modern Schleswig, where they dwelt 
between the Jutes and Saxons. In 
the 5th century they joined their pow¬ 
erful N. neighbors, the Saxons, and 
took part in the conquest of Britain, 
which from them derived its future 
name of England. 

Anglesey, or Anglesea, an island 
and county of England, in North 
Wales, in the Irish Sea, separated 
from the mainland by the Menai 
Strait. It is about 20 miles long and 
17 miles broad. The Menai Strait is 
crossed by a magnificent suspension 
bridge, 580 feet between the piers and 
100 feet above high-water mark, allow¬ 
ing the largest vessels which navigate 
the strait to sail under it; and also 
by the great Britannia tubular bridge, 
for the conveyance of railway trains, 
Holyhead being the point of departure 
for the Irish mails. 



HOOKS BAITED WITH WORMS. 

Anglican Church, The, means 
collectively that group of autonomous 
churches which are in communion 
with, or have sprung from, the mother 


Church of England. They are the 
following: The Church of Ireland, 
the Episcopal Church of Scotland, the 
Protestant Episcopal Church of the 
United States of America, the Church 
of Canada, the Church of Australia, 
the Indian Church, and the Church of 
South Africa, which are all autono¬ 
mous bodies under the jurisdiction of 
their own metropolitans, and not 
amenable to the ecclesiastical courts 
of the Church of England, though they 
all look to the Archbishop of Canter¬ 
bury as patriarch. In addition to 
these autonomous churches in connec¬ 
tion with the Anglican communion, 
there are 12 missionary bishops, repre¬ 
senting the English church in various 
remote regions of Asia, Africa, and 
America; and three or four represent¬ 
ing the Protestant Episcopal Church 
of America. The Reformed Episcopal 
Church of America and the Free 
Church of England are not recognized 
as authentic branches of the Anglican 
Church. The American Church, le¬ 
gally the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
possesses 84 bishops in 58 dioceses and 
21 missionary jurisdictions, and 4,776 
other clergy. It has 680,205 commu¬ 
nicants, and property exceeding $90,- 
000,000 in value. 



ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 


Angling, the art of catching fish 
with a hook, or angle (Anglo-Saxon, 
ongel), baited with worms, small fish, 









Anglo-American Com, 


Aniline 


flies, etc. We find occasional allusions 
to this pursuit among the Greek and 
Latin classical writers; it is mentioned 
several times in the Old Testament, 
and it was practiced by the ancient 
Egyptians. The oldest work on the 
subject in English is the “ Treatyse of 
Fyshinge with an Angle,” printed by 
Wynkyn de Worde in 1496, along with 
treaties on hunting and hawking, the 
whole being ascribed to Dame Juliana 
Berners, or Barnes, prioress of a nun¬ 
nery near St. Alban. Walton’s inim¬ 
itable discourse on angling was first 
printed in 1653. 

Anglo-American Commission, 

a joint international commission ap¬ 
pointed in 1898, by the United States 
and Great Britain, to negotiate a plan 
for the settlement of all controversial 
matters between the United States and 
Canada. This commission settled the 
Alaskan boundary. 

Anglo-French Treaty, a diplo¬ 
matic agreement between England and 
France, signed April 8, 1904. By this 
treaty, France gave up her claims to 
certain sovereign rights on the New¬ 
foundland shore; the rights and privi¬ 
leges of the two nations in Egypt, 
Morocco, and Africa generally, are set 
forth, and the position of France in 
Siam, Madagascar, etc., defined. 

Anglo-Japanese Alliance, a 
protective agreement for the mutual 
defense of interests in eastern Asia 
and India, effected by treaties in 1902 
and 1905, between Great Britain and 
Japan. 

Anglo-Saxons, the name used, 
with doubtful propriety, by modern 
historians to include the Angles, Sax¬ 
ons, and Jutes, who settled in Britain 
in the 5th and 6th centuries after 
Christ, and thus became the ancestors 
of the English people. These tribes 
came from Germany, where they in¬ 
habited the parts about the mouths of 
the Elbe and Weser, and the first body 
of them who gained a footing in Eng¬ 
land are said to have landed in 449, 
and to have been led by Hengist and 
Horsa. The Jutes settled chiefly in 
Kent, the Saxons in the S. and middle 
of the country, and the Angles in the 
N. Among the various Anglo-Saxon 
States that afterwards arose those 
founded by the Angles first gained the 
preponderance, and the whole country 
came in time to be called after them 


Engla-land, that is, the land of the 
Angles. 

Angora Cat, Goat, etc., a variety 
of these common animals, generally 
supposed to have originated in Angora. 
They are characterized by the length 
and silkiness of the hair, which makes 
the goat a valuable animal to raise. 
In America, each generation of the 
goat has a poorer fleece, the excellent 
quality being retained only by frequent 
crossings with the original stock. 

Angostura Bark, the aromatic 
bitter medicinal bark obtained chiefly 
from Galipea officinalis, a tree of 10 
to 20 feet high, growing in the north¬ 
ern regions of South America; natural 
order rutacae. The bark is valuable 
as a tonic and febrifuge, and is also 
used for a kind of bitters. 

Angouleme, Louis Antoine de 
Bourbon, Due d% the eldest son of 
Charles X. of France, and Dauphin 
during his father’s reign, born at Ver¬ 
sailles Aug. 6, 1775. On the rev¬ 
olution in July, 1830, he signed, 
with his father, an abdication in 
favor of his nephew, the Due de 
Bordeaux: and when the Chambers 
declared the family of Charles X. to 
have forfeited the throne, he accom¬ 
panied him into exile, to Holyrood, to 
Prague, and to Gorz. He died, 1844. 

Anhalt, a duchy of North Ger¬ 
many, lying partly in the plains of 
the Middle Elbe, and partly in the 
valleys and uplands of the Lower 
Harz, and almost entirely surrounded 
by Prussia; area, 906 square miles. 
The united principality is now incor¬ 
porated in the German Empire, and 
has one vote in the Bundesrath and 
two in the Reichstag. Pop. (1900) 
316,085. The chief towns are Dessau, 
Bernburg, Kothen, and Zerbst. 

Ani, the name given to a division 
of the Cuculidse, or cuckoos; the typ¬ 
ical anis are found in South America, 
the West Indies and Florida. They 
are about the size of our blackbird. 

Anichini, Ludwig, a Venetian 
engraver of great celebrity. On see¬ 
ing his pieces, Michael Angelo is said 
to have exclaimed that the art of 
engraving had reached perfection. 

Aniline, an organic substance used 
as the basis of brilliant and durable 
dyes. It is found in small quantities 
in coal-tar, but the aniline of com- 






Animal 


Annato 


merce is obtained from benzene or ben¬ 
zole, a constituent of coal-tar, consist¬ 
ing of hydrogen and carbon. It is 
a colorless oily liquid somewhat heav¬ 
ier than water, with a peculiar vinous 
smell, and a burning taste. Its name 
is derived from anil, the Portuguese 
and Spanish name for indigo, from the 
dry distillation of which substance it 
was first obtained by the chemist Un- 
verdorben in 1826. The manufacture 
of aniline or coal-tar dyes as a branch 
of industry was introduced in 1856 by 
Mr. Perkin of London. 

Animal, an organized and sen¬ 
tient living being. Life in the earlier 
eriods of natural history was attri- 
uted almost exclusively to animals. 
With the progress of science, how¬ 
ever, it was extended to plants. In 
the case of the higher animals and 
plants there is no difficulty in assign¬ 
ing the individual to one of the two 
great kingdoms of organic nature, but 
in their lowest manifestations, the veg¬ 
etable and animal kingdoms are 
brought into such immediate contact 
that it becomes almost impossible to 
assign them precise limits, and to say 
with certainty where the one begins 
and the other ends. From form no ab¬ 
solute distinction can be fixed between 
animals and plants. Many animals, 
such as the sea-shrub, sea-mats, etc., 
so resemble plants in external appear¬ 
ance that they were, and even yet 
popularly are, looked upon as such. 

Animal Chemistry, the depart¬ 
ment of organic chemistry which in¬ 
vestigates the composition of the fluids 
and the solids of animals, and the 
chemical action that takes place in 
animal bodies. 

Animal Magnetism. (See Hyp¬ 
notism ). 

Anise, an umbelliferous plant, cul¬ 
tivated in Malta and Spain for the 
sake of its aromatic and carminative 
seeds which form a profitable article 
of export and commerce. Its scent 
tends to neutralize other smells. 

Anjon or Beague, Battlo of, 
between the English and French; the 
latter commanded by the Dauphin of 
France March 22, 1421. The Eng¬ 
lish were defeated; the Duke of Clar¬ 
ence was slain by Sir Allan Swinton, 
a Scotch knight, and 1,500 men per¬ 
ished on the field; the Earls of Som-I 


erset, Dorset and Huntingdon were 
taken prisoners. This was the first 
battle that turned the tide of success 
against the English. 

Anna Comnena, daughter of Alex¬ 
ius Comnenus I., Byzantine emperor. 
She was born 1083, and died 1148. 
After her father’s death she endeav¬ 
ored to secure the succession to her 
husband, Nicephorus Briennius, but 
was baffled by his want of energy and 
ambition. She wrote (in Greek) a life 
of her father Alexius, which, in the 
midst of much fulsome panegyric, con¬ 
tains some valuable and interesting in¬ 
formation. She forms a character in 
Scott’s “ Count Robert of Paris.” 

Anna Ivanovna, Empress of 
Russia; born in 1693; the daughter of 
Ivan, the elder half-brother of Peter 
the Great. Anna died in 1740. 

Annals, a history of events in 
chronological order, each event being 
recorded under the year in which it 
occurred. The name is derived from 
the first records of the Romans, which 
were called annales pontificum as 
drawn up by the pontifex maximus 
(chief pontiff). The name was applied 
in later times to historical works in 
which the matter was treated with 
special reference to chronological ar¬ 
rangement as to the Annals of Tacitus. 

Annapolis, the capital of Mary¬ 
land, on the Severn, near its mouth, 
about two miles from Chesapeake Bay. 
It contains a college (St. John’s), a 
state-house, and the United States 
naval academy. It has a fine harbor, 
and is the seat of an extensive oyster 
industry. Pop. (1900 ) 8,525. 

Annapolis Convention, in Amer¬ 
ican history, a convention that met in 
Annapolis, Md., Sept. 11, 1786. The 
object of the gathering was to consider 
some needed changes in the Articles of 
Confederation, but as all the States 
were not represented, it adjourned 
after recommending that a convention 
of all the States be called for the pur¬ 
pose of making “The Constitution of 
the Federal Government, adequate to 
the exigencies of the Union.” 

Annato, or Arnotto, an orange- 
red coloring matter, obtained from a 
shrub cultivated in Guiana, St. Do¬ 
mingo, and the East Indies. It is 
sometimes used as a dye for silk and 
cotton goods, and is much used in 




Anne of Austria 


Anniversaries 


medicine for tinting plasters and oint¬ 
ments, and for giving a rich color to 
cheese and butter. 

Anne of Austria, daughter of 
Philip III. of Spain, was born at Ma¬ 
drid in 1602, and in 1615 was married 
to Louis XIII. of France. Richelieu, 
fearing the influence of her foreign 
connections did everything he could 
to humble her. In 1643 her husband 
died, and she was left regent, but 
placed under the control of a council. 
But the parliament overthrew this ar¬ 
rangement, and intrusted her with full 
sovereign rights during the minority 
of her son, Louis XIV. She, how- 
over, brought upon herself the hatred 
of the nobles by her boundless confi¬ 
dence in Cardinal Mazarin, and was 
forced to flee from Paris during the 
wars of the Fronde. She ultimately 
quelled all opposition, and was able, 
in 1661, to transmit to her son, unim¬ 
paired, the royal authority. She spent 
the remainder of her life in retire¬ 
ment, and died Jan. 20, 1666. 

Anne, Queen of Great Britain 
and Ireland, was born at Twick¬ 
enham, near London, Feb. 6, 1664; 
the second daughter of James II., then 
Duke of York, and Anne, his wife, 
daughter of the Earl of Clarendon. 
She was educated according to the 
principles of the English Church. In 
1683 she was married to Prince 
George, brother to King Christian V. 
of Denmark. On the arrival of the 
Prince of Orange in 1688, Anne wished 
to remain with her father; but she 
was prevailed upon by Lord Churchill 
(afterward Duke of Marlborough) and 
his wife.to join the triumphant party. 
After the death of William III., in 
1702, she ascended the English throne. 
Her character was essentially weak, 
and she was governed first bv Marl¬ 
borough and his wife, and afterward 
by Mrs. Masham. Most of the prin¬ 
cipal events of her reign are connected 
with the War of the Spanish Succes¬ 
sion. The only important acquisition 
that England made by it was Gibral¬ 
tar, which was captured in 1704. An¬ 
other very important event of this 
reign was the union of England and 
Scotland, under the name of Great 
Britain, which was accomplished in 
1707. She died, July 20, 1714. The 
reign of Anne was distinguished not 
only by the brilliant successes of the 
E. 7. 


British arms, but also on account of 
the number of admirable and excellent 
writers who flourished at this time, 
among them Pope, Swift, and Addison. 

Annealing, a process to which 
many articles of metal and glass are 
subjected after making, in order to 
render them more tenacious, and which 
consists in heating them and allowing 
them to cool slowly 

Annelida, a class of animals be¬ 
longing to the sub-kingdom articulata, 
the annulosa of some naturalists. 
They are sometimes called red blooded 
worms, being the only invertebrated 
animals possessing this character. 

Annexation, a national acquisi¬ 
tion of territory. The term is properly 
used when adjoining territory is an¬ 
nexed, but in a loose way it is applied 
to the extension of a nation’s sov¬ 
ereignty over any land. 

Annihilationism, the theory of 
the utter extinction of man’s being, 
both bodily and spiritual, either at 
death or at some later period. Arch¬ 
bishop Whately says that in the pas¬ 
sages in Scripture in which ‘death,’ 
‘destruction,’ ‘eternal death,’ are men¬ 
tioned, the words may be taken as sig¬ 
nifying literal death, real destruction, 
the utter end of things. Of late those 
who hold to this theory have adopted 
the term ‘ conditional immortality.’ 

Anniston, city and county seat of 
Calhoun Co.. Ala. The city is the cen¬ 
tre of a region of coal, iron, and tim¬ 
ber, and the seat of a large cotton 
trade. Pop. (1900) 9,695. 

Anniversaries, the yearly recur¬ 
rence of the date upon which any past 
event, of historical or personal in¬ 
terest, has taken place. A number of 
anniversaries of interest to Americans 
are included in the following: 

Jan. 1, 1863, Emancipation Procla¬ 
mation, by Lincoln. 

Jan. 8, 1815, Battle of New Or¬ 
leans. 

Jan. 17, 1706, Franklin born. 

Jan. 17, 1781, Battle of the Cow- 
pens, S. C. 

Jan 19, 1807, Robert E. Lee born. 

Jan. 27, 1859, German Emperor 
born. 

Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln 
born. 

Feb. 15, 1898, battleship “ Maine ” 
blown up. 






Anniversaries 


Annunciation 


Feb. 22, 1732, George Washington 
born. 

Feb. 22-23, 1847, Battle of Buena 
Vista. 

March 5, 1770, Boston massacre. 

March 15, 1767, Andrew Jackson 
born. 

April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered at 
Appomattox. 

April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter fired 
upon. 

April 12, 1777, Henry Clay born. 

April 13, 1743, Thomas Jefferson 
born. 

April 14, 1865, Lincoln assassinated. 

April 19, 1881, Primrose Day in 
England, Lord Beaconsfield died. 

April 19, 1775, Battle of Lexington 
and Concord. 

April 30, 1789, Washington was 
inaugurated first President. 

May 1, 1898, Dewey destroyed the 
Spanish fleet at Manila. 

May 13, 1607, first English settle¬ 
ment in America, at Jamestown. 

May 13, 1783, the Society of the 
Cincinnati was organized by officers 
of the Revolutionary army. 

May 20, 1775, Mecklenburg, N. C., 
Declaration of Independence. 

June 14, 1777, American flag adopt¬ 
ed by Congress. 

June 15, 1215, King John granted 
Magna Charta at Runnymede. 

June 17, 1775, Battle of Bunker 
Hill. 

June 18, 1815, Battle of Waterloo. 

June 28, 1776, Battle of Fort Moul¬ 
trie, Charleston, S. C. 

July 1, Dominion Day in Canada. 

July 1-2, 1898, general assault on 
Santiago de Cuba. 

July 1-3, 1863, Battle of Gettys¬ 
burg. 

July 3, 1898, Cervera’s fleet de^- 
stroyed off Santiago. 

July 14, 1789, the Bastile was de¬ 
stroyed. 

July 16, 1898, Santiago surrendered. 

July 21, 1861, Battle of Bull Run. 

Aug. 13, 1898, Manila surrendered 
to the Americans. 

Aug. 16, 1777, Battle of Benning¬ 
ton, Vt. 

Sept. 8, 1781, Battle of Eutaw 
Springs, S. C. 

Sept. 10, 1813, Battle of Lake Erie, 
Perry’s victory. 

Sept. 11, 1814, Battle of Lake 
Champlain, McDonough’s victory. 


Sept. 12, 1814, Battle of North 
Point, near Baltimore. 

Sept. 13, 1847, Battle of Chapulte- 
pec. 

Sept. 14, 1847, City of Mexico 
taken by United States troops. 

Sept. 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam. 

Sept. 19-20, 1863, Battle of Chick- 
amauga. 

Sept. 20, 1870, Italians occupied 
Rome. 

Oct. 7, 1780, Battle of King’s Moun¬ 
tain, N. C. 

Oct. 8-11, 1871, great fire of Chi- 
cabo. 

Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus discovered 
America. 

Oct. 17, 1777, Burgoyne surrendered 
at Saratoga. 

Oct. 19, 1781, Cornwallis surren¬ 
dered at Yorktown. 

Nov. 5, 1604, Guy Fawkes Day in 
England, the gunpowder plot discov¬ 
ered. 

Nov. 9, 1872, great fire of Boston. 

Nov. 25, 1783, British evacuated 
New York. 

Dec. 14, 1799, Washington died. 

Dec. 16, 1773, Boston “Tea Party.” 

Dec. 22, 1620, Mayflower pilgrims 
landed at Plymouth Rock. 

Dec. 25-26, 1776, Battle of Tren¬ 
ton, N. J. 

Anno Domini, A. D., the year of 
Our Lord, in Latin. The Christian 
era began Jan. 1, in the middle of the 
fourth year of the 194th Olympiad, 
the 753rd year of the building of 
Rome, and in 4714 of the Julian pe¬ 
riod. This era was invented by a 
monk, Dionysius Exiguus, about 532. 
It was introduced into Italy in the 
6th century, and ordered to be used 
by bishops by the Council of Chelsea, 
in 816, but was not generally employed 
for several centuries. Charles III. of 
Germany was the first who added “ in 
the year of our Lord” to his reign, in 879. 

Annuity, a fixed sum of money 
paid yearly. In the United States the 
granting of annuities is conducted by 
private companies or corporations. 
The purchase of annuities, as a sys¬ 
tem, has never gained much foothold 
—the endowment plan of life insur¬ 
ance, by which, after the lapse of a 
term of years, the insured receives a 
sum in bulk, being preferred. 

Annunciation, the declaration 
of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin 





Anode 


Anstey 


Mary informing her that she was to 
become the mother of our Lord. An¬ 
nunciation or Lady Day is a feast in 
honor of the Annunciation, celebrated 
on the 25th of March. 

Anode, the name given by Fara¬ 
day to what is called by Daniell the 
zincode, and by various other writers 
the positive pole of an electric bat¬ 
tery ; or, more precisely, the “ way ” 
or path by which the electric current 
passes out and enters the electrolyte 
on its way to the other pole. 

Anodyne, a medicine which alle¬ 
viates pain, though, if given in too 
large doses, it induces stupor. 

Anointing, rubbing the body or 
some part of it with oil, often per¬ 
fumed. From time immemorial the 
nations of the East have been in the 
habit of anointing themselves for the 
sake of health and beauty. In the 
Mosaic law a sacred character was 
attached to the anointing of the 
garments of the priests and things 
belonging to the ceremonial of wor¬ 
ship. The custom of anointing still 
exists in the Roman Catholic Church 
in the ordination of priests and the 
confirmation of believers and the sac¬ 
rament of extreme unction. The cere¬ 
mony is also frequently a part of the 
coronation of kings. 

Anomalure, a genus of rodent an¬ 
imals inhabitating the W. coast of Af¬ 
rica, resembling the flying-squirrels, 
but having the under surface of the 
tail “ furnished for some distance from 
the roots with a series of large horny 
scales, which, when pressed against 
the trunk of a tree, may subserve the 
same purpose as those instruments 
with which a man climbs up a tele¬ 
graph pole to set the wires.” 

Anonymous, literally “ without 
name,” applied to anything which is 
the work of a person whose name is 
unknown or who keeps his name se¬ 
cret. Pseudonym is a term used for 
an assumed name. 

Anoplotherium, an extinct ge¬ 
nus of the ungulata or hoofed quad¬ 
rupeds, forming the type of a distinct 
family, which were in many respects 
intermediate between the swine and 
the true ruminants. These animals 
were pig-like in form, but possessed 
long tails, and had a cleft hoof, with 
two rudimentary toes. Some of them 


were as small as a guinea-pig, others 
as large as an ass. 

Anosmia, a disease consisting in 
a diminution or destruction of the 
power of smelling, sometimes constitu¬ 
tional, but most frequently caused by 
strong and repeated stimulants, as 
snuff, applied to the olfactory nerves. 

Anquetil-Duperron, Abraham 
Hyacinthe, a French orientalist, 
born in 1731. He died in 1805. 

Anselm of Canterbury, a Chris¬ 
tian philosopher and theologian; re¬ 
garded by some as the founder of 
scholasticism; born in Aosta, Pied¬ 
mont, between April 21, 1033, and 
April 21, 1034. In 1092 he went to 
England. In the following year he 
was nominated by William Rufus 
Archbishop of Canterbury, and was 
consecrated on Dec. 4, 1093. He died 
in Canterbury, April 21, 1109; was 
canonized in 1494. 

Ansgar, or Anshar, called the 
Apostle of the North, was born in 801 
in Picardy, and he took the monastic 
vows in boyhood. In the midst of 
many difficulties he labored as a mis¬ 
sionary in Denmark and Sweden; dy¬ 
ing in 864 or 865, with the reputation 
of having undertaken, if not the first, 
the most successful, attempts for the 
propagation of Christianity in the 
North. 

Anson, George, Lord, a cele¬ 
brated English navigator, born in 
1697; entered the navy at an early 
age and became a commander in 1722, 
and captain in 1724. He was for a 
long time on the South Carolina sta¬ 
tion. In 1740 he was made commander 
of a fleet sent to the South sea, di¬ 
rected against the trade and colonies 
of Spain. His victory over the 
French admiral, Jonquiere, near Cape 
Finisterre in 1747, raised him to 
the peerage, with the title of Lord 
Anson, Baron of Soberton. He died 
in 1762. 

Ansted, David Thomas, an 

English geologist, born 1814. He died 
in 18S0. 

Anstey, Christopher, an English 
poet, born 1724. He died in 1805. 

Anstey, F., pseudonym of Thomas 
Anstey Guthrie, an English humor¬ 
ist, born in Kensington in 1856; grad¬ 
uated from Cambridge in 1875, was 





Ant 


Antelope 


called to the bar in 1880, and joined 
“ Punch ” staff in 1887. 

Ant, the name that is commonly 
applied to various genera of hymenop- 
terous or membranous-winged insects. 
Most of the species live in large com¬ 
panies or societies, composed of three 
sorts of individuals — males, females, 
and neuters. The males and females 
have long wings, which are not so 
much veined as in other insects of the 
same section, and are only temporary; 
the neuters, which are simply females 
with imperfectly developed organs, are 
smaller than the males and females, 
and are destitute of wings. The neu¬ 
ters perform all the labors of the ant¬ 
hill ; they excavate the galleries, pro¬ 
cure food, and wait upon the larvae 
till they are fit to leave their cells, ap¬ 
pearing always industrious and solici¬ 
tous. 

Male and female ants survive, at 
most, till autumn, or to the commence¬ 
ment of cool weather, though a very 
large proportion of them cease to exist 
long previous to that time. The neu¬ 
ters pass the winter in a state of tor¬ 
por, and of course require no food. 
The zoological characters of the ant 
family, which includes the familiar 
ants, are found in the females being 
of larger size than the males; in the 
sexes being winged, while the neuters 
are wingless; and in the antennae pos¬ 
sessing a long basal joint. 

Antacid, an alkali, or any remedy 
for acidity in the stomach. Dyspepsia 
and diarrhoea are the diseases in which 
antacids are chiefly employed. The 
principal antacids in use are mag¬ 
nesia, lime, and their carbonates, and 
the carbonates of potash and soda. 

Antaeus, the giant son of Posei¬ 
don (Neptune), and Ge (the earth), 
who were invincible so long as he was 
in contact with the earth. Heracles 
(Hercules) grasped him in his arms 
and stifled him suspended in the air. 

Antananarivo, the capital of 
Madagascar, situated in the central 
Province of Imerina; of late years al¬ 
most entirely rebuilt, its old timber 
houses having been replaced by build¬ 
ings of sun dried brick on European 
models. It contains two royal pal¬ 
aces, immense timber structures, one 
of which is surrounded with a massive 
stone veranda with lofty corner tow¬ 


ers. It has manufactures of metal 
work, cutlery, silk, etc., and exports 
sugar, soap, and oil. Pop* about 100,- 
000. (See Madagascar.) 

Antarctic, relating to the southern 
pole or to the region near it. The 
Antarctic Circle is a circle parallel to 
the equator and distant from the south 
pole 23° 28', marking the area within 
which the sun does not set when on 
the tropic of Capricorn. The Antarc¬ 
tic Circle has been arbitrarily fixed on 
as the limits of the Antarctic Ocean, 
it being the average limit of the pack- 
ice ; but the name is often extended to 
embrace a much wider area. The south- 
polar region is much colder than the 
northern, temperatures of 100° having 
been frequently noted by the Discov¬ 
ery Expedition ( 1902-1904 ). The mam¬ 
mals in the south polar region are seals 
and cetaceans. No vegetation has been 
found further south than Cockburn 
Island in the South Shetland group. 
Its flora includes nineteen species, be¬ 
longing to the mosses, algae, and lich¬ 
ens, and one flower bearing plant of 
the grass family. (See South Polar 
Exploration). 

Ant-eater, a genus of mammalia, 
belonging to the order Edentata. This 
peculiar group of animals is exclusive¬ 
ly found in the S. part of the Amer¬ 
ican continent, where they aid in di¬ 
minishing the numbers of immense 
hordes of ants, which desolate the 
country in the vicinity of their dwell¬ 
ings. The whole head is remarkably 
elongated. The jaws are destitute of 
teeth, and the mouth is furnished with 
a very narrow, long, smooth tongue, 
by the aid of which they gather their 
prey. All the ant-eaters are slow in 
their movements. 

Antediluvian, before the flood or 
deluge of Noah’s time; relating to 
what happened before the deluge. In 
geology the term has been applied to 
organisms, traces of which are found 
in a fossil state in formations preced¬ 
ing the diluvial, particularly to extinct 
animals such as the paleotherium, the 
mastodon, etc. 

Antelope, the name given to the 
members of a large family of rumi¬ 
nant ungulata or hoofed mammalia, 
closely resembling the deer in general 
appearance, but essentially different in 
nature from the latter animals. Well 





Antennae 


Anthony 


known species are the chamois (Eu¬ 
ropean), the gazelle, the addax, the 
eland, the koodoo, the gnu, the spring¬ 
bok, the sasin or Indian antelope, and 
the prongbuck of America. 

Antennae, the name given to the 
movable jointed organs of touch and 
hearing attached to the heads of in¬ 
sects, myriapods, etc., and commonly 
called horns or feelers. They present 
a very great variety of forms. 

Antenor, a Grecian sculptor, who 
lived at Athens about 500 b. c. 

Anthelion, a luminous ring, or 
rings, seen by an observer, especially 
in Alpine and polar regions, around 
the shadow of his head projected on 
a cloud or fog bank, or on grass cov¬ 
ered with dew, 50 or GO yards distant, 
and opposite the sun when rising or 
setting. It is due to the refraction of 
light. 

Anthem, orginally a hymn sung in 
alternate parts; in modern use, a sa¬ 
cred tune or piece of music set to 
words taken from the Psalms or other 
parts of the Scriptures. 

Anthemius, a Greek mathemati¬ 
cian and architect of Lydia; designed 
the Church of St. Sophia at Constan¬ 
tinople, and is credited with the in¬ 
vention of the dome; died a. d. 544. 

Anther, an organized body con¬ 
stituting part of a stamen, and gen¬ 
erally attached to the apex of the fila¬ 
ment. 

Anthology, the name given to sev¬ 
eral collections of short poems which 
have come down from antiquity. 

Anthon, Charles, an American 
classical scholar, born in New York 
city, Nov. 19, 1797. He was for many 
years Professor of Ancient Languages 
at Columbia College. A beautiful edi¬ 
tion of Horace first made him famous 
among scholars. His best known work 
was an edition of Lempriere’s “ Clas¬ 
sical Dictionary” (1841). He was 
also the editor of over 50 classical 
text-books. He died July 29, 1867. 

Anthony, Henry Brown, an 
American legislator, born in 1815; 
was graduated at Brown University 
in 1833; became editor and publisher 
of the “ Journal,” in Providence, R. I.; 
elected Governor of Rhode Island in 
1849 and 1850; United States Sen¬ 
ator from 1859 till his death; and | 


was elected President pro tern, of the 
United States Senate in 1863, 1871, 
and 1884. He died in 1884. 

Anthony, St., the founder of 
monastic institutions, born near Hera- 
clea, in Upper Egypt, a. d. 251; died 
356. His day, the 17th of Jan., is a 
popular celebration in the Church. 

Anthony’s Fire, so called from 
him, a disease of the Middle Ages that 
dried up and blackened every limb it 
attacked, as if it w’ere burnt. 

Anthony, St., Falls of, a noted 
fall in the Mississippi river, now 
within the city limits of St. Paul, 
Minn. The perpendicular fall is 17 
feet, with a rapid below of 58 feet. 
An island divides the river into two 
parts. The entire descent of the 
stream for three-quarters of a mile is 
65 feet. The falls and surrounding 
scenery, especially during the spring 
floods, are exceedingly picturesque. 

Anthony, Susan Brownell, an 
American reformer, born in South 
Adams, Mass., Feb. 15, 1820; was of 
Quaker parentage; educated at a 
Friends’ school in Philadelphia, and 
taught school in New York in 1835- 
1850. In 1847 she first spoke in pub¬ 
lic, taking part in the temperance 
movement and organizing societies. In 
1852 she assisted in organizing the 
Woman’s New York State Temperance 
Society; in 1854-1855 she held con¬ 
ventions, in each county in New York, 
in behalf of female suffrage. In 1857 
she became a leader in the anti-slavery 
movement, and in 1858 advocated the 
coeducation of the sexes. She was in¬ 
fluential in securing the passage by the 
New York Legislature, in 1860, of the 
act giving married women the posses¬ 
sion of their earnings, and guardian¬ 
ship of their children. In 1868, with 
Mrs. E. C. Stanton and Parker Pills- 
bury, she began the publication of the 
“ Revolutionist,” a paper devoted to 
the emancipation of woman. In 1872 
she cast ballots at the State and Con¬ 
gressional election in Rochester, N. Y., 
to test the application of the 14th and 
15th Amendments of the United States 
Constitution. She was indicted for 
illegal voting, and fined, but the fine 
was never exacted. Her last public 
appearance of note was as a delegate 
to the International Council of Wom¬ 
en, in London, England, in 1899. In 





Anthracene 


Antilles 


1900 her birthday was celebrated by 
an affecting popular demonstration in 
Washington, D. C., and she retired 
from the presidency of the National 
American Woman Suffrage Associa¬ 
tion. She died March 13, 1906. 

Anthracene, a substance obtained 
in the distillation of coal-tar. 

Anthracite, glance, or blind coal, 
a non-bituminous coal of a shining 
luster, approaching to metallic, and 
which burns without smoke, with a 
weak or no flame, and with intense 
heat. It is found in large quantities 
in the United States, chiefly in Penn¬ 
sylvania. 

Anthrax, a fatal disease to which 
cattle, horses, sheep, and other animals 
are subject, always associated with the 
presence of an extremely minute mi¬ 
cro-organism (Bacillus anthracis) in 
the blood. It is also called splenic 
fever, and is communicable to man, 
appearing as carbuncle, malignant pus¬ 
tule, or wool-sorter’s disease. 

Anthropoid, resembling man; a 
term applied especially to the apes, 
which approach the human species in 
the following order: 1st (most re¬ 
mote), the gibbons; 2d, the orangs; 
3d, the chimpanzee; and, 4th (near¬ 
est), the gorilla. 

Anthropology, the science of 
man in the widest sense of the term. 

Anthropometry, the measure¬ 
ment of the human body to discover 
its exact dimensions and the propor¬ 
tions of its parts, for comparison with 
its dimensions at different periods, or 
in different races or classes. 

Anti-Christ, anyone who denies 
the Father and the Son; or who will 
not confess that Jesus Christ is come 
in the flesh, or who, leaving the Church, 
pretends to be the Christ (or Mes¬ 
siah), and thus becomes a rival and 
enemy of Jesus, the true Christ. 

Anticosti, an island in the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, which it divides into 
two channels, with lighthouses at dif¬ 
ferent parts of the coast. It is about 
140 miles long, and 30 miles broad in 
the center. Pop. (1900) 250. 

Antidote, a medicine to counteract 
the effects of poison. For Arsenic, 
use tablespoonful of “ dialized iron,” 
four doses in two hours, followed by 
castor oil; Phosphorus, Matches, 
“ Rough on Rats,” large amounts of 


gum arabic, emetics and epsom salts; 
Carbolic Acid, use epsom salts, sweet 
oil, white of eggs; Choloral, ipecac 
in water, 25-35 grains, hypodermic in¬ 
jection of 20th part of grain of strych¬ 
nine, friction, warmth and artificial 
respiration; Opium, Morphine, empty 
the stomach, inhale ammonia, and give 
half grain permanganate of potash 
once an hour. Keep the patient from 
sleep, and give frequent doses of 30 
grains tincture of belladona, to keep 
up circulation. 

Antietam, a small river in Penn¬ 
sylvania and Maryland which empties 
into the Potomac six miles N. of Har¬ 
per’s Ferry. On Sept. 17, 1862, a bat¬ 
tle was fought on its banks near 
Sharpsburg, between a Federal army 
of 87,164 men, under General McClel¬ 
lan, and a Confederate army variously 
reported at from 40,000 to 97,000 
men, under General Lee. The Fed¬ 
eral casualties aggregated 12, 469, and 
the Confederate, from 12,000 to 25,- 
000. General Lee recrossed the Po¬ 
tomac on the following day, and the 
general consensus is that the battle 
was a Federal victory. 

Antifebrin, a neutral chemical 
product derived from acetate of ani¬ 
line at an elevated temperature by a 
dialytic action in which water is set 
free. 

Anti-Federalists, members of a 
political party, in the United States, 
which opposed the adoption and ratifi¬ 
cation of the constitution, and failing 
in this, strongly favored the strict con¬ 
struction of that instrument. Thomas 
Jefferson was its leader, but he par¬ 
tially abandoned the principles of the 
party when he sanctioned the Louisi¬ 
ana Purchase. 

Antigua, one of the British West 
Indies, the most important of the Lee¬ 
ward group; 28 miles long, 20 broad; 
area, 108 square miles; discovered by 
Columbus, 1493. Pop., including Bar¬ 
buda, 36,819.* 

Antilles, another name for the 
West Indian Islands. Subdivided into 
Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles. 

Antigone, in Greek mythology the 
daughter of CEdipus and Jocasta, cele¬ 
brated for her devotion to her father 
and to her brother Polynices, for bury¬ 
ing whom against the decree of King 
Creon she suffered death. 




Antimachus 


Antipope 


Antimachus, a Greek epic and 
elegiac poet; flourished about 400 b. c. 

Anti-Masonic Party, a political 
organization in opposition to Free¬ 
masonry. In 1828 this party polled 
33,000 in New York State; in 1829, 
about 70,000; and in 1830, about 128,- 
000 . 

Anti-Mission Baptists, a sect 

in the United States who also called 
themselves “Old School Baptists,” 
founded about 1835. They do not be¬ 
lieve in Sunday schools, colleges or 
theological seminaries, holding that 
the salvation of men does not depend 
upon human instrumentalities, but 
upon divine grace only. 

Antimony, in chemistry, a triad 
metallic element, but in some less sta¬ 
ple compounds it appears to be pentad. 

Antinomianism (Greek, anti, 
“against,” and nomos, “law”), the 
doctrine or opinion that Christians are 
freed from obligation to keep the law 
of God. It is generally regarded, by 
advocates of the doctrine of justifica¬ 
tion by faith, as a monstrous abuse 
and perversion of that doctrine, upon 
which it usually professes to be based. 

Antinous, a young Bithynian 
whom the extravagant love of Adrian 
has immortalized. He drowned him¬ 
self in the Nile in 122 a.d. Adrian 
set no bounds to his grief for his loss. 
He gave his name to a newly-discov¬ 
ered star, erected temples in his honor, 
called a city after him, and caused 
him to be adored as a god throughout 
the empire. 

Antioch (ancient, Antiochia), cap¬ 
ital of the Greek kings of Syria; on 
the Orontes; about 21 miles from the 
sea. It was founded by Seleucus Ni- 
cator, in 300 b. c., and was named 
after his father Antiochus. Famous 
in ancient times, and the place where 
the disciples of Christ were first 
called Christians, it is now_ a poor 
place with about 20,000 inhabitants. 

Antiochus III., surnamed the 
Great, born b. c. 242, succeeded in 
b. c. 223. The Romans defeated him 
by sea and land, and he was finally 
overthrown by Scipio at Mount Sipy- 
lus, in Asia Minor, b. c. 190, and very 
severe terms were imposed upon him. 
He was killed while plundering a tem¬ 
ple in Elymais to procure money to 
pay the Romans. 


Antiochus IV., called Epiphanes, 
youngest son of the above, is chiefly 
remarkable for his attempt to extir¬ 
pate the Jewish religion, and to es¬ 
tablish in its place the polytheism of 
the Greeks. This led to the insurrec¬ 
tion of the Maccabees, by which the 
Jews ultimately recovered their inde¬ 
pendence. He died b. c. 164. 

Antipsedobaptist, one who is op¬ 
posed to the doctrine of infant bap¬ 
tism. 

Antiparos, one of the Cyclades 
(islands), in the Grecian Archipelago, 
containing a famous stalactitic grotto 
or cave. 

Antipater, a general and friend 
of Philip of Macedon, father of Alex¬ 
ander the Great. He died in b. c. 317, 
at an advanced age. 

Antipater, procurator of Judea 
for the Romans from 47 to 43 b. c. 
He received the appointment from Ju¬ 
lius Caesar; and died from poison in 
the last mentioned year. He was the 
father of Herod the Great. 

Antipathy, a special dislike ex¬ 
hibited by individuals to particular ob¬ 
jects or persons, usually resulting from 
physical or nervous organization. 

Antiperiodics, medicines which 
prevent or relieve the paroxysms of 
certain diseases which exhibit a peri¬ 
odic character. 

Antiphlogistic, a term applied 
to medicines or methods of treatment 
that are intended to counteract in¬ 
flammation, such as blood letting, pur¬ 
gatives, diaphoretics, etc. 

Antiphony, opposition or contra¬ 
riety of sound; also the alternate 
chanting or singing in a cathedral, or 
similar service by the choir, divided 
into two parts for the purpose, and 
usually sitting upon opposite sides. 

Antipodes, the name given rela¬ 
tively to the people or places on oppo¬ 
site sides of the earth, so situated that 
a line drawn from one to the other 
passes through the center of the earth 
and forms a true diameter. The longi¬ 
tudes of two such places differ by 
180°. The difference in their time 
is about 12 hours, and their seasons 
are reversed. 

Antipope, a pontiff elected in op¬ 
position to one canonically chosen. 





Antipyretics 


Antithesis 


Antipyretics, medicines which 
reduce the temperature in fever. 

Antipyrine, an alkaloid exten¬ 
sively used in medicine as an antipy¬ 
retic, and possessing the valuable 
property of materially reducing the 
temperature of the body without the 
production of any distressing bodily 
symptoms. Hence, it is much resort¬ 
ed to in fevers, pneumonia, acute rheu¬ 
matism, phthisis, and erysipelas. To 
produce a more rapid action the drug 
is often injected hypodermically. 

Antiquaries, those devoted to the 
study of ancient times through their 
relics, as old places of sepulcher, re¬ 
mains of ancient habitations; early 
monuments, implements or weapons, 
statues, coins, medals, paintings,. in¬ 
scriptions, books, and manuscripts, 
with the view of arriving at a knowl¬ 
edge of the relations, modes of living, 
habits, and general eondition of the 
people who created or employed them. 
The American Antiquarian Society 
was organized in 1812, and has its 
headquarters in Worcester, Mass. 

Antiques, a term specifically ap¬ 
plied to the remains of ancient art, as 
statues, paintings, vases, cameos, and 
the like, and more especially to the 
works of Grecian and Roman an¬ 
tiquity. 

Anti-Rent Party, a party which 
gained some political influence in New 
York, and which had its origin in the 
refusal of tenants, who were dissat¬ 
isfied with the patroon system to pay 
rent. The matter was settled by com¬ 
promise in 1850. The patroons were 
early Dutch settlers who received vast 
tracts of land in what is now New 
York, on conditions which made them 
virtually feudal lords of the soil. The 
tenants rebelled against these condi¬ 
tions, and popular sympathy being 
with them, the heirs of the patroons 
were brought to terms by legislation 
inimical to the system under which 
they held their lands, while at the 
same time the rights of property were 
sustained. 

Antiscorbutics, remedies against 
scurvy. Lemon juice, ripe fruit, 
milk, salts of potash, green vegetables, 
potatoes, fresh meat, and raw or light¬ 
ly boiled eggs, are some of the princi¬ 
pal antiscorbutics. 


Anti-Semites, the modern oppo¬ 
nents of the Jews in Russia, Rumania, 
Hungary, and Eastern Germany. In 
France the second trial of Capt. 
Alfred Dreyfus, in 1899, aroused an 
intense anti-Semitic feeling. The 
cruel massacre of Jews in Kishineff, 
Russia, by an anti-Semitic mob, in 
1903, excited indignation throughout 
the civilized world. 

Antisepsis, the exclusion of mi¬ 
crobes or bacteria from wounds, etc., 
by the use of antiseptics or other 
means in order to prevent putrefac¬ 
tion, infection, or blood-poisoning. 

Antiseptic, a substance which 
has the effect of counteracting the ten¬ 
dency to putrefaction. Garrod makes 
disinfectants and antiseptics the sec¬ 
ond order of his Division III. Chem¬ 
ical agents used for other than their 
medicinal properties. Antiseptics pre¬ 
vent chemical change by destroying 
the putrefactive microbes or bacteria, 
the chemical composition of the body 
still in many cases remaining the 
same; while disinfectants decompose 
and remove the infectious matter it¬ 
self. Antiseptics are called also coly- 
tics. Among them may be named car¬ 
bolic acid, alcohol, sulphurous acid, 
chloride of sodium (common salt), 
etc. 

Antiseptic Surgery, treatment to 
kill germs in accidental wounds, and 
surgical operations. 

Antispasmodics, medicines which 
are used to prevent or allay spasms. 
In all spasmodic diseases, cold baths 
or sponging, sun-baths, moderate exer¬ 
cise, and a plain but nutritious diet 
should be employed; late hours, a close 
atmosphere, exhausting emotions, or 
excessive mental or bodily work should 
be avoided. 

Antisthenes, a Greek philosopher 
and the founder of the school of Cyn¬ 
ics, born at Athens about b. c. 444. 
He held virtue to consist in complete 
self denial and disregard of riches, 
honor, or pleasure of every kind. He 
himself lived as a beggar. He died in 
Athens at an advanced age. 

Antithesis, a sharp opposition or 
contrast between word and word, 
clause and clause, sentence and sen¬ 
tence, or sentiment and sentiment, es¬ 
pecially designed to impress the lis¬ 
tener or reader. 





Antitoxine 


Antonius 


Antitoxine, the name given to a 
new remedy for diphtheria. The de¬ 
crease of deaths from this disease 
since the introduction of this remedy 
is remarkable, and in most large cities 
it is provided free to all unable to pay 
for the medicine. 

Anti-Trade, a name given to any 
of the upper tropical winds which 
move northward or southward in the 
same manner as the trade-winds which 
blow beneath them in the opposite di¬ 
rection. 

Antitrinitarians, all who do not 

receive the doctrine of the Divine 
Trinity, or the existence of three per¬ 
sons in the Godhead; especially ap¬ 
plied to those who oppose such a doc¬ 
trine on philosophical grounds, as con¬ 
trasted with Unitarians, who reject the 
doctrine as not warranted by Scrip¬ 
ture. 

Antlers, bony outgrowths from 
the frontal bones of almost all the 
members of the deer family. Except 
in the reindeer, they are restricted to 
the males. 

Ant Lion, the larva of an insect, 
of the order of neuroptera, remarkable 
for its ingenious methods of captur¬ 
ing ants and other insects, on which 
it feeds, by making pitfalls in the 
sand. Some species are common in 
North America. 

Antoinette, Marie (Marie An¬ 
toinette Joseph Jeanne de Lor¬ 
raine), Archduchess of Austria and 
Queen of France; the youngest daugh¬ 
ter of the Emperor Francis I. and of 
Maria Theresa; born in Vienna, Nov. 
2,1755. She became wife of the dauph¬ 
in, afterward Louis XVI. of France, 
and perished with him in the Revolu¬ 
tion. Louis was executed on Jan. 21, 
1793. The dauphin, their son, who 
afterward perished miserably in con¬ 
finement, was next separated from the 
queen, and on Aug. 2, 1793, Marie An¬ 
toinette was transferred to the Con- 
ciergerie to be brought before the Rev¬ 
olutionary tribunal. The act of ac¬ 
cusation was completed on Oct. 14. 
She was condemned at 4 a. m. on Oct. 
1G, 1793, and at 11 a. m. was led from 
the Conciergerie to the place of exe¬ 
cution. She died with the firmness 
that became her character. 

Antonelli, Giacomo, Cardinal, 
born 1806; was educated at the Grand 


Seminary of Rome, where he attracted 
the attention of Pope Gregory XVI., 
who appointed him to several impor¬ 
tant offices. On the accession of Pius 
IX., in 1846, Antonelli was raised to 
the dignity of cardinal-deacon; two 
years later he became president and 
minister of ‘foreign affairs, and, in 
1850, was appointed Secretary of 
State. During the sitting of the 
Oecumenical Council (1869-1870) he 
was a prominent champion of the 
papal interest. He strongly opposed 
the assumption of the united Italian 
crown by Victor Emmanuel. He died 
in 1876. 

Antoninus, Wall of, a barrier 
erected by the Romans in Britain, 
across the isthmus between the Forth 
and the Clyde, in the reign of An¬ 
toninus Pius. 

Antoninus Pius (Titus Aure¬ 
lius Fulvus), Roman emperor, of a 
family originally from Nemausus 
(now Nimes), in Gaul; was born in 
Lavinium, in the neighborhood of 
Rome, a. d. 86. He died a. d. 161. 
His remains were deposited in the 
tomb of Hadrian. His adopted sons 
built a pillar to his memory, the frag¬ 
ments of which were found at Rome 
in 1705. 

Antonius, Marcus (Mark An¬ 
tony), Roman triumvir, born 83 B. c., 
was connected with the family of 
Caesar by his mother. When war 
broke out between Caesar and Pompey, 
Antony led reinforcements to Caesar 
in Greece, and, in the battle of Phar- 
salia he commanded the left wing. He 
afterward returned to Rome with the 
appointment of master of the horse 
and governor of Italy (47). In b. c. 
44 he became Caesar’s colleague in the 
consulship. In the struggle for the 
empire of Rome which followed the 
murder of Caesar, Antony was over¬ 
come by Octavianus (afterward called 
Augustus), Caesar’s nephew and heir. 
His passion for Cleopatra, Queen of 
Egypt, enthralled his faculties, and 
made him an easy prey to his great 
political rival. Antony lost, in the 
naval battle at Actium (b. c. 31), 
the dominion of the world. He 
followed Cleopatra to Alexandria, 
and, on the arrival of Octavianus his 
fleet and cavalry deserted, and his in¬ 
fantry was defeated. Plutarch says 
that Antony commanded his slave 




Ant Thrush 


Eros to slay him, but the slave killed 
himself instead. Moved by this exhi¬ 
bition of heroic affection and deceived 
by a false report which Cleopatra had 
disseminated of her death, he/ell upon 
his own sword (b. C. 30). On being 
told that Cleopatra was still alive, he 
caused himself to be carried into her 
presence, that he might die in her 
arms. 

Ant Thrush, a name given to 
certain passerine or perching birds 
having resemblances to the thrushes 
and supposed to feed largely on ants. 

Antwerp, the chief port of Bel¬ 
gium, and the capital of a province 
of the same name, on the Scheldt, 
about 50 miles from the open sea. It 
is strongly fortified, being completely 
surrounded on the land side by a semi¬ 
circular inner line of fortifications, the 
defenses being completed by an outer 
line of forts and outworks. The cathe¬ 
dral, with a spire 400 feet high, is one 
of the largest and most beautiful speci¬ 
mens of Gothic architecture in Bel¬ 
gium. There are numerous and varied 
industries. Pop. 271,284. The prov¬ 
ince consists of a fertile plain 1,093 
\ square miles in area; pop. 784,975. 

Auubis, one of the deities of the 
ancient Egyptians, the son of Osiris 
by Isis. 

Auura, or Anoura, an order of 
batrachians which lose the tail when 
they reach maturity, such as the frogs 
and toads. 

Anus, the opening at the lower 
or posterior extremity of the alimen¬ 
tary canal through w’hich the excre¬ 
ment or waste products of digestion 
are expelled. 

Aorta, the great arterial trunk, 
which rises from the left ventricle of 
the heart, and with its branches, ex¬ 
tends throughout the whole body. The 
blood travels through the aorta at the 
rate of 300 to 500 millimetres a 
second. 

Aoudad, a remarkable species of 
sheep, with certain affinities to the 
goats. It inhabits mountainous re¬ 
gions in Abyssinia and Barbary. 

Apaches, a tribe of North Ameri¬ 
can Indians, formerly very fierce and 
numerous, living in portions of Texas, 
New Mexico, and Arizona, and belong¬ 
ing to the Athabascan family. They 


Apartment House 

were long the scourge of the frontiers, 
and resisted obstinately every attempt 
to civilize them. Long after the an¬ 
nexation of their territory by the 
United States they continued their 
raids in spite of severe defeats. An 
attempt made by the United States 
Government to confine the Apaches 
within a reserved territory in Arizona 
led to bloodshed in 1871. The number 
of the Apaches proper within the 
United States may be put at nearly 
7 , 000 . 

Apartment House, a structure 
built to accommodate a number of 
families each in its own set of rooms, 
which form a separate dwelling with 



AMERICAN APARTMENT HOUSE, 
an entrance of its own. The term is 
chiefly used in the United States, 
where such dwellings are of compara¬ 
tively recent introduction; but houses 
of this kind have long been built in 
Europe. In New York and other 
American cities there are now great 
blocks of such houses, which provide 
excellent and commodious dwellings at 
a lower rent than if each were a sep¬ 
arate building. 











Ape 


Apocalyptic Writings 


Ape, a common name of a number 
of quadrumanous animals, inhabiting 
the Old World (Asia and the Asiatic 
islands, and Africa), and including a 
variety of species. The word ape was 
formerly applied indiscriminately to 
all quadrumanous mammals; but it is 
now limited to the anthropoid or man¬ 
like monkeys. The family includes 
the chimpanzee, gorilla, orang-ou¬ 
tang, etc. 

Apelles, the most famous of the 
painters of ancient Greece and of an¬ 
tiquity, was born in the 4th century 
B. c., probably at Colophon. His re¬ 
nown was at its height about B. c. 
330, and he died about the end of the 
century. 

Apennines, a prolongation of the 
Alps, forming the “ backbone of 
Italy.” On the S. slopes volcanic 
masses are not uncommon. Mount 
Vesuvius, the only active volcano on 
the continent of Europe, is an in¬ 
stance. The lower slopes are well 
clothed with vegetation, the summits 
are sterile and bare. 

Apepi, in heathen mythology, the 
Great Serpent or Typhon, the embodi¬ 
ment of evil. 

Aperient, a medicine which, in 
moderate doses, gently but completely 
opens the bowels; examples, castor-oil, 
Epsom salts, senna, etc. 

Aphasia, in pathology, a symptom 
of certain morbid conditions of the 
nervous system, in which the patient 
loses the power of expressing ideas by 
means of words, or loses the appropri¬ 
ate use of words, the vocal organs the 
while remaining intact and the intelli¬ 
gence sound. There is sometimes an 
entire loss of words as connected with 
ideas, and sometimes only the loss of 
a few. In one form of the disease, 
called aphemia, the patient can think 
and write, but cannot speak; in an¬ 
other, called agraphia, he can think 
and speak, but cannot express his 
ideas in writing. In a great majority 
of cases, where post mortem examina¬ 
tions have been made, morbid changes 
have been found in the left frontal 
convolution of the brain. 

Aphelion, that part of the orbit 
of the earth or any other planet in 
which it is at the point remotest from 
the sun. 


Aphis, a genus of insects, the typi¬ 
cal one of the family aphidse. The 
species of aphides are very numerous, 
and are generaly called after the 
plants on which they feed. 

Aphonia, in pathology, the great¬ 
er or less impairment, or the complete 
loss of the power of emitting vocal 
sound. 

Aphrodite, one of the chief di¬ 
vinities of the Greeks, the goddess of 
love and beauty, so called because she 
was sprung from the foam (aphros) 
of the sea. Aphrodite has had the 
most important place in the history of 
art as the Greek ideal of feminine 
grace and beauty. 

Apia, the principal town and com¬ 
mercial emporium of the Samoan Is¬ 
lands in the South Pacific Ocean; on 
the N. coast of the island of Upolu, 
about midway between the E. and W. 
extremities of the island. It has a 
small harbor, which is usually a safe 
one. In 1899, during a hurricane, sev¬ 
eral United States’ and German war- 
vessels were wrecked here, a British 
man-of-war alone escaping. 

Apis, a bull to which divine honors 
were paid by the ancient Egyptians, 
who regarded him as a symbol of 
Osiris. At Memphis he had a splendid 
residence, containing extensive walks 
and courts for his entertainment, and 
he was waited upon by a large train of 
priests, who looked upon his every 
movement as oracular. He was not 
suffered to live beyond twenty-five 
years, being secretly killed by the 
priests and thrown into a sacred well. 
Another bull, characterized by certain 
marks, as a black color, a triangle of 
white on the forehead, a white cres¬ 
cent-shaped spot on the right side, &c., 
was selected in his place. His birth¬ 
day was annually celebrated. 

Apocalypse, the name frequently 
given to the last book of the New Tes¬ 
tament, in the English version called 
the Revelation of St. John the Divine. 

Apocalyptic Number, the mystic 
number 666 found in Rev. xiii. 18. As 
early as the 2d century ecclesiastical 
writers found that the name Antichrist 
was indicated by the Greek characters 
expressive of this number. 

Apocalyptic Writings, writings 
such as, like the prophecies of Daniel, 
their prototype, set forth in a figura- 





Apocrypha 


Apoplexy 


tive and pictorial manner the future 
progress and completion of the world’s 
history, especially in its religious as¬ 
pects. The two apocalyptic books re¬ 
ceived into the canon of Scripture are 
the books of Daniel and the Apoca¬ 
lypse especially so-called, the Revela¬ 
tion of St. John. 

Apocrypha, in the early Chris¬ 
tian Church, (1) books published 
anonymously; (2) those suitable for 
private rather than public reading; 
(3) books deemed unauthentic though 
purporting to be written by sacred 
authors; (4) dangerous books written 
by heretics. 

Apodal Fishes, the name applied 
to such malacopterous fishes as want 
ventral fins. They constitute a small 
natural family, of which the common 
eel is an example. 

Apogee, that point in the orbit of 
the moon or a planet where it is at its 
greatest distance from the earth; prop¬ 
erly this particular part of the moon’s 
orbit. 

# Apollinarians, a sect of Chris¬ 
tians who maintained the doctrine that 
the Logos (the Word) holds in Christ 
the place of the rational soul, and con¬ 
sequently that God was united in him 
with the human body and the sensitive 
soul. Apollinaris, the author of this 
opinion, was, from a. d. 362 till at 
least a. d. 382, Bishop of Laodicea, in 
Syria. 

Apollo, son of Zeus (Jupiter) 
and Leto (Latona). From being the 
god of light and purity in a physical 
sense he gradually became the god of 
moral and spiritual light and purity, 
the source of all intellectual, social, 
and political progress. 

Apollodorus, a famous Athenian 
painter, about b. c. 408. 

Apollodorus, born in Damascus, 
and lived in the reigns of Trajan and 
Hadrian. His fame as an architect 
caused the former to employ him in 
building a great stone bridge over the 
Danube, and other works. Apollodor¬ 
us subsequently falling into disgrace 
with the Emperor Hadrian, was put 
to death by his command. 

Apollonius, a Pythagorean philos¬ 
opher, born at Tyana, about the be¬ 
ginning of the Christian era. He died 
at Ephesus about a. d. 97. 


Apollonius of Perga, Greek 

mathematician, called the “ Great Ge¬ 
ometer,” flourished about 240 b. c. # 
and was the author of many works, 
only one of which, a treatise on ” Con¬ 
ic Sections,” partly in Greek and 
partly in an Arabic translation, is now 
extant. 

Apollonius of Rhodes, a Greek 
poet, born in Egypt, but long residing 
at Rhodes, where he founded a school 
of rhetoric. He afterward became 
keeper of the famous library of Alex¬ 
andria, b. c. 149. 

Apollonius of Tyre, the hero of 

a Greek metrical romance, very popu¬ 
lar in the Middle Ages. 

Apollos, a Jew of Alexandria, who 
learned the doctrines of Christianity 
at Ephesus from Aquila and Priscilla, 
became a preacher of the gospel in 
Achaia and Corinth, and an assistant 
of Paul in his missionary work. Some 
have regarded him as the author of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews. 

Apollyon, a name used in Rev. ix: 
11 for the angel of the bottomless pit. 

Apologetics, the department of 
theology which treats of the establish¬ 
ment of the evidences and defense of 
the doctrines of a faith. Christian 
apologetics, generally called simply 
apologetics, treats of the evidences of 
Christianity, and seeks to establish the 
truth of the Bible and the doctrines 
educed from it. 

Apologue, a story or relation of 

fictitious events intended to convey 
some useful truths. It differs from a 
parable in that the latter is drawn 
from events that pass among mankind, 
whereas the apologue may be founded 
on supposed actions of brutes or inan¬ 
imate things. iEsop’s fables are good 
examples of apologues. 

Apology, a term at one time ap¬ 
plied to a defense of one who is ac¬ 
cused, or of certain doctrines called 
in question. 

Apoplexy, a serious malady, com¬ 
ing on so suddenly and so violently 
that anciently anyone affected by it 
was said to be attonitus (thunder¬ 
struck), or sideratus (planetstruck). 
When a stroke of apoplexy takes place, 
there is a loss of sensation, voluntary 
motion, and intellect or thought, while 
respiration and the action of the heart 
and general vascular system still con- 




Apostate 


Apostrophe 


tinue. The disease now described is 
properly called cerebral apoplexy, the 
brain being the part chiefly affected. 

Apostate, literally designates any¬ 
one who changes his religion, what¬ 
ever may be his motive; but, by cus¬ 
tom, the word is always used in an in¬ 
jurious sense, as equivalent to one 
who, in changing his creed, is actuated 
by unworthy motives. 

Apostle, one who is sent off or 
away from; one sent on some impor¬ 
tant mission ; a messenger; a mission¬ 
ary. The name given, in the Chris¬ 
tian Church, to the 12 men whom 
Jesus selected from His disciples as 
the best instructed in His doctrines, 
and the fittest instruments for the 
propagation of His religion. Their 
names were as follows: Simon Peter, 
Andrew, his brother; James the great¬ 
er, and John, his brother, who were 
sons of Zebedee; Philip of Bethsaida, 
Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew; 
James, the son of Alpheus, commonly 
called James the less; Lebbeus, his 
brother, who was surnamed Thaddeus, 
and was called Judas, or Jude; Simon 
the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot. Of 
this number, Simon Peter, John, 
James the greater, and Andrew were 
fishermen; and Matthew, a publican 
or tax-gatherer. When the apostles 
were reduced to 11 by the suicide of 
Judas, who had betrayed Christ, they 
chose Matthias by lot, on the proposi¬ 
tion of St. Peter. Soon after, their 
number became 13, by the mi¬ 
raculous vocation of Saul, who, 
under the name of Paul became 
one of the most zealous propa¬ 
gators of the Christian faith. 

Apostles’ Islands, or The 
Twelve Apostles, a group of 27 
islands in Lake Superior. They be¬ 
long to Wisconsin. They were first 
settled in 1680 by the French. 

Apostolic, or Apostolical, per¬ 
taining or relating to the apostles. 

Apostolic Church.— The ^Church in 
the time of the apostles, constituted 
according to their design. The name 
is also given to the four churches of 
Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jeru¬ 
salem, and is claimed by the Roman 
Catholic Church, and occasionally by 
the Episcopalians. 

Apostolic Constitutions and Canons. 
—-A collection of regulations attrib¬ 


uted to the apostles, but generally sup¬ 
posed to be spurious. They appeared 
in the 4th century; are divided into 
eight books, and consist of rules and 
precepts relating to the duty of Chris¬ 
tians, and particularly to the cere¬ 
monies and discipline of the Church. 

Apostolic Delegate.— A permanent 
representative of the Pope in a for¬ 
eign country. It is sometimes con¬ 
founded with the word ablegate, the 
latter meaning a temporary represen¬ 
tative of the Pope for some special 
function. 

Apostolic Fathers.— The Christian 
writers who, during any part of theii 
lives, were contemporary with the 
apostles. There are five — Clement, 
Barnabas, Hermas, Ignatius, Poly¬ 
carp. 

Apostolic King.— A title granted 
by the Pope to the Kings of Hungary, 
first conferred on St. Stephen, the 
founder of the royal line of Hungary, 
on account of what he accomplished 
in the spread of Christianity. 

Apostolic See.— The see of the 
Popes or Bishops of Rome; so called 
because the Popes profess themselves 
the successors of St. Peter, its 
founder. 

Apostolic Succession.— The uninter¬ 
rupted succession of bishops, and, 
through them, of priests and deacons 
(these three orders of ministers being 
called the apostolical orders), in the 
Church by regular ordination from 
the first apostles down to the present 
day. All Episcopal churches hold the¬ 
oretically, and the Roman Catholic 
Church and many members of the Eng-r 
lish Church strictly, that such succes¬ 
sion is essential to the officiating 
priest, in order that grace may be 
communicated through his administra¬ 
tions. 

Apostrophe. In rhetoric, a fig¬ 
ure of speech by which, according to 
Quintilian, a speaker turns from the 
rest of his audience to one person, and 
addresses him singly. 

In grammar, the substitution of a 
mark like this (’) for one or more let¬ 
ters omitted from a word, as tho’ for 
though, ’twas for it was, king’s for 
kinges. 

The mark indicating such substitu¬ 
tion, especially in the case of the pos¬ 
sessive. 





Apothecary 


Appius 


Apothecary, the name formerly 
given to members of an auxiliary 
branch of the medical profession. 

In the United States, state laws 
generally require that apothecaries 
shall be duly examined and licensed. 

Apotheosis, a deification; the 
placing of a prince or other distin¬ 
guished person among the heathen 
deities. 

Appalachian Mountains, also 
called Alleghanies, a vast mountain 
range in North America, extending for 
1,300 miles from Cape Gaspe, on the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, S. W. to Ala¬ 
bama. The highest peaks rise over 
6,600 feet (not one at all approaching 
the snow level), but the mean height 
is about 2,500 feet. Lake Champlain 
is the only lake of great importance in 
the system, but numerous rivers of 
considerable size take their rise here. 
Magnetite, hematite, and other iron 
ores occur in great abundance, and the 
coal measures are among the most ex¬ 
tensive in the world. Gold, silver, lead, 
and copper are also found, but not in 
paying quantities, while marble, lime¬ 
stone, fire clay, gypsum, and salt 
abound. The forests covering many of 
the ranges yield large quantities of 
valuable timber, such as sugar maple, 
white birch, beech, ash, oak, cherry 
tree, white poplar, white and yellow 
pine, etc., while they form the haunts 
of large numbers of bears, panthers, 
wild cats, and wolves. 

Appanage, properly, lands as¬ 
signed as portions to the younger sons, 
or sometimes the brothers of the 
French king, who in general took their 
titles from the appanages which they 
held. 

Apparition, according to a belief 
held by some, a disembodied spirit 
manifesting itself to mortal sight; ac¬ 
cording to the common theory an illu¬ 
sion involuntarily generated, by means 
of which figures or forms, not present 
to the actual sense, are nevertheless 
depictured with a vividness and in¬ 
tensity sufficient to create a temporary 
belief of their reality. Such illusions 
are now generally held to result from 
an overexcited brain, a strong imagi¬ 
nation, or some bodily malady. 

Appeal. The distinction between 
an appeal, which originated in the 
civil law, and a writ of error, 


which is of common law origin, is that 
the former carries the whole case for 
review by the higher court, including 
both the facts and the law; while the 
latter removes only questions of law. 

Appendicitis, a disease caused by 
inflammation, suppuration, and conse¬ 
quent gangrene in the tissue of the 
vermiform appendix, usually due to 
insufficient circulation of blood in the 
part itself. 

Appendicitis usually occurs between 
the ages of 10 and 50 years. It is 
rare above or below those ages. It is 
more frequently among males than fe¬ 
males, the exact proportion being un¬ 
known. The probable cause of this 
difference is of very recent discovery 
and is not even known generally among 
the medical profession. Dr. Clado, 
a French surgeon and investigator, 
sought an explanation of the compara¬ 
tive immunity of the female sex from 
the malady and discovered that the 
appendix in woman has an extra 
blood vessel (a small branch of the 
ovarian artery) that does not exist in 
man. This discovery was not only a 
bit of new knowledge of great value, 
but was an additional proof of the 
theory that disease of the appendix is 
often due in part to its want of vital 
resistance. 

Appiani, Andrea, a painter, born 
at Milan in 1754. Napoleon appoint¬ 
ed him court painter, and portraits of 
almost the whole of the imperial fam¬ 
ily were painted by him. He died in 
1S17. 

Appian Way, the great Roman 
highway constructed by the below- 
mentioned Appius Claudius* from 
Rome to Capua, and afterward ex¬ 
tended to Brundusium, and finished 
b. 0. 312. It was built of stones four 
or five feet long, carefully joined to 
each other, covered with gravel, fur¬ 
nished with stones for mounting and 
descending from horseback, with mile¬ 
stones, and with houses at which to 
lodge. 

Appius, Claudius Crassinus, a 

Roman decemvir (451 to 449 b. c.). 
Being passionately in love with Vir¬ 
ginia, daughter of Virginius, a re¬ 
spectable plebeian absent with the 
army, he persuaded M. Claudius, his 
client, to gain possession of her, under 
the pretense that she was the daughter 




Apple 


Approximation 


of one of his slaves. Virginius, hur¬ 
riedly recalled from the army by his 
friends, appeared and claimed his 
daughter; but, after a mock trial, she 
was adjudged to be the property of 
Marcus Claudius. To save his daugh¬ 
ter from dishonor, the unhappy father 
seized a knife and slew her. The pop¬ 
ular indignation excited by the case 
was headed by the senators Valerius 
and Horatius, who hated the decem- 
virate. The army returned to Rome 
with Virginius, who had carried the 
news to them, and the decemviri were 
deposed. Appius Claudius died in 
prison, by his own hand (as Livy 
states), or was strangled by order of 
the tribunes. 

Apple, the fruit of the pyrus ma- 
lus, a species of the genus pyrus. All 
the different kinds of apple trees now 
in cultivation are usually regarded as 
mere varieties of the one species which, 
in its wild state, is known as the crab- 
tree. The uses of the apple for cul¬ 
inary and conserving processes are 
sufficiently well known. Cider, the 
fermented juice of the apple, is a 
favorite drink in some places of the 
United States. 

Apple of Discord, in Greek my¬ 
thology, the golden apple thrown into 
an assembly of the gods by the god¬ 
dess of discord (Eris), bearing the in¬ 
scription “ For the fairest.” Aphro¬ 
dite (Venus), Hera (Juno), and Pal¬ 
las (Minerva) became competitors for 
it, and its adjudication to the first by 
Paris so inflamed the jealousy and 
hatred of Hera to all of the Trojan 
race (to which Paris belonged) that 
she did not cease her machinations till 
Troy was destroyed. 

Apple of Sodom, a fruit described 
by old writers as externally of fair ap¬ 
pearance, but turning to ashes when 
plucked; probably the fruit of sola- 
num sodomeum. 

Appleton, Daniel, founder of the 
American publishing house of D. Ap¬ 
pleton & Co., was born at Haverhill, 
Mass., in 1785; he began business as 
a retail dealer; afterward settled in 
New York, and built up one of the 
largest businesses of its kind. He re¬ 
tired in 1848 and died the following 
year, Dec. 10, 1849. 

Appleton, John Howard, an 
American chemist, born in 1844; was 


graduated at Brown University in 
1863; was instructor in chemistry 
there in 1863-1868; and in the last 
year became professor of that depart¬ 
ment. 

Appleton, Nathan and Samuel, 

American merchants and philanthro¬ 
pists, brothers, born in 1779 and 1766 
respectively; engaged in the manufac¬ 
ture of cotton goods; were founders of 
the city of Lowell, Mass.; and widely 
known for their active benevolence. 
Nathan set up the first power loom 
ever used in the United States, in his 
Waltham mill. Nathan died in 1861; 
Samuel in 1853. 

Appomattox Court House, a 

village in Appomattox county, Va., 20 
miles E. of Lynchburg. Here, on April 
9, 1865, General Lee surrendered to 
General Grant, and thus virtually con¬ 
cluded the Civil War. 

Apportionment Bill, a bill 
adopted by the United States Con¬ 
gress every 10 years, and directly af¬ 
ter the completion of the Federal cen¬ 
sus, which determines the number of 
members that each State is entitled to 
send to the National House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, and provides for the neces¬ 
sary reorganization of the Congress¬ 
ional electoral districts. The appor¬ 
tionment based on the enumeration of 
1890 was one representative to 173,- 
901 population. 

Apprenticeship, in law, a con¬ 
tract by which a person who under¬ 
stands some art, trade, or business, 
and called master, undertakes to teach 
the same to another person, commonly 
a minor, and called the apprentice, 
who, on his part, is bound to serve the 
master, during a definite period of 
time, in such art, trade, or business. 

Appropriation, a specific sum set 
apart by the legislative power for a 
designated purpose. In the United 
States all bills for appropriating 
money originate in the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives; but may be amended in 
the Senate. The same procedure is 
observed in the several States. 

Approximation, a term used in 
mathematics to signify a continual ap¬ 
proach to a quantity required, when 
no process is known for arriving at it 
exactly. Although, by such an approx¬ 
imation, the exact value of a quantity 






Apraxin 


Aquarians 


cannot be discovered, yet, in practice, 
it may be found sufficiently correct. 

Apraxin, Feodor Mateievitch, 
a Russian admiral, born in 1671. He 
may be considered as the creator of 
the Russian navy, and was the most 
powerful and influential person at the 
court of Peter the Great, who made 
him chief-admiral. He died in 1724. 

Apricot, a fruit, that of the 
prunus armeniaca; also the tree on 
which it grows. It is wild in 
Africa and in the Caucasus, where 
the mountains in many places are 
covered with it; it is found also 
in China and some other countries. It 
is esteemed only second to the peach. 

April, the fourth month of the 
year. 

April-fools’ Day.— The first day of 
April, so called from the old custom of 
sending any one, on this day, upon a 
bootless errand. This strange custom 
of April-fools’ day exists throughout 
Europe, and in those parts of the 
United States where the traditions of 
the mother-country prevail. One of 
the explanations of the custom is as 
follows: In the Middle Ages, scenes 
from Biblical history were often rep¬ 
resented by way of diversion, without 
any feeling of impropriety. The scene 
in the life of Jesus, where He is sent 
from Pilate to Herod, and back again 
from Herod to Pilate, was represented 
in April, and may have given occasion 
to the custom of sending on fruitless 
errands, and other tricks practiced at 
this season. 



APTERYX OR KIWIKIWI. 

Apteryx, a genus of birds, the 
typical one of the family apterygidse. 
Two species are known — the A. aus- 1 
tralis and A. mantelli, both from New 


Zealand. The natives call the former, 
and probably also the latter, Kiwiki- 
wi, which is an imitation of their pe¬ 
culiar cry. The A. australis is some¬ 
what less in size than an ordinary 
goose. It runs when pursued, shelters 
itself in holes, and defends itself with 
its long bill; but unable as it is to fly, 
its fate, it is to be feared, will soon 
be that of the dodo — it is now almost 
extinct. 

Apulia, formerly a part of Sapy- 
gia (so called from Sapyx, son of Dae¬ 
dalus), including the modern Italian 
provinces of Capitanata, Terra di 
Bari, Terra d’Otranto, etc. Area 7,- 
376 square miles; pop. (1898) 1,910,- 
799. 

Apure, a navigable river of Ven¬ 
ezuela, formed by the junction of sev¬ 
eral streams which rise in the Andes 
of Colombia; it falls into the Orinoco. 

Apurimac, a river of South Amer¬ 
ica, which rises in the Andes of Peru; 
and being augmented by the Vilca- 
mayu and other streams forms the 
Ucayale, one of the principal head¬ 
waters of the Amazon. 

Aqua, a word much used in phar¬ 
macy and old chemistry. Aqua fortis 
( = strong water), a weak and impure 
nitric acid. It has the power of eat¬ 
ing into steel and copper, and hence 
is used by engravers, etchers, etc. Aqua 
marina, a fine variety of beryl. Aqua 
regia, or aqua regalis, a mixture of 
nitric and hydrochloric acids, with the 
power of dissolving gold and other no¬ 
ble metals. Aqua Tofana, a poisonous 
fluid made about the middle of the 
17th century by an Italian woman, 
Tofana or Toffania, who is said to 
have procured the death of- no fewer 
than 600 individuals by means of it. 
It consisted chiefly, it is supposed, of 
a solution of crystallized arsenic. 
Aqua vitae (= water of life), or simply 
aqua, a name familiarly applied to 
whisky, corresponding in meaning with 
the usquebaugh of Ireland, the eau-de- 
vie (brandy) of the French. 

Aquamarine, a name given to 
some of the finest varieties of beryl of 
a sea-green or blue color. Varieties 
of topaz are also so called. 

Aquarians, or Aquarii, Chris¬ 
tians in the primitive Church who 
used water instead of wine in the 
Lord’s Supper. 




Aquarium 


Arabesque 


Aquarium, an artificial tank, 
pond, or vessel, filled with salt or fresh 
water, and used, in the former case 
chiefly for the purpose of keeping 
alive marine animals in circumstances 
which render it easy to study their 
habits, and in the latter for cultivat¬ 
ing aquatic plants. 

Aquarius, in astronomy (1) the 
11th of the 12 ancient zodiacal con¬ 
stellations, now generally called signs 
of the Zodiac. It is generally quoted 
as “ Aquarius, the Water bearer.” 

Aquatic Animals, animals living 
in or about water. 

Aquatic Plants, plants growing 
in or belonging to water. 

Aqueduct, an artificial channel or 
conduit for the conveyance of water 
from one place to another; more par¬ 
ticularly applied to structures for con¬ 
veying water from distant sources for 
the supply of large cities. 

There are a number of important 
aqueducts in America. For 125 years, 
the city of Otumba, in Mexico, re¬ 
ceived its supply of water through the 
aqueduct of Zempoala, which, how¬ 
ever, has not been used since 1700, 
though the aqueduct is said to be in 
almost perfect condition. It is 27 
miles long. New York is supplied 
with water from Croton river, which 
falls into the Hudson above Sing Sing. 
The first aqueduct was constructed 
between the years 1837 and 1842, is 
88 miles long, with a general declivity 
of 13 *4 inches to the mile, and is 8 
feet 5 inches in height, and 7 feet 
8 inches in greatest breadth. Stone, 
brick, and cement are used for the en¬ 
casing masonry. When the conduit 
reaches the Harlem river, the water 
is conveyed in iron pipes over a splen¬ 
did bridge, 150 feet above the river. 

An aqueduct for supplying Boston 
with water was first built in 1846- 
1848, and exactly 30 years later a 
new aqueduct was built from the Sud¬ 
bury river to Boston, and was carried 
across the Charles river and Waban 
valley by two fine bridges. As the 
supply of water did not prove suffi¬ 
cient for the growth of the city, a 
large reservoir was built, taking a 
large part of the town of Boylston, 
Mass., so that it was supposed the 
supply of water, when the valley was 
filled would suffice for many years. 

E. 8. 


Aqueous Humor, the limpid wa¬ 
tery fluid which fills the space between, 
the cornea and the crystalline lens. 

Aqueous Rocks, mechanically 
formed rocks, composed of matter de¬ 
posited by water. Called also sedi¬ 
mentary or stratified rocks. 

Aquifoliaceae, a natural order of 
plants; the holly tribe. The species 
consists of trees and shrubs, and the 
order includes the common holly and 
the Paraguayan tea tree. 

Aquila, a native of Pontus, cele¬ 
brated for his close translation of the 
Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. 

Aquila, Kaspar, a German Prot¬ 
estant theologian, born in Bavaria, 
Aug. 7, 1488; assisted Luther in the 
translation of the Old Testament; be¬ 
came pastor at Saalfeld in 1527; was 
outlawed by Charles Y. in 1548; fled 
the country; and after 1552 returned 
to Saalfeld, where he died Nov. 15, 
1560. 

Aquinas, Thomas, or Thomas 
of Aquino, was of the family of the 
Counts, of Aquino, and was born about 
1226, in the castle of Rocca Secca, 
near Aquino, a small town half-way 
between Rome and Naples. He treat¬ 
ed Christian morals according to an 
arrangement of his own, and with a 
comprehensiveness that procured him 
the title of the “ Father of Moral Phi¬ 
losophy.” He died at the Cistercian 
abbey of Fossa-Nuova, March 7, 1274. 
Aquinas was canonized by John 
XXII. in 1323, and proclaimed a 
“ Doctor of the Church,” by Pius Y. 
in 1567. 

Aquitania, later Aquitaine, a 

Roman province in Gaul, which com¬ 
prehended the countries on the coast 
from the Garonne to the Pyrenees, 
and from the sea to Toulouse. It was 
brought into connection with England 
by the marriage of Henry II. with 
Eleanor, daughter of the last Duke of 
Aquitaine. The title to the province 
was for long disputed by England and 
France, but it was finally secured by 
the latter (1453). 

Arabesque, a style of ornamenta¬ 
tion in which are represented men, 
animals (the latter consisting of 
mythic as well as actual forms) ; 
plants, with leaves, flowers, and fruit; 
mathematical figures, etc.; the whole 
put together in a whimsical way, so 




Arabia 


Arack 


that, for instance, the animals not 
merely rest upon the plants, but grow 
out of them like blossoms. 



ARABESQUE ARCHWAY. 

Arabia, the extreme S. W. part 
of Asia, called by the natives Jeziret 
el Arab, that is, the Peninsula of the 
Arabs; and by the Turks and Per¬ 
sians, Arabistan. Arabia is encom¬ 
passed on three sides by the sea, name¬ 
ly, on the N. E. by the Persian Gulf, 
on the S. E. by the Indian Ocean, and 
on the S. W. by the Red Sea. Arabia 
includes also the peninsula of Sinai, 
between the Gulf of Suez and that of 
Akabah. The whole area of the vast 
country thus described does not prob¬ 
ably fall much short of 1,000,000 
square miles. 

The population of Arabia has been 
estimated by some at 12,000,000, by 
others at no more than 4,000,000. The 
former number is .certainly too high, 
and it is believed that between 5,000,- 
000 and 6,000,000 is very near the 
truth. 

The Arabs present, as a nation and 
as individuals, much that is peculiar 
in their mental and physical develop¬ 
ment. They are of middle stature, of 
a powerful make, and have a skin of 
brownish color. Their features ex¬ 
press dignity and pride; they are nat¬ 
urally active, intelligent, and courte¬ 
ous ; and their character is marked by 
temperance, bravery, and hospitality, 
along with a strong propensity for 
poetry. On the other hand, they are 
revengeful in their disposition and 
predatory in their habits. The women 


have the entire education of the chil¬ 
dren in their early years. 

The mode of life of the Arabs is 
either nomadic or settled, or in other 
words, they either live in tents and 
derive their subsistence from the rear¬ 
ing of cattle, wherever sufficient pas¬ 
ture is obtainable, and from the trans¬ 
port of caravans through the desert; 
or from the pursuits of agriculture 
and commerce. The nomadic tribes in 
Arabia are termed Bedouins, Beduins, 
or Bedawins; those following settled 
occupations, Hadji and Fellahs. A 
considerable trade, partly overland, 
partly maritime, is carried on, chiefly 
in coffee, dates, figs, spices, and aro¬ 
matic substances of various kinds, 
though the present amount of traffic 
is scarcely a shadow of what it was 
in the times previous to the discovery 
of the passage by the Cape of Good 
Hope. Commerce is partly in the 
hands of foreigners, chiefly Jews and 
Banian Hindus. In 1906, Turkish 
troops occupied Tabah on the Gulf of 
Akabah. This act led to representa¬ 
tions from the Anglo-Egyptian govern¬ 
ment, the appointment of a commis¬ 
sion and a delimitation of boundaries. 

Arabian Nights’ Entertain¬ 
ments, or “ The Thousand and 
One Nights,” a celebrated collection 
of Oriental tales, which have, since 
their introduction to the civilized 
world, become the delight of all who 
peruse them. This collection, which 
had long been famous throughout the 
East, was brought to the notice of 
Europeans by the translation of An¬ 
toine Galland, a great French Orien¬ 
talist, in 1704. It speedily became 
translated into the other principal Eu¬ 
ropean languages, fixed popular ad¬ 
miration, and t.o this day retains its 
place in popular literature. 

Aracari, the name given in Brazil 
to several scansorial birds. They have 
smaller bills than the toucans proper, 
and are of brighter colors, being gen¬ 
erally green, with red or yellow on 
their breasts. 

Aracbuida, the class of animals 
which contains spiders, scorpions, and 
mites. 

Arack, or Arrack, a spirituous 
liquor manufactured in the East In¬ 
dies from a great variety of substances. 
It is often distilled from fermented 



























Arafat 


Arancania 


rice, or it may be distilled from the 
juice of the cocoanut and other palms. 

Arafat, or Jebel er Rahineli, a 
hill in Arabia, about 200 feet high, 
with stone steps reaching to the sum¬ 
mit, 15 miles S. B. of Mecca; one of 
the principal objects of pilgrimage 
among Mohammedans, who say that it 
was the place where Adam first re¬ 
ceived his wife, Eve, after they had 
been expelled from Paradise and sep¬ 
arated from each other 120 years. A 
sermon delivered on the mount consti¬ 
tutes the main ceremony of the Hadj 
or pilgrimage to Mecca, and entitles 
the hearer to the name and privileges 
of a Hadji or pilgrim. 

Arago, Dominique Francois, an 
eminent French astronomer and physi¬ 
cist; born near Perpignan, Feb. 26, 
1786. He died in 1853. As Minister 
of War and Marine after the fall of 
Louis Philippe he was instrumental in 
abolishing negro slavery in the French 
colonies. 

Arago, Ftienne Vincent, a 

French poet, journalist, and play¬ 
wright, born at Perpignan, Feb. 9, 
1802. He died in 1892. 

Aragon, once a kingdom, now di¬ 
vided into the three provinces of Sara¬ 
gossa, Huesca, and Teruel, in the N. 
E. of Spain; greatest length from N. 
to S., 190 miles; breadth, 130; area, 
17,980 square miles; pop. (1887) 
912,197. It is bounded on the N. by 
the Pyrenees, and borders on Navarre, 
the Castiles, Valencia, and Catalonia. 

Araguay, or Araguaya, a large 
river of Brazil, which rises in about 
19° S. lat., near the Parana, flowing 
to about 6 6 S. lat., where it joins the 
Tocantins. The united stream, after 
a course of 1,000 miles, falls into the 
delta of the Amazon in S. lat. 1° 40'. 
Many tribes of warlike Indians dwell 
on its banks. 

Aral Lake, separated by the pla¬ 
teau of Ust-Urt from the Caspian Sea, 
is the largest lake in the steppes of 
Asia. It lies wholly within the limits 
of Russian Central Asia, embracing 
an area of about 24,000 square miles. 

Aram, Eugene, a self-taught 
scholar whose unhappy fate has been 
made the subject of a ballad by Hood 
and a romance by Lord Lytton, born 
in Yorkshire, England, in 1704. In 
1734 he opened a school at Knares- 


borough. About 1745 a shoemaker of 
that place, Daniel Clarke, was sud¬ 
denly missing under suspicious cir¬ 
cumstances ; and no light was thrown 
on the matter till 13 years afterward, 
when an expression dropped by one 
Richard Houseman respecting the dis¬ 
covery of a skeleton supposed to be 
Clarke’s, caused him to be taken into 
custody. From his confession an or¬ 
der was issued for the apprehension of 
Aram, who had long quitted York¬ 
shire, and was at the time acting as 
usher at the grammar school at Lynn. 
He was brought to trial on Aug. 3, 
1759, at York, where, notwithstand¬ 
ing an able and eloquent defense which 
he made before the court, he was con¬ 
victed of the murder of Clarke, sen¬ 
tenced to death, and executed. 

Aramaean, or Aramaic, a Se¬ 
mitic language nearly allied to the 
Hebrew and Phoenician, anciently 
spoken in Syria and Palestine and 
eastward to the Euphrates and Tigris, 
being the official language of this re¬ 
gion under the Persian domination. 

Arapahoes, a tribe of American 
Indians located near the head-waters 
of the Arkansas and Platte rivers. 

Arapaima, a genus of tropical 
fishes, including the largest known 
fresh water forms. They are found in 
the rivers of South America, and are 
sometimes taken in the Rio Negro, 15 
feet in length, and 400 pounds in 
weight. They are shot with arrows 
or harpooned, and are highly esteemed 
as food. 

Ararat, a celebrated mountain in 
Armenia, forming the point of contact 
of Russia with Turkey and Persia, to 
all of which it belongs. It rises, an 
isolated cone, on the S. border of the 
plain of the Aras of Araxes. The 
summit of the Great Ararat rises 16,- 
964 feet above the sea-level. It is 
covered with perpetual snow and ice 
for about 3 miles from its summit 
downward in an oblique direction. 
Mount Ararat was the resting place 
of the ark when the flood abated. 

Arancania, the country of the 
Araucos or Araucanian Indians, in 
the south of Chile. The Chilean prov¬ 
ince of Arauco, lying between the 
Andes and the Pacific Ocean, and 
bounded on the N. by Concepcion, on 
the S. by Valdivia, was formed in 





Arbitration 


Arc 


1875, with an area of 2,446 square 
miles, and a population of 59,237. A 
large part of the territory in Arauco 
and the more southerly province of 
Valdivia, is occupied by Indians, who 
have of late mostly submitted to Chil¬ 
ean authority. 

Arbitration, an adjudication by 
private persons, called arbitrators, ap¬ 
pointed to decide a matter or matters 
in controversy, either by written or 
oral submission, by agreement of the 
disputants. It differs from a reference 
which is made by the order of a court 
of law. The proceeding generally is 
called a submission to arbitration ; the 
parties appointed to decide are termed 
arbitrators, not referees: and their ad¬ 
judication is called an award. This 
mode of settling disputes has been 
approved by some legislatures, and 
there are statutes in a number of 
States regulating the proceedings. 

It cannot be said that the legal re¬ 
quirements have helped to any great 
extent in the settlement of disputes be- 
between labor and capital. Either or 
both sides claim that an injustice has 
been done, and while a modus vivendi 
may be determined, it is only that mat¬ 
ters may be arranged for a more suc¬ 
cessful outcome of the next difficulty. 
The settlement of the great coal strike 
of 1902 by the arbitrators selected by 
President Roosevelt, ended the conflict 
for the time being, but did not satisfy 
either party to the dispute. 

The first general treaty of arbitra¬ 
tion ever drawn between nations was 
signed Jan. 11, 1897, in Washington, 
by Richard Olney, Secretary of State 
for the United States, and Sir Julian 
Pauncefote, Ambassador of Great 
Britain to the United States, for 
Great Britain. This treaty was 
placed before the United State Sen¬ 
ate, Jan. 11, 1897 accompanied by a 
special message from President Cleve¬ 
land, but the Senate refused to ratify 
it. Since then similar treaties have 
been made and ratified between Italy 
and the Argentine Republic and be¬ 
tween the Argentine Republic and 
Uruguay. The International Peace 
Convention at The Hague, in 1899, es¬ 
tablished an International Court of 
Arbitration which has been ratified by 
the United States and other signatory 
powers. In 1903, Holland accepted' 
Mr. Carnegie’s offer of $1,500,000 


for a Temple of Peace and Interna¬ 
tional Law Library at The Hague, for 
the sessions of the Court. 

Arbor Day, a day set apart to 
encourage the voluntary planting of 
trees by the people. The custom was 
inaugurated by the Nebraska State 
Board of Agriculture in 1874, which 
recommended that the second Wednes¬ 
day in April annually be designated 
as Arbor Day, and that all public 
school children should be urged to ob¬ 
serve it by setting out young trees. 
The custom has since been extended, 
till now nearly every State and Terri¬ 
tory in the country has set apart one 
day by legislative enactment or other¬ 
wise, for this purpose; several of the 
States making the day a legal holiday, 
others making it a school holiday. 

Arbor Vitae (lit. ‘tree of life’), 
the name of several coniferous trees 
of the genus Thuja, allied to the cy¬ 
press, with flattened branchlets, and 
small imbricated or scale-like leaves. 
The common Arbor Vitae (Thuja oc¬ 
cidentals) is a native of North Amer¬ 
ica, where it grows to the height of 
40 or 50 feet. The young twigs have 
and agreeable balsamic smell. 

Arbutus, a genus of plants belong¬ 
ing to the order of ericacese (heath 
worts). Trailing arbutus is a creep¬ 
ing or trailing plant; with rose colored 
blossoms, found chiefly in New Eng¬ 
land in the spring. Commonly called 
Mayflower. In the Southern States it 
is known as Ground Laurel. 

Arc, in geometry, a portion of the 
circumference of a circle, cut off by 
two lines which meet or intersect it. 
Its magnitude is stated in degrees, 
minutes, and seconds, which are equal 
to those of the angle which it subtends. 

In mathematical geography, an arc 
of the earth’s meridian, or a merid¬ 
ional arc, is an arc partly measured on 
the surface of the earth from N. to S., 
partly calculated by trigonometry. It 
was by these measurements that the 
earth was discovered to be an oblate 
spheroid. 

In electricity, a voltaic arc is a lu¬ 
minous arc, which extends from one 
pencil of charcoal to another, when 
these are fixed to the terminals of a 
battery in such a position that their 
extremities are one-tenth of an inch 
apart. 




Arcade 


Archelaus 


Arcade, a series of arches of any 
form, supported on pillars, either in¬ 
closing a space before a wall, or any 
building which is covered in and 
paved; or, when used as an architec¬ 
tural feature for ornamenting the 
towers and walls of churches entirely 
closed up with masonry. The cloisters 
of the old monasteries and religious 
houses were, strictly speaking, arcades. 
The term is also applied to a covered 
passage having stores on either side 
of it. 

Arcadia, the classical name of 
Middle Peloponnesus, now forming the 
modern province of Arkadia, in the 
Morea, Greece. 

Arcesilaus, a Greek philosopher, 
founder of the New Academy, was 
born at Pitane in .^Eolia, Asia Minor, 
316 b. c. He died b. c. 241. 

Arch, in architecture, a series of 
wedge-shaped stones or bricks, so ar¬ 
ranged over a door or window in an 
edifice for habitation, or between the 
piers of a bridge, as to support each 
other, and even bear a great superin¬ 
incumbent weight. The curved arch 
was known to the Assyrians and the 
Old Egyptians. 

There is no mention of the genuine 
arch in Scripture, the term “arches,” 
in Ezek. xl: 16, being a mistranslation. 

The arch was brought into extensive 
use by the Romans, and everywhere 
prevailed till the 12th century a. d. 
when the arcl pointed at the apex, and 
called in consequence the pointed arch 
— the one so frequently seen in Gothic 
architecture—appeared in Europe as 
its rival. The forms of both curved 
and pointed arches may be varied in¬ 
definitely. 

Arch, Triumphal, a structure 
raised by the Romans to celebrate a 
victory, or some great historical event; 
or to add an additional luster to the 
commemoration of the military ex¬ 
ploits of a victorious general. The 
practice has been adopted by some of 
the modern nations of which France 
is the foremost. 

Arch, Joseph, an English reform¬ 
er, born in Barford, Warwickshire, in 
1826, and, while still a farm laborer, 
became a Primitive Methodist preach¬ 
er. In 1872 he founded the National 
Agricultural Laborers’ Union, and 
thereby, according to Justin M’Carthy, 


“ began the emancipation of the rural 
laborers.” He afterward visited Can¬ 
ada to inquire into the labor and emi¬ 
gration questions; and, in 1885-1886, 
he represented in Parliament the 
northwest division of Norfolk, which 
again returned him in 1892 and 1895. 

Archaeology, the science which 
makes us acquainted with the antiqui¬ 
ties of nations that have lived and 
died, and the remains of various kinds 
which throw a light upon the history 
of those now existing. Every country 
owns, in a greater or less degree, relics 
of antiquity highly interesting to the 
archaeologist. In Mexico and Cen¬ 
tral America, evidences have been 
found of the existence of a clever and 
ingenious people who had died before 
the discovery of America. 

Archaeopteryx, a unique fossil 
bird from the oolitic limestone of Sol- 
enhofen, of the size of a rook, and dif¬ 
fering from all known birds in having 
two free claws representing the thumb 
and forefinger projecting from the 
wing, and about twenty tail vertebrae 
free and prolonged as in mammals. 

Archangel, a seaport, capital of 
the Russian government of same name, 
on the right bank of the northeastern 
Dwina, about 20 miles above its mouth 
in the White Sea. Below the town the 
river divides into several branches and 
forms a number of islands, on one of 
which, called Sollenbole, is the harbor. 
The port is closed for six months by 
ice. Archangel, was long the only 
port which Russia possessed. Pop. 20,- 
993. 

Archdeacon, an ecclesiastical dig¬ 
nitary next in rank below a bishop, 
who has jurisdiction either over a part 
of or over the whole diocese. He is 
usually appointed by the bishop, under 
whom he performs various duties, and 
he holds a court which decides cases 
subject to an appeal to the bishop. 

Archduke, a duke whose authori¬ 
ty and power is superior to that of 
other dukes. In the present day, this 
title is not assumed by any excepting 
the princes of the imperial House of 
Austria. 

Archelaus, a Greek philosopher, 
the disciple and successor of Anaxa¬ 
goras. Archelaus is said to have had 
Socrates for his pupil at Athens. 
Flourished about 440 b. c. 





Archelaus 


Architecture 


Archelaus, son of Herod the 
Great. His reign is described as most 
tyrannical and bloody. The people at 
length accused him before Augustus 
(Judea being then dependent upon 
Rome). The Emperor, after hearing 
his defense, banished him to Vienne, 
in Gaul. To avoid the fury of this 
monster, 7 A. d., Joseph and Mary re¬ 
tired to Nazareth. 

Archer, Branch T., a Texan pa¬ 
triot, born 1790; died 1856. In 1831 
he left Virginia where he had practiced 
medicine, and settled in Texas where 
he took an active part in all the 
troubles that preceeded the indepen¬ 
dence of the territory. He was one of 
the commissioners who asked aid from 
the United States government, and was 
speaker of the Texas House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, and Secretary of War for 
the new Republic. 

Archer, William, a Scottish crit¬ 
ic, born at Perth, Sept. 23, 1856. He 
graduated at Edinburgh University, 
1876, and was called to the bar, 1883. 
He has long been dramatic critic for 
various London papers. 

Archer Fish, the toxotes aculator, 
which shoots water at its prey. It is 
found in the East Indian and Polyne¬ 
sian Seas. 

Archery, the art of shooting with 
a bow and arrow. This art, either as 
a means of offense in war, or as sub¬ 
sistence and amusement in time of 
peace, may be traced in the history of 
almost every nation. It always, how¬ 
ever declines with the progress of 
time, which introduces weapons more 
to be depended on, and not so easily 
exhausted as a bundle of arrows. 
With the ancients, the sagitarii, or 
archers, were an important class of 
troops. The English archers were 
famous in the Middle Ages, and turned 
the side in important battles. 

Archilochus, a Greek poet, flour¬ 
ished in the 7th century b. c. Of his 
life, nothing is definitely known. He 
was classed by the ancients with the 
greatest poets, Homer, Pindar, Sopho¬ 
cles ; but of his works only a few frag¬ 
ments have come down to us. 

Archimedes, the most famous of 
ancient mathematicians, was a native 
of Syracuse. He possessed equal 
knowledge of the sciences of astrono¬ 
my, geometry, hydrostatics, mechanics, 


and optics. Among his inventions 
were the combination of pulleys for 
lifting heavy weights, the revolving 
screw, and a spherical representation 
of the motion of the heavenly bodies. 
His inventive genius was especially ex¬ 
emplified in the defense of Syracuse 
when besieged by Marcellus. It is 
said that on this occasion he devised 
a burning-glass, formed of reflecting 
mirrors of such power that by it he set 
fire to the enemy’s fleet. This well 
known story is, however, believed to 
be equally an invention. Upon the 
city being taken by storm, Archimedes, 
then in his 74th year, was among those 
who lost their lives, b. c. 212. 

Archimedes, Principle of, a 
well known principle in hydrostatics, 
the discovery of which is attributed to 
the celebrated philosopher whose name 
it bears. This important theorem may 
be thus defined: When a solid is im¬ 
mersed in a fluid, it loses a portion of 
its weight, and this portion is equal 
to the weight of the fluid which it dis¬ 
places, that is, to the weight of its 
own bulk of the fluid. 

Archimedian Screw, or Spiral 
Pump, a machine invented by Archi¬ 
medes, the celebrated Syracusan phi¬ 
losopher, while studying in Egypt. Ob¬ 
serving the difficulty of raising water 
from the Nile to places above the reach 
of the flood tides, he is said to have de¬ 
signed this screw as a means of over¬ 
coming the obstacle. It consists of a 
pipe twisted in a spiral form around a 
cylinder, which, when at work, is sup¬ 
ported in an inclined position. The 
lower end of the pipe is immersed in 
water, and when the cylinder is made 
to revolve on its own axis, the water 
is raised from bend to bend in the 
spiral pipe until it flows out at the 
top. The Archimedian screw is still 
used in Holland for raising water, and 
draining low grounds. 

Archipelago, a term applied to 
such tracts of sea as are interspersed 
with many islands. It is more es¬ 
pecially applied to the numerous is¬ 
lands of the iEgean Sea, or that part 
of the Mediterranean lying between 
Asia Minor and Greece. 

Architecture, the art of building, 
especially with a view to beauty or 
magnificence. It is an art which is 
ever advancing as the needs of civil¬ 
ized man change and increase. Soino 




Archives 


Arctic Expeditions 


of the architectural work of the an¬ 
cients has never been surpassed in 
later ages in massiveness and in 
beauty, and the grand architectural 
monuments of the Middle Ages are 
the chief redeeming features of that 
period of intellectual gloom. The 
architecture of the twentieth century 
bids fair to keep abreast of the mar¬ 
vellous progress of other arts, and 
nowhere is it achieving more signal 
triumphs than in the United States, 
with its mighty office-buildings, its 
magnificent public structures, and its 
residences including every comfort 
and improvement. 

Archives, the place in which rec¬ 
ords are kept; also the records and 
papers which are preserved, as evi¬ 
dence of facts. 

Archons, the chief magistrates of 
ancient Athens, chosen to superintend 
civil and religious concerns. 

Archytas, an ancient Greek math¬ 
ematician, statesman, and general, who 
flourished about 400 b. c., and belong¬ 
ed to Tarentum, in Southern Italy. 
The invention of the analytic method 
in mathematics is ascribed to him, as 
well as the solution of many geometri¬ 
cal and mechanical problems. 

Arc Light, that species of the 
electric light in which the illuminating 
source is the current of electricity 
passing between two sticks of carbon 
kept a short distance apart, one of 
them being in connection with the pos¬ 
itive, the other with th'e negative ter¬ 
minal of a battery or dynamo. 

Arcon, Jean Claude Lemi- 
ceaud d’, a French engineer, born 
in 1733. He distinguished himself by 
the invention of the famous floating 
batteries used at the siege of Gibral¬ 
tar, in 1782. He died in 1800. 

Arctic Circle, a small circle of 
the globe, 23° 28' distant from the 
North Pole, which is its center. It is 
opposed to the Antarctic circle, which 
is at the same distance from the South 
Pole. 

Arctic Expeditions, expeditions 
projected to explore the regions sur¬ 
rounding the North Pole. The ob¬ 
ject with which these enterprises were 
commenced by the English was to ob¬ 
tain a passage by way of the polar re¬ 
gions to India, Egypt being in Moham¬ 
medan hands, and fear, which now 


seems absolutely ludicrous, being felt 
that the Portuguese would successfully 
debar daring English seamen from 
using the route by the Cape of Good 
Hope. When the utter hopelessness 
of finding either a northwestern or a 
northeastern passage to India through 
the polar regions became apparent, it 
was felt that Arctic expeditions might 
still profitably be sent out for purely 
scientific exploration, one main object 
now being to make as near an ap¬ 
proach as possible to the Pole. They 
have continued at intervals to our 
own times, and are not likely ever to 
cease. Two of the most notable events 
in their history which have hitherto 
occurred have been the discovery of 
the northwest passage by Captain Mc¬ 
Clure, of the “ Investigator,” on Oct. 
26, 1850, and the tragic deaths of Sir 
John Franklin and his crew, about the 
year 1848, the catastrophe being ren¬ 
dered all the more impressive to the 
public mind by the uncertainty which 
long hung over the gallant explorers’ 
fate. 

In September, 1895, Lieut. Robert 
E. Peary, of the United States navy, 
returned from an Arctic expedition, 
after an absence of two years. He 
did not get so far north as some of 
his predecessors, but in scientific re¬ 
sults his expedition surpassed all 
others of recent years. His surveys 
and maps extend our knowledge of the 
coast northward 2°. He started on 
another expedition in 1897. On Aug. 
13, 1896, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, of Nor¬ 
way, returned from an Arctic expedi¬ 
tion, after an absence of more than 
three years. The most northerly 
point reached by him was 86° 14' N. 
latitude, or 200 miles nearer the Pole 
than ever reached before. He found 
no indications of land N. of 82° N. 
latitude, and in the higher latitudes no 
open sea, only narrow cracks in the 
ice. 

The following are the farthest points 
of N. latitude reached by Arctic ex¬ 
plorers, up to present date: 


Year Explorers North Latitude 

1607. Hudson . 80° 23' 0" 

1773. Phipps . 80° 48' 0" 

1806. Scoresby . 81° 12' 42" 

1827. Parry . 82° 50' 0" 

1874. Meyer (on land)... 82° .0' 0" 

1875. Markham and Parr 

(Nares* expedition. 83° 20' 26" 

1876. Payer . 83° 07' 0" 










Arctic Ocean 


Areca 


Year 

Explorers 

North Latitude 

1882. 

Lockwood (Greely’s 





party) . 

83° 

24' 

0" 

1896. 

Nansen . 

86° 

14' 

0" 

1900. 

Abruzzi . 

86° 

33' 

0" 

1906. Peary. 

87° 

6' 

0" 


In 1902 Lieutenant Peary attained 
lat. 84° 17', 156 miles short of Abruz- 
zi’s record, and 404 statute miles from 
the Pole. He pushed the advance on 
the American side thirty miles beyond 
his own best record established in 
1901, and sixty miles beyond the point 
reached by Lockwood and Brainerd of 
the Greely expedition in 1882. In 
1906, he came within 200.36 miles of 
his goal, when he was forced back by 
insurmountable obstacles. He en¬ 
countered the greatest dangers in his 
efforts to reach the Pole, and showed 
ability and endurance which place him 
high in the rank of explorers. The 
Baldwin (1902) and the Fiala (1905) 
expeditions, sent north at great ex¬ 
pense by William Ziegler, a Brooklyn 
capitalist, and which proceeded by way 
of Franz Josef Land, did not reach 
such high latitudes, but returned with 
much new scientific and geographic 
knowledge. The Wellman air-ship ex¬ 
pedition is projected for 1907. 

Arctic Ocean, in its widest sense, 
that portion of the ocean which ex¬ 
tends from the Arctic circle (lat. 66° 
32' N.) to the North Pole, or more re- 
strictedly from about lat 70° N. As¬ 
suming the former limit, the Arctic 
Ocean is found entering deeply, in the 
form of gulfs, bays, etc., into the N. 
parts of the continents of Europe, 
Asia, and America. The water of the 
Arctic Ocean is extremely pure, shells 
being distinctly visible at a great 
depth; it also presents rapid transi¬ 
tions of color, chiefly from ultramarine 
to olive-green, the latter variations of 
color being produced by myriads of 
minute animals, belonging for the most 
part, to the Ccelenterata and Mollusca. 

Arctic Regions, the regions 
round the North Pole, and extending 
from the pole on all sides to the Arctic 
circle in lat. 66° 32' N. The Arctic 
or North Polar circle just touches the 
N. headlands of Iceland; cuts off the 
S. and narrowest portion of Green¬ 
land ; crosses Fox Strait N. of Hudson 
bay, whence it goes over the American 
continent to Bering Strait. Thence 
it runs to Obdorsk at the mouth of the 
Obi; then, crosing Northern Russia, 


the White Sea, and the Scandinavian 
peninsula, returns to Iceland. 

Arcturus, in astronomy, a fixed 
star of the first magnitude, called also 
Alpha Bootis. It is one of the very 
brightest stars in the northern heav¬ 
ens. 

Ardah.an, a village of about 300 
houses, in the portion of Turkish Ar¬ 
menia, ceded in 1878 to Russia, 35 
miles N. W. of Kars. Its position 
gives it strategic importance. Its 
fortress was dismantled by the Rus¬ 
sians in the war of 1854-1856; in 1878 
the Berlin Congress sanctioned the ces¬ 
sion to Russia of Ardahan, which had 
been captured early in the war. On 
account of the severity of the climate, 
the houses of Ardahan are mainly con¬ 
structed underground. 

Ardennes, an extensive hill-coun¬ 
try and forest, occupying the S. E. 
corner of Belgium, between the Moselle 
and the Meuse, but extending also into 
France and Rhenish Prussia. It con¬ 
sists of a broken mass of hills, for the 
most part of no great elevation, which 
gradually slope toward the plains of 
Flanders. Enormous supplies of coal 
are found in the north, a very impor¬ 
tant element in Belgium’s industrial 
wealth; iron, lead, antimony, copper, 
and manganese are also found. Multi¬ 
tudes of cattle and sheep are reared. 

Arditi, Luigi, an Italian musi¬ 
cian and composer, born in Piedmont, 
July 16, 1822; studied music at the 
Conservatoire of Milan. Famous first 
as a violinist, then as a conductor, he 
went to London in 1857, and from that 
year till 1878 was musical director at 
Her Majesty’s Theater. He has con¬ 
ducted Italian opera and concerts in 
places as remote from one another as 
New York and Constantinople. He 
died in May, 1903. 

Are, the unit of the French land 
measure, equal to 100 square meters, 
or 1,076.44 square feet. A hectare is 
100 ares, equal to 2.47 acres. 

Areca, a genus of lofty palms with 
pinnated leaves, and a drupe-like fruit 
inclosed in a fibrous rind. The com¬ 
mon areca palm which yields areca or 
betel nuts, and also the astringent 
juice catechu. A. oleracea is the cab¬ 
bage-tree, or cabbage-palm of the West 
Indies. 









Arena 


Argemone 


Arena, the inclosed space in the 
central part of the Roman amphithea¬ 
ters, in which took place the combats 
of gladiators or wild beasts. It was 
usually covered with sand or saw dust 
to prevent the gladiators from slip¬ 
ping, and to absorb the blood. 

Arends, Leopold, author of a 
widely popular system of stenography, 
born near Wilna, Russia, Dec. 1, 1817. 
He died in Berlin, Dec. 22, 1882. 

Arene, Paul Auguste, a French 
author, born in Sisteron, June 26, 
1843. He died at Antibes, Dec. 16,1896. 

Areolar Tissue, a tissue widely 
diffused through the body, and com¬ 
posed of white and yellow fibers, the 
former imparting to it strength, and 
the latter elasticity. 

_ Areometer, an instrument de¬ 
signed to measure the specific gravity 
of liquids. 

Areopagus, the name of a hill or 
rocky eminence lying to the W. of the 
Acropolis at Athens, which was the 
meeting-place of the chief court of 
judicature of that city; hence called 
the Council of Areopagus. It was of 
very high antiquity, and existed as a 
criminal tribunal long before the time 
of Solon. Solon enlarged its sphere 
of jurisdiction, and gave it extensive 
powers of a censorial and political na¬ 
ture. Some say that the Apostle Paul 
was taken before this council; but the 
Scripture does not bear out this idea. 
It would seem, rather, that the Athen¬ 
ians had taken him to the hill in or¬ 
der to hear him expound his new doc¬ 
trines. 

Arequipa, a city of Peru, capi¬ 
tal of the Department of the same 
name ; 40 miles from the Pacific Ocean, 
on the Chile river; altitude, 7,850 feet 
above sea level. Gold and silver are 
mined in the vicinity. A great earth¬ 
quake occurred, Aug. 13 and 14, 1868, 
which destroyed more than $12,000,000 
worth of property, and the lives of 
more than 500 persons. Its public 
buildings and dwellings are one or two 
stories high and constructed of stone. 
Near at hand Harvard University has 
an observatory, at an altitude of over 
8,000 feet. 

Ares, the Greek god of war, or 
more particularly of its horror and tu¬ 
mult. He is represented in Greek 


poetry as a most sanguinary divinity 
delighting in war for its own sake. 

Aretaeus, a Greek physician of 
Cappadocia, who flourished about 100 
A. d. He is considered to rank next to 
Hippocrates in the skill with which he 
treated diseases; was eclectic in his 
method; and in the diagnosis of dis¬ 
ease is superior to most of the ancient 
physicians. 

Aretino, Pietro, an Italian poet 
and dramatist, born at Arezzo, April 
20, 1492. His “ Letters ” are a val¬ 
uable contribution to the history of the 
times. He died in Venice, Oct. 21, 
1556. 

Argali, the name for some species 
of the genus ovis, or sheep, which in¬ 
habits the mountains and steppes of 
Northern Asia. They are very keen- 
sighted, quick of hearing, and possess 
a delicate sense of smell. They attach 
themselves closely to one locality, and 
are noted for their great powers of 
leaping, even from heights of 20 or 30 
feet. The Big-horn sheep of the Rocky 
Mountains are sometimes called Amer¬ 
ican argali. 

Argali, Sir Samuel, an early 
English adventurer in Virginia, born 
about 1572; planned and executed the 
abduction of Pocahontas, the daughter 
of the Indian chief Powhatan, in order 
to secure the ransom of English prison- 
ers.. He was Deputy Governor of Vir¬ 
ginia (1617—1619), and was accused 
of many acts of rapacity and tyranny. 
By carrying on trade in violation of the 
law he managed to acquire a fortune, 
and was shielded from justice by the 
Earl of Warwick. He died in 1639. 

Argand Lamp, a lamp named 
after its inventor, Aim6 Argand, a 
Swiss chemist and physician (born 
1755, died 1803), the distinctive fea¬ 
ture of which is a burner forming a 
ring or hollow cylinder covered by a 
chimney, so that the flame receives a 
current of air both on the inside and 
on the outside. 

Argemone, a genus of plants be¬ 
longing to the poppy-worts. It has 
three sepals and six petals. The A. 
Mexicana, believed, as its name im¬ 
ports, to have come from Mexico, has 
conspicuous yellow flowers. From 
having its calyx prickly, it is often 
called Mexican thistle. The seeds are 
a more powerful narcotic than opium. 





Argent 


Argon 


Argent, in coats or arms, the her¬ 
aldic term expressing silver; repre¬ 
sented in engraving by a plain white 
surface. 

Argentan, a French town, dep. 
Orne (Normandy), with an old castle, 
and some manufactures. Pop. 6,527 

Argenteuil, a town in France, de¬ 
partment Seine-et-Oise, 7 miles below 
Paris; has an active trade in wine, 
fruit, and vegetables. Pop. 15,126. 

Argentina, formerly called the 
United Provinces of La Plata, a vast 
country of South America; extreme 
length, 2,100 miles; average breadth 
a litle over 500 miles; total area, 
1,114,000 square miles. It is bounded 
on the N. by Bolivia; on the E. by 
Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and the 
Atlantic; on the S. by the Antarctic 
Ocean; and on the W. by the Andes. 

With the exception of the N. W., 
where lateral branches of the Andes 
run into the plain for 150 or 200 miles, 
and the province of Entre Rios, which 
is hilly, the characteristic feature of 
the country is the great monotonous 
and level plains called pampas. In the 
N., these plains are partly forest-cov¬ 
ered, but all the central and S. parts 
present vast treeless tracts, which af¬ 
ford pasture to immense herds of 
horses, oxen, and sheep, and are varied 
in some places by brackish swamps, in 
others by salt steppes. 

European grains and fruits, includ¬ 
ing the vine, have been successfully in¬ 
troduced, and are cultivated in most 
parts of the republic, countless herds 
of cattle and horses and flocks of sheep 
are pastured on the pampas, and mul¬ 
tiply there very rapidly. Gold, siver, 
nickel, copper, tin, lead, and iron, be¬ 
sides marble, jasper, precious stones, 
and bitumen, are found in the moun¬ 
tainous districts of the northwest, 
while petroleum wells have been dis¬ 
covered on the Rio Vermejo; but the 
development of this mineral wealth has 
hitherto been greatly retarded by the 
want of proper means of transport. 
As a whole, there are not extensive 
forests in the country, except in the 
region of the Gran Chaco (which ex¬ 
tends also into Bolivia), where there 
is known to be 60,000 square miles of 
timber. Thousands of square miles are 
covered with thistles, which grow to a 
great height in their season. Cacti 
also form great thickets. Peach and 


apple trees are abundant in some dis¬ 
tricts. The native fauna includes the 
puma, the jaguar, the tapir, the llp.ma, 
the alpaca, the vicuna, armadilos, the 
rhea or nandu, a species of ostrich, etc. 
The climate is agreeable and healthful, 
97° being about the highest tempera¬ 
ture experienced. The native Indians, 
few in number, give little trouble to 
white settlers, although some of the 
Gran Chaco tribes are warlike and 
have killed foreign travellers. Some 
tribes, still in a savage state, inhabit 
less known districts and live by hunt¬ 
ing and fishing. The typical inhabi¬ 
tants of the pampas are the Gauchos, 
a race of half-breed cattle-rearers and 
horsebreakers, almost continually in 
saddle, galloping the plains. 

A. is divided into 14 provinces and 
10 territories. Buenos Ayres, the cap¬ 
ital, is. connected with other large 
towns including Rosario, La Plata, 
Tucuman, Cordoba, Santa Fe, Men¬ 
doza, Parana, etc., by 12,000 m. of 
railroads, and 27,500 m. of telegraph 
lines. Industries and commerce have 
increased with the arrival of large 
numbers of immigrants, chiefly Ital¬ 
ians and Spaniards. In recent years 
the annual exports amounted to over 
$264,000,000, imports to over $187,- 
000,000. The chief foreign trade, in 
order of importance, is with Great 
Britain, Germany, France, the United 
States and Belgium. 

The government is republican, sim¬ 
ilar to that of the United States, and 
the President is elected for six years 
by the representatives of the 14 prov¬ 
inces. The population of the repub¬ 
lic was returned in 1900 at 4,794,149. 
These figures compared with those of 
1895 show a gain of 21 per cent, in 
five years. 

Argillaceous Rocks. Rocks in¬ 
cluding slate, in which clay prevails. 

Argol, a salt deposited by wine 
on the inside of bottles and barrels. 
It may be purified in hot water, and 
clarified by adding clay, and recrys¬ 
tallizing. In repeating the process it 
becomes white and is called cream of 
tartar. 

Argon, a constituent gaseous ele¬ 
ment discovered in our atmosphere by 
Lord Rayleigh and Prof. Ramsay, in 
1894. There is still much doubt con¬ 
cerning its true status. 





Argonaut 


Arian 


Argonaut, one of the heroes who 
accompanied Jason in the ship 
“ Argo ” when he sailed on his mythic 
voyage in quest of the golden fleece 
(generally used in the plural). The 
tales describing the return of the Ar¬ 
gonauts differ very essentially. 

The word is also applied to a genus 
of cephalopod mollusks, the typical one 
of the family argonautidse. The best 
known species is the argonaut, or pa¬ 
per sailor. The shell is thin and 
translucent. Aristotle supposed that 
it floated with the concave side up, the 
animal holding out its arms, after the 
manner of sails, to catch the breeze. 
Poets have ever since repeated the fa¬ 
ble; but naturalists know that when 
the argonaut floats the sail-shaped 
arms are applied closely to the sides of 
the shell, and when the animal crawls 
at the bottom the so-called boat is re¬ 
versed like the shell of a snail. 

Argo-Navis, the southern constel¬ 
lation of the Ship, containing 9 clus¬ 
ters, 3 nebulae, 13 double and 540 sin¬ 
gle stars, of which about 64 are vis¬ 
ible. 

Argos, a town of Greece, in the 
N. E. of the Peloponnesus, between 
the gulfs of ^Egina and Nauplia or 
Argos. This town and the surround¬ 
ing territory of Argolis were famous 
from the legendary period of Greek 
history onward, the territory contain¬ 
ing, besides Argos, Mycenae, where 
Agamemnon ruled, with a kind of sov¬ 
ereignty, over all the Peloponnesus. 

Argosy, a poetical name for a 
large merchamt vessel; derived from 
Ragusa, a port which was formerly 
more celebrated than now, and whose 
vessels did a considerable trade with 
England. 

Argot, the jargon, slang or pecu¬ 
liar phraseology of a class or profes¬ 
sion ; originally the conventional slang 
of thieves and vagabonds, invented for 
the purpose of disguise and conceal¬ 
ment. 

Argument, a term sometimes used 
as synonymous with the subject of a 
discourse, but more frequently appro¬ 
priated to any kind of method employ¬ 
ed for the purpose of confuting or at 
least silencing an opponent. 

Argus. (1) In classical mythol¬ 
ogy, a son of Arestor, said to have had 
100 eyes, of which only two slept at 


one time, the several pairs doing so in 
succession. When killed by Mercury, 
his eyes were put into the tail of the 
peacock, by direction of Juno, to whom 
this bird was sacred. Argus was 
deemed a highly appropriate name to 
give to a vigilant watch dog. 

(2) In zoology, a genus of birds. 
It contains the argus, or argus pheas¬ 
ant. The male measures between five 
and six feet from the tip of the bill to 
the extremity of the tail, and is an em¬ 
inently beautiful bird, the quill-feath¬ 
ers of the wings, which often exceed 
three feet in length, being ornamented 
all along by a series of ocellated spots, 
about 80,000 in number. 

Argyle, Campbells of, a historic 
Scottish family, raised to the peerage 
in the person of Sir Duncan Campbell 
of Lochow, in 1445. John, second 
Duke and Duke of Greenwich, son of 
Archibald, born 1678, died 1743 ; served 
under Marlborough at the battles of 
Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, 
and assisted at the sieges of Lisle and 
Ghent. He incurred considerable 
odium in his own country for his ef¬ 
forts in promoting the union with 
England. 

Ariadne, a daughter of Minos, 
King of Crete, who, falling in love 
with Theseus, then shut up by her 
father in the labyrinth, gave him a 
clue by which he threaded his way out. 

Arian, a follower of Arius, Pres¬ 
byter of Alexandria in the 4th cen¬ 
tury A. d., or one holding the system 
of doctrine associated with his name. 
In the year 317, Alexander, Bishop of 
Alexandria, having publicly expressed 
his opinion that the Son of God is not 
only of the same dignity as the 
Father, but of the same essence (in 
Greek, ousia), Arius, one of the 
Presbyters, considered this view 
as v leaning too much to Sabel- 
lianism, and, rushing to the other 
extreme, he declared that the Son of 
God was only the first and noblest of 
created beings, and though the universe 
had been brought into existence 
through His instrumentality by the 
Eternal Father, yet to that Eternal 
Father He w r as inferior, not merely in 
dignity, but in essence. The views of 
Arius commended themselves to multi¬ 
tudes, while they were abhorrent to 
still more; fierce controversy respect¬ 
ing them broke out, and the whole 





Ariel 


Aristobulus 


Christian world was soon compelled to 
take sides. It would occupy too 
much space to detail the vicissitudes 
of a highly checkered struggle; suffice 
it to say that the Arians greatly weak¬ 
ened themselves by splitting into sects, 
and the doctrines regarding the rela¬ 
tion of the three Divine Personages 
authoritatively proclaimed at Nice 
were at last all but universally adopt¬ 
ed. They may be found detailed in 
what are popularly termed the Nicene 
and the Athanasian Creeds. They 
were held almost without a dissentient 
voice through the Middle Ages, and 
were cordially accepted by the leading 
reformers. 

Ariel, the name of several person¬ 
ages mentioned in the Old Testament; 
in the demonology of the later Jews a 
spirit of the waters. In Shakespeare’s 
“ Tempest,” Ariel was the “ tricksy 
spirit ” whom Prospero had in his ser¬ 
vice. 

Aries, in astronomy, the constel¬ 
lation Aries, or the Ram, one of the 
ancient zodiacal constellations, and 
generally called the first sign of the 
zodiac; also the portion of the eclip¬ 
tic between 0° and 30° longitude, 
which the sun enters on March 21st 
(the vernal equinox). 

Arimanes, or Ahriman, the 
principle of evil in the Persian theol¬ 
ogy, which perpetually counteracts the 
designs of Ormuzd or Oromazdes, who 
denotes the principle of good. 

Arimatbsea, a town of Palestine, 
identified with the modern Ramleh, 22 
miles W. N. W. of Jerusalem. 

Arion, an ancient Greek poet and 
musician, born at Methymna, in Les¬ 
bos, flourished about b. c. 625. He is 
said to have been rescued from 
drowning by a dolphin, which at¬ 
tracted by his music, bore him to land. 
A fragment of a hymn to Poseidon, 
ascribed to Arion, is extant. 

Ariosto, Ludovico, an Italian 
poet, born at Reggio, Sept. 8, 1474. 
Was one of the three great epic poets 
of Italy, and styled “ The Divine ” by 
his countrymen. He died in Ferrara, 
June 6, 1533. 

Arista, Don Mariano, a Mex¬ 
ican statesman, born in 1803. Of 
Spanish descent, he at an early age 
entered the army, in which he at¬ 
tained to the rank of major-general. 


He served with distinction in the war 
against the United States, was, in 
1848, appointed Minister of War, and, 
in 1850, President of the Republic. 
He was succeeded as President in 
1852, by Don Juan Cebellos. He died 
in 1855. 

Aristarchus, a Greek grammar¬ 
ian, w r ho criticised Homer’s poems 
with the greatest severity. 

Aristarchus of Savios, a famous 
astronomer, born 267 B. C. First as¬ 
serted the revolution of the earth 
about the sun. His work on the mag¬ 
nitude, and distance of the sun and 
moon, is still extant. He is also re¬ 
garded as the inventor of the sun-dial. 

Aristides, a statesman of ancient 
Greece, for his strict integrity sur- 
named “ The Just.” He died at an 
advanced age about B. c. 468, so poor 
that he was buried at the public ex¬ 
pense. It was customary in Athens 
for citizens to vote by a ballot of 
shells — hence called ostracism from 
the Greek word for shell — for the 
exile of any citizen who might be un¬ 
popular, without any specific charge 
being made against him. Aristides 
was, on one occasion the victim of os¬ 
tracism, and a citizen who voted 
against him gave as a reason, that he 
was tired of hearing him called “ The 
Just.” 

Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates, 
and founder of a philosophical school 
among the Greeks, which was called 
the Cyrenaic, from his native city Cy- 
rene, in Africa; flourished in 380 
b. c. His moral philosophy differed 
widely from that of Socrates, and was 
a science of refined voluptuousness. 
His writings are lost. 

Aristobulus, name of several roy¬ 
al personages of Judea: Aristobulus 
I., son of John Hyrcanus, high priest 
of the Jews; from 105-104 b. c. King 
of Judea. He is supposed to have 
been the first of the Hasmoneans to 
take the title of king. In the single 
year of his reign he conquered por 
tions of Iturea and Trachonitis, and 
compelled the people to accept Juda¬ 
ism. Aristobulus II., son of Alex¬ 
ander Jannrenus, was named as high 
priest by his mother, Queen Regent 
Alexandra, while to Ilyrcanus II., his 
elder brother, the throne was given. 
In a contest for the throne, he was 




Aristohulns 


Arjish Dagh 


defeated by Pompey in 63 b. c., and 
carried captive to Rome. He died 
about 48 b. c. Aristobulus III., a 
grandson of Hyrcanus II.; his sister, 
Mariamne, was the wife of Herod I., 
who appointed him high priest, but, 
fearing his popularity, had him assas¬ 
sinated about 30 b. c. Aristobulus 
III. was the last male of the Hasmo- 
nean family. 

Aristobulus, an Alexandrian 
Jew and peripatetic philosopher, who 
lived about 170 b. c., was considered 
by the early fathers as the founder of 
the Jewish philosophy in Alexandria. 

Aristocracy, a form of govern¬ 
ment by which the wealthy and noble, 
or any small privileged class, rules 
over the rest of the citizens; now 
mostly applied to the nobility or chief 
persons in a State. 

Aristophanes, the greatest of the 
Greek writers of comedy (b. c. 448?- 
380?), born at Athens. 

Aristotle, the most renowned of 
Greek philosophers, born at Stagira, 
Macedonia, 384 b. c. ; was for 20 years 
a student of philosophy in the school 
of Plato at Athens, but at the same 
time a teacher, in the meantime mas¬ 
tering and digesting all the accessible 
results of philosophical and scientific 
research and speculation in his time. 
After Plato’s death, he opened a school 
of Philosophy at the court of Hermias, 
King of Atarnous, in Mysia, who had 
been his fellow student in Plato’s 
Academy, and whose adopted daugh¬ 
ter be afterward married. At the in¬ 
vitation of Philip of Macedon, he un¬ 
dertook the education of his son, Alex¬ 
ander. When Alexander succeeded to 
the throne, the philosopher returned 
to Athens and opened a school in the 
Lyceum, so called from the neighbor¬ 
ing temple of the Lycian Apollo. He 
taught in the Lyceum for 13 years, 
and to that period we owe the compo¬ 
sition of most of his numerous writ¬ 
ings. The number of his separate 
treatises is given by Diogenes Laer¬ 
tius as 146; only 46 separate works 
bearing the name of the philosopher 
have come down to our time. He died 
at Chalcis, Euboea, in 322 B. C. 

Arithmetic, in its broadest sense, 
the science and art which treat of the 
properties of numbers. This defini¬ 
tion, however, would include algebra, 


which is considered a distinct branch. 
Algebra deals with certain letters of 
the alphabet, such as x, y, z, a, b, c, 
etc., standing as symbols for numbers; 
arithmetic operates on numbers them¬ 
selves, as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Viewed as a 
science, arithmetic is a branch of 
mathematics; looked on as an art, its 
object is to carry out for practical 
purposes certain rules regarding num¬ 
bers, without troubling itself to in¬ 
vestigate the foundation on which 
those rules are based. 

Ari Thorgilsson, the father of 
Icelandic literature (1067-1148). 

Arizona, a Territory of the West¬ 
ern Division of the North American 
Union; bounded by Nevada, Utah, 
New Mexico, California and the Mex¬ 
ican State of Sonora; gross area, 113,- 
020 square miles; organized Feb. l4, 
1863; number of counties, 13; pop. 
(1890) 59,620; (1900) 122,212; cap¬ 
ital, Phoenix. Since 1874 admission to 
Statehood has been mooted, but in 
1905-06 the bill to merge New Mexico 
with A. as the State of Arizona met 
with strenuous opposition. 

A. abounds with mineral wealth in¬ 
cluding coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, 
lead, platinum, quicksilver, tin, etc.; 
mining, ranching and lumbering are 
the chief industries. 

Of the total area, embracing over 
113,020 square miles, only a compara¬ 
tively small portion, about 2.7 per 
cent, is farming land. The rainfall is so 
small, that irrigation is depended up¬ 
on to make agriculture profitable. The 
construction of irrigating canals and 
water storage reservoirs is being stead¬ 
ily promoted and is daily adding large¬ 
ly to the agricultural area. The pine 
timber land covers an area of nearly 
4,000,000 acres, giving the Territory 
resources for timber and building ma¬ 
terial unsurpassed anywhere in the 
country. 

The Governor is appointed by the 
President for a term of four years and 
receives a salary of $2,600 per annum. 
Legislative sessions are held biennially 
and are limited to 60 days each. The 
legislature has 12 members in the 
Council and 24 in the House, each of 
whom receives $4 per day and mileage. 
The Territory has a delegate to Con¬ 
gress. 

Arjish Dagh, the loftiest peak of 
the peninsula of Asia Minor, at the 




Ark 


Arkansas 


western extremity of the Anti-Taurus 
Range, 13,150 feet; an exhausted vol¬ 
cano ; on the N. and N. E. slopes are 
extensive glaciers. 

Ark, a chest or coffer for the safe¬ 
keeping of any valuable thing; a de¬ 
pository. The large floating vessel in 
which Noah and his family were pre¬ 
served during the deluge. 

The Ark of the Covenant, in the 
synagogue of the Jews, was the chest 
or vessel in which the tables of the 
law were preserved. 

Arkansas, a State in the South 
Central Division of the North Amer¬ 
ican Union; bounded by Missouri, 
Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tex¬ 
as and the Indian Territory; gross 
area, 53,850 square miles; admitted 
into the Union, June 15, 1836; seced¬ 
ed, March 4, 1861; readmitted June 
22, 1868; number of counties, 75; pop. 
(1800) 1,128,179; (1900) 1,311,564; 
capital, Little Rock. 

The State contains semi-anthracite, 
cannel, and bituminous coal; iron and 
zinc ores; galena, frequently bearing 
silver; manganese; gypsum, oil-stone 
of superior quality; marble; alabas¬ 
ter ; rock crystal; copper; granite; 
kaolin ; marl; mineral ochers, and salt. 
The most valuable mineral production 
at present is coal. 

The soil varies with the geological 
characteristics and surface conditions 
already described. Agriculturally, the 
most valuable soil is found in the 
river bottom-lands, and as the surface 
rises from these bottoms the soil be¬ 
comes less productive. There are large 
submerged tracts that only require 
proper drainage to make them valu¬ 
able to the farmer. The uplands gen¬ 
erally are well timbered and well wa¬ 
tered. The most valuable production 
is cotton. Of cereals, corn has the 
largest yield. 

In 1900 there were 4,794 manufac¬ 
turing establishments reported, em¬ 
ploying $35,960,640 capital and 28,150 
persons; paying $9,937,387 for wages 
and $23,963,768 for materials; and 
having a combined output valued at 
$45,197,731. The principal articles 
were lumber, sawed and worked; flour 
and grist; cotton-seed oil and cake; 
foundry and machine shop products; 
and brick and tile. 

The public schools are liberally 
maintained and well attended. For 


higher instruction there are 48 pub¬ 
lic high schools; 24 private secondary 
schools; 1 public and 6 private nor¬ 
mal schools; 8 universities and col¬ 
leges for men and for both sexes; and 
the Central Baptist College for Wom¬ 
en, at Conway. The principal uni¬ 
versities and colleges are Arkansas 
College (opened 1872, Presb.) ; Ar¬ 
kansas Industrial University (1872, 
non-sect.) ; Philander Smith College 
(1877, Meth. Epis.) ; Hendrix Col¬ 
lege (1884, Meth. Epis. S.) ; Ouachita 
College (1886, Bapt.) ; Arkadelphia 
College (1890, Meth. Epis.) ; Arkan¬ 
sas Cumberland College (1891, Cumb. 
Presb.) ; and Mountain Home College 
(1893, Bapt.). 

The strongest denominations numer¬ 
ically in the State are the Methodist 
Episcopal, South; Regular Baptist, 
Colored; Regular Baptist, South; Af¬ 
rican Methodist Episcopal; Disciples 
of Christ, and the Methodist Episco¬ 
pal. 

The total length of railroads within 
the State, Jan. 1, 1900, was 3,167 
miles, of which 269.48 miles were con¬ 
structed during the previous year. The 
assessed valuation of railroad proper¬ 
ty, with that of telegraph and express 
companies, was about $23,000,000. 

The Governor is elected for a term 
of two years and receives a salary of 
$3,500 per annum. Legislative ses¬ 
sions are held biennially, and are lim¬ 
ited to 60 days each. The Legislature 
has 32 members in the Senate and 100 
in the House, each of whom receives 
$6 per day and mileage. There are 
6 representatives in Congress. 

Arkansas Post, a village in Ar¬ 
kansas county, Ark.; on the Arkansas 
River; 117 miles S. E. of Little Rock. 
Its elevated location gave it consider¬ 
able military importance during the 
Civil War. The Confederates estab¬ 
lished strong works here, which were 
reduced by a combined assault of a 
portion of the United States army, 
under General McClernand, and a na¬ 
val command under Admiral Porter, 
on Jan. 11, 1863. 

Arkansas, University of, a co¬ 
educational institution- organized in 
1872, with academic and technical de¬ 
partments in Fayetteville, law and 
medical departments in Little Rock, 
and normal school for colored students 
in Pine Bluff. 





Arkwright 


Armenia 


Arkwright, Sir Richard, an 

English inventor, born at Preston, in 
Lancashire, in 1732. The youngest of 
13 children, he was bred to the trade 
of a barber. When about 35 years of 
age he gave himself up exclusively to 
the subject of inventions for spin nin g 
cotton. His invention introduced 
the system of spinning by rollers, the 
carding, or roving, as it is technically 
termed (that is, the soft, loose strip 
of cotton), passing through one pair 
of rollers, and being received by a 
second pair, which are made to re¬ 
volve with (as the case may be) 
three, four, or five times the velocity 
of the first pair. By this contrivance 
the roving is drawn out into a thread 
of the desired degree of tenuity and 
hardness. Having made several ad¬ 
ditional discoveries and improvements 
in the processes of carding, roving, 
and spinning, he took out a fresh pat¬ 
ent for the whole in 1775, and thus 
completed a series of the most inge¬ 
nious and complicated machinery. Not¬ 
withstanding a series of lawsuits in 
defense of his patent rights, and the 
destruction of his property by mobs, 
he amassed a large fortune. He was 
knighted by George III. in 1786, and 
died in 1792. 

Arlington Heights, a range of 
hills in Fairfax county, Va., on the 
Potomac, opposite Washington. They 
were strongly fortified during the 
Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee had 
a residence here. The place is now 
the site of a National Soldiers’ Ceme¬ 
tery. 

Arm, the upper limb in man, con¬ 
nected with the thorax or chest by 
means of the scapula or shoulder- 
blade, and the clavicle or collar-bone. 

Armada, a fleet of armed ships; a 
squadron; particularly applied to that 
great naval armament, which was 
called the Invincible Armada, fitted out 
in 1588, by Philip II. against Queen 
Elizabeth. It consisted of 129 ships, 
carrying about 20,000 soldiers and 8,- 
000 sailors. The loss of the Marquis 
of Santa Cruz, their admiral, and a 
violent tempest, the day after they 
sailed, retarded for some time the op¬ 
erations of the Spaniards. They ar¬ 
rived on the coast of the Netherlands 
in July, were thrown into disorder by 
a stratagem of Lord Howard, and in 
this situation were attacked with such 


impetuosity that it became necessary 
to attempt to return. Contrary winds 
obliged the Spanish admiral, the Duke 
of Medina Sidonia, to make the cir¬ 
cuit of Great Britain with the wreck 
of this magnificent armament. In 
passing the Orkneys, it was attacked 
by a violent storm, and only a feeble 
remnant returned to Spain. 

Armadillo, the Spanish-Ameri- 
can name, now imported into English, 
of various mammalia belonging to the 
order edentata. The name armadillo, 
implying that they are in armor, is 
applied to these animals because the 
upper part of their body is covered 
with large, strong scales or plates, 
forming a helmet for their head, a 
buckler for their shoulders, transverse 
bands for their back, and in some spe¬ 
cies a series of rings for the protec¬ 
tion of their tail. Another peculiarity 
is the great number of their molar 
teeth; these amount in one species to 
more than 90. There are five toes on 
the hinder feet, and four or five, ac¬ 
cording to the species, on the anterior 
ones. The fore feet are admirably 
adapted for digging, and the animal, 
when it sees danger, can extemporize 
a hole and vanish into it with won¬ 
derful rapidity. 

Armageddon, the great battlefield 
of the Old Testament, where the chief 
conflicts took place between the Is¬ 
raelites and their enemies — the table¬ 
land of Esdraelon in Galilee and Sa¬ 
maria, in the center of which stood 
the town Megiddo, on the site of the 
modern Lejjun; used figuratively in 
the Apocalypse to signify the place of 
“ the battle of the great day of God.” 

Armenia, a mountainous country 
of Western Asia, not now politically 
existing, but of great historical inter¬ 
est. It varied in extent at different 
epochs, but it may be regarded as 
lying between lat. 36° 50' and 41° 41' 
N., and Ion. 36° 20' and 48° 40' E. 
It was sometimes subdivided into 
First, Second, and Third Armenia, to 
which a Fourth was afterward added; 
but the division by which it was al¬ 
most universally known was into Ar¬ 
menia Major and Armenia Minor, or 
the Greater and the Less Armenia. 
It would seem to have stretched from 
the Caspian Sea and the Persian prov¬ 
ince of Azerbijan on the E. to Asia 
Minor on the W., and from the Kur 







Arminianism 


Armistice 


or Cyrus river on the N. to Kurdistan 
and Mesopotamia on the S. Armenia 
Major comprised the larger and E. por¬ 
tion of this area, extending W. as far as 
the Euphrates and the Anti-Taurus, 
and having an area of about 84,000 
square miles. Armenia Minor extend¬ 
ed from the Euphrates to Asia Minor, 
and its area may be stated at about 
53,000 square miles. The Euphrates 
thus intersects Armenia almost cen¬ 
trally, and forms the natural boun¬ 
dary between the two divisions now 
described. The territory of this king¬ 
dom is now partitioned among Tur¬ 
key, Persia, and Russia, Turkey pos¬ 
sessing the largest share. 

The inhabitants are chiefly of the 
genuine Armenian stock; but besides 
them, in consequence of the repeated 
subjugation of the country, various 
other races have obtained a footing. 
Of these the principal are the Turco¬ 
mans, who still maintain their no¬ 
madic habits, and from whom the 
country has received the name of Tur- 
comania. In the S. portion are the 
predatory Kurds and the Turks; on 
the Tchorak, Georgians; and through¬ 
out the whole country, Greeks, Jews, 
and Gypsies. The total number of 
Armenians has been estimated at 2,- 
000,000, of whom probably one-half 
are in Armenia. The remainder, like 
the Jews, are scattered over various 
countries, and being strongly addicted 
to commerce, play an important part 
as merchants. They are found over 
all Western Asia; about 200,000 are 
in Constantinople and its vicinity; 
numbers are in Russia, Hungary, and 
Italy; some in Africa and America; 
and a large number in India, chiefly 
in the great marts, Bombay, Madras, 
and Calcutta. Everywhere they are 
engaged in banking and trading. Their 
eyes and hair are black, their look 
lively, noses aquiline, and their com¬ 
plexion somewhat swarthy. The wom¬ 
en are remarkable for the delicacy 
and regularity of their features. 

The Armenians received Christian¬ 
ity as early as the 3d century. Dur¬ 
ing the Monophysitic disputes, being 
dissatisfied with the decisions of the 
Council of Chalcedon (451), they sep¬ 
arated from the Greek Church in the 
year 536. The Popes have at different 
times attempted to gain them over to 
the Roman Catholic faith, but have 


not been able to unite them perma¬ 
nently and generally with the Roman 
Church. There are, however, small 
numbers here and there of United Ar¬ 
menians, who acknowledge the spirit¬ 
ual supremacy of the Pope, agree in 
their doctrines with the Catholics, but 
retain their peculiar ceremonies and 
discipline. At different times force 
has been used to make them conform 
to the religion of Mohammed; but the 
far greater part are yet Monophy- 
sites, and have remained faithful to 
their old religion and worship. They 
have suffered the usual fate of Chris- 
tion populations subject to Turkey, 
and the massacres of Armenians in 
1895 and 1896 excited the horror of 
the ciyilized world. Many have emi¬ 
grated to the United States. 

The Armenian language belongs to 
the great Indo-European family of 
languages, and is most closely con¬ 
nected with the Iranic group. 

Arminianism, the doctrine of 
Arminius, a Protestant divine, who 
maintained that God had predestinat¬ 
ed the salvation or condemnation of 
individuals only from having foreseen 
who would and who would not accept 
of offered mercy. 

Arminius, or Hermann, who by 

his intrepidity and success acquired 
the title of “ the Deliverer of Ger¬ 
many,” was son of Segimer, a chief of 
the Cherusci. Having been sent to 
Rome as a hostage, he was there edu¬ 
cated, served in the Roman army and 
for his valor was raised to citizenship 
and knighted. But his attachment to 
his native country induced him to re¬ 
volt and he became one of the most 
powerful leaders of the discontented 
German nations. He drew Varus, the 
Roman commander on the Rhine, into 
that ambuscade in which he and near¬ 
ly all his troops were slain, and com¬ 
pletely baffled Germanicus; but, after 
having for years withstood the vast 
power of Rome, Arminius was assas¬ 
sinated by one of his own countrymen, 
in the 37th year of his age, a. d. 19. 

Arminius, Jacobus, a Protestant 
divine, born at Oudewater, Holland, 
1560, founder of the sect of the Ar- 
minians. A life of perpetual labor 
and vexation of mind at last brought 
on a sickness, of which he died, 1609. 

Armistice, the term given to a 
truce or suspension of hostilities be- 




Armitage 


Armstrong 


tween two armies or nations at war, 
by mutual consent. 

Armitage, Edward, an English 
historical and mural painter, born in 
London, May 20, 1817. 

Armitage, Thomas, an American 
clergyman; born at Pontefract, Eng¬ 
land, Aug. 2, 1819; was an important 
influence in the Baptist Church in 
New York city, and the prime mover 
in the establishment of the American 
Bible Union in 1850. He was presi¬ 
dent of that body from 1856 to 1875. 
Died, Yonkers, N. Y., Jan. 21, 1896. 

Armor, a word formerly applied 
to all such contrivances as served to 
defend the body from wounds or to 
annoy the enemy. Hence it was di¬ 
vided into two kinds, defensive and 
offensive. A complete suit of defen¬ 
sive armor anciently consisted of a 
casque or helm, a gorget, cuirass, 
gauntlets, tasses, brassets, cuishes and 
covers for the legs, to which the spurs 
were fastened. This was called armor, 
cap-a-pie, and was worn by cavaliers 
and men-at-arms. The infantry had 
only part of it, viz., a pot or head- 
piece, a cuirass and tasses; all of them 
made light. The horses had armor 
which covered the head and neck. Of 
all this equipment of war, scarcely 
anything is now retained except, ii y a 
few cases, the cuirass. 

The word is now applied to the 
metal protection given to ships of 
war, usually consisting of super-car¬ 
bonized steel or nickel steel. 

Armored Train, one of the mod¬ 
ern instruments of war that received 
severe tests in the American opera¬ 
tions against Filipino insurgents in 
1898-1899, and in those of the British 
against the Boers in 1899-1900. 

Armor-Piercing Shells, projec¬ 
tiles so constructed as to bore through 
the metallic plates with which modern 
ships of war are coated. 

Armor Plates, slabs of metal with 
which the sides of war vessels are cov¬ 
ered to render them shot-proof. 

Armour, Philip Danforth, an 
American philanthropist, born in 
Stockbridge, N. Y., May 16, 1832; re¬ 
ceived a common school education; 
was a miner in California in 1852- 
1856; in the commission business in 
Milwaukee in 1856-1863; and later 
became the head of a large meat-pack- 

fr 9, 


ing concern in Chicago. He founded 
the Armour Mission and the Armour 
Institute of Technology, both in Chi¬ 
cago; the former at a cost of about 
$250,000, and the latter with an en¬ 
dowment of $1,500,000, subsequently 
increased. He died Jan. 6, 1901. 

Arms, a term applied to weapons 
of offense, which are divisible into two 
distinct sections — firearms, and arms 
used without gunpowder or other ex¬ 
plosive substance. 



ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS. 


Arms, Coat of, or Armorial 
Bearings, a collective name for the 
devices borne on shields, banners, etc., 
as marks of dignity and distinction, 
and, in the case of family and feudal 
arms, descending from father to son. 
They were first, employed by the cru¬ 
saders, and became hereditary in fam¬ 
ilies at the close of the 12th century. 
They took their rise from the knights 
painting their banners or shields each 
with a figure or figures proper to him¬ 
self, to enable him to be distinguished 
in battle when clad in armor. 

Arms, Stand of, the set of arms 
necessary for the equipment of a sin¬ 
gle soldier. 

Armstrong, Sir Alexander, an 

English physician, born in Ireland 

























Armstrong 


Army Worm 


about 1820; was educated at Trinity 
College, Dublin, and at the University 
of Edinburgh; and became widely 
known as an explorer. He died July 
5, 1899. 

Armstrong, Jolin, an American 
author and soldier; born at Carlisle, 
Pa., Nov. 25, 1758; served in the War 
of the Revolution on the staff of Gen¬ 
eral Gates; was United States Min¬ 
ister to France, 1804-1810, afterward 
to Spain; and Secretary of War, 
1813-1814. Author of “ Newburg Let¬ 
ters,” begun in camp, 1783, anony¬ 
mously, and intended to arouse Con¬ 
gress to redress army grievances. They 
gave General Washington displeasure. 
He died at Red Hook, N. Y., April 1, 
1843. 

Armstrong, Samuel Chapman, 

an American educator, born in Ha¬ 
waii in 1839, a son of Richard Arm¬ 
strong, an American missionary to the 
Sandwich Islands. In 1860 he came 
to the United States; in 1862 was 
graduated at Williams College; and 
in June of the same year he organized 
a company for the 125th Regiment of 
New York Infantry, and with it was 
assigned to the Army of the Potomac. 
At Harper’s Ferry he was captured 
and held prisoner for three months. 
After the close of the war he was mus¬ 
tered out of the volunteer service with 
the rank of brigadier-general. During 
his service he volunteered for the com¬ 
mand of a regiment of colored troops, 
with whom he served two years. In 
1866 he took up the work of the Freed¬ 
man’s Bureau and at first had the 
oversight of the colored people in 10 
counties of Virginia. After two years 
in this work he procured help from 
the American Missionary Association 
and personal friends in the North and 
founded a school which afterward be¬ 
came famous as the Hampton Normal 
and Agricultural Institute. The United 
States Government, recognizing the 
great value of his work for colored 
youth here, began sending Indian 
youth to the Institute in 1878, and 
since then the two races have been 
educated together. General Armstrong 
served as president of the Institute 
till his death, May 11, 1893. 

Armstrong, William George, 
Lord, an English inventor, born in 
1810 at Newcastle, where his father 
was a merchant. During the Crimean 


War, Armstrong was employed by the 
War Office to make explosive appa¬ 
ratus for blowing up the ships sunk 
at Sebastopol. This led him soon af¬ 
terward to consider improvements in 
ordnance, and he devised the form of 
cannon that bears his name. Cam¬ 
bridge and Oxford conferred honorary 
degrees on Armstrong, who was raised 
to the peerage as Baron Armstrong in 
1887. He died Dec. 27, 1900. 

Army, the national military of a 
country, usually divided into a stand¬ 
ing, and the reserves, in the United 
States known as militia, who are 
called to arms only in emergency. 

Army Corps, one of the largest 
divisions of an army in the field, com¬ 
prising all arms, and commanded by 
a general officer; subdivided into di¬ 
visions, which may or may not com¬ 
prise all arms. 

Army Hospital Train, a rail¬ 
way contrivance for military pur¬ 
poses, introduced by the Surgeon-Gen¬ 
eral of the United States Army during 
the war with Spain, in 1898, for the 
purpose of conveying sick and wound¬ 
ed soldiers, on their arrival from Cuba, 
at Florida ports, to the various mili¬ 
tary hospitals in the United States. 
This train had a full staff of physi¬ 
cians, surgeons and trained nurses, 
and was completely equipped with 
everything necessary for the medical 
and surgical treatment of the soldiers. 
It is believed to have been the first 
train service completely organized for 
such purpose. 

Army Register, an annual pub¬ 
lication of the United States Govern¬ 
ment, giving personal, regimental and 
other details of the regular army, cor¬ 
responding to the British “ Army 
List.” 

Army Reserve, in most European 
armies, a force consisting of a first 
and second class army reserve and a 
militia reserve. 

Army War College, a depart¬ 
ment of the United States military 
educational establishment authorized 
by Congress in 1900. Brig.-Gen. 
William Ludlow was made chief of the 
board which drafted the regulations. 

Army Worm, the very destructive 
larva of the moth, so called from its 
habit of marching in compact bodies 
of enormous number, devouring al- 














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Arnaud 


Arnold 


most every green thing it meets. It 
is about 1% inches long, greenish in 
color, with black stripes, and is found 
in various parts of the world, but is 
particularly destructive in North 
America. 

Arnaud, Henri, the pastor and 
military leader of the Vaudois of Pied¬ 
mont; born in 1641. At the head of 
his people he successfully withstood 
the united forces of France and Sa¬ 
voy, and afterward did good service 
against France in the War of the 
Spanish Succession. He had to re¬ 
tire from his country, and was fol¬ 
lowed by a number of his people, to 
whom he discharged the duties of pas¬ 
tor till his death, which occurred in 
1721. 

Arnand, Jacques Achille Le¬ 
roy De Saint, Marshal of France; 
born in Bordeaux, Aug. 20, 1796. In 
March, 1854, he was appointed to the 
command of the French army which 
was engaged in the war against Rus¬ 
sia. He died Sept. 29 following. 

Arndt, Ernst Moritz, a German 
writer and patriot, born at Schoritz, 
Isle of Rugen, Dec.. 29, 1769. He 
died in Bonn, Jan. 29, 1860. 

Arndt, Johann, a German Lu¬ 
theran clergyman, born at Ballenstedt, 
Anhalt, in 1555. His “True Chris¬ 
tianity ” was translated into most Eu¬ 
ropean languages, and is yet popular 
in Germany. Its object is edification. 
He died at Celle, Hanover, in 1621. 

Arne, Thomas Augustine, an 
English musical composer, born in 
London, March 12, 1710. He wrote 
the music for the revival of Milton’s 
“ Masque of Comus,” in which first 
appeared the song of “ Rule Britan¬ 
nia,” since acknowledged as the na¬ 
tional air of England. He died in 
1778. 

Arnee, one of the numerous In¬ 
dian varieties of the buffalo, remark¬ 
able as being the largest animal of 
the ox kind known. It measured 
about 7 feet high at the shoulders, and 
from 9 to 10% feet long from the 
muzzle to the root of the tail. It is 
found chiefly in the forests at the base 
of the Himalayas. 

Arneth, Alfred von, an Aus¬ 
trian historian, born in Vienna, July 
10, 1819. He died in Vienna, July 
31, 1897. 


Arnica, a genus of plants belong¬ 
ing to the order asteracese, or com¬ 
posites ; also the English name of 
plants. As an outward application, 
arnica is in constant use as a remedy 
for sores, wounds, bruises, and ail¬ 
ments of a similar kind. It is also 
employed as an internal medicine. 

Arnim, Achim von, a German 
poet and novelist, born in Berlin, Jan. 
26, 1781. He died at Wiepersdorf, 
Jan. 31, 1831. 

Arnim, Elizabeth von, better 
known as Bettina, wife of the Ger¬ 
man novelist Louis Achim von Arnim, 
and sister of the poet Clemens Bren- 
tano; born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
April 4, 1785. She died in Berlin, 
Jan. 20, 1859. 

Arnim, Harry, Graf von, a Ger¬ 
man diplomatist, born in Pomerania, 
in 1824; from 1864 to 1870, was Prus¬ 
sian ambassador at Rome, where he 
supported the anti-infalliblists during 
the Vatican Council. He was reward¬ 
ed with the title of Graf, but, as Ger¬ 
man ambassador to France (1872- 
1874), he fell into Prince Bismarck’s 
disfavor, and, on a charge of purloin¬ 
ing State documents, was sentenced to 
three months’, to six months’, and to 
five years’ imprisonment. He had, 
however, retired into exile, and died 
at Nice, May 19, 1881. 

Arno, a river of Italy, which rises 
in the Etruscan Apennines, makes a 
sweep to the South and then trends 
westward, divides Florence into two 
parts, washes Pisa, and falls, 4 miles 
below it, into the Tuscan Sea, rafter a 
course of 130 miles. 

Arnold, Abraham Kerns, an 
American military officer, born in 
1837; was graduated at the United 
States Military Academy in 1859; en¬ 
tered the cavalry branch of the army; 
served through the Civil War and re¬ 
ceived a Congressional medal of honor 
for gallantry in action; and after the 
war served against the Indians on the 
frontier. In 1898, he was commis¬ 
sioned a Brigadier-General and served 
in the field during the war with 
Spain; and in 1899 became command¬ 
er of the 2d Division, 7th Army Corps, 
on duty in Cuba. 

Arnold, Sir Arthur, an English 
statesman and author, born in 1833. 
He acted as assistant commissioner to 




Arnold 


Arnold of Brescia 


administer the Public Works Act dur¬ 
ing the cotton famine, 1863-1866; 
knighted in June, 1895. 

Arnold, Benedict, an American 
military officer, born in Norwich, 
Conn., Jan. 14, 1741. He was set¬ 
tled in extensive business at New 
Haven when the War of Independence 
broke out. After the news of the bat¬ 
tle of Lexington, he raised a body of 
volunteers, and received a colonel’s 
commission. After commanding, for 
a short time, a small fleet upon Lake 
Champlain, he was with General 
Montgomery, charged with the diffi¬ 
cult duty of leading a force of 1,100 
men across the wilds of the country 
to Quebec, to stir up rebellion there, 
and displace the British garrison. In 
this unsuccessful attempt Montgomery 
was killed and Arnold severely wound¬ 
ed. After this, we find him in vari¬ 
ous important commands, but as often 
involved in quarrels with Congress 
and his fellow-officers. It would be of 
little interest now to enter into a de¬ 
tail of his grievances. He seems to 
have been a singularly brave, but reck¬ 
less and unprincipled, man. Washing¬ 
ton valued him for his acts of daring, 
and would gladly have overlooked his 
faults; but Congress and his brother- 
officers regarded him with dislike, and 
sought every possible means to humble 
and annoy him. After many disputes 
about the honor that was due to him 
for his services, he was invested with 
the government of Philadelphia. There 
his imprudence was most marked; 
indeed, it would be difficult to clear 
him from the charge of actual dishon¬ 
esty. He was brought before a court- 
martial ; four charges were urged 
against him; two of these were found 
proven, and he was sentenced to be 
reprimanded by the commander-in¬ 
chief. Arnold could not bear the af¬ 
front, nor longer endure the difficul¬ 
ties into which he had brought him¬ 
self. He, accordingly, formed the dis¬ 
graceful design of deserting to the 
ranks of the enemy, and put himself 
in communication with Sir Henry 
Clinton, the British commander. 
Major Andre was sent by Sir Henry 
to negotiate with Arnold, and they 
had an interview near West Point, 
which fortress Arnold had offered to 
surrender to the enemy. On his way 
to the British camp, however, the 


young officer fell' into the hands of the 
Americans, and the whole plot was of 
course discovered. The news of An¬ 
dre’s capture reached Arnold just in 
time to enable him to make his es¬ 
cape and reach the British camp in 
safety. There he retained his rank 
of brigadier-general, and fought with 
as much daring against the cause of 
American independence as he had be¬ 
fore fought against the royal forces. 
He took command in an expedition 
against Virginia, and again in an in¬ 
cursion into his native State. After¬ 
ward he served in Nova Scotia and 
the West Indies, and at last settled in 
London, England, where he died, June 

14, 1801. 

Arnold, Sir Edwin, an English 

poet and journalist, born in Rochester, 
June 10, 1832. He graduated from 
Oxford in 1854; taught for a while in 
Birmingham; and became principal of 
the Sanskrit College at Poona, in the 
Bombay Presidency, where he render¬ 
ed important service to the govern¬ 
ment during the great rebellion in In¬ 
dia. Returning to London in 1861, he 
joined the editorial staff of the “ Daily 
Telegraph.” He has twice visited the 
United States. He died March, 1904. 

Arnold, Edwin Lester, an Eng¬ 
lish author, son of Sir Edwin Arnold. 

Arnold, George, an American 
poet, born in New York, June 24, 
1834; died at Strawberry Farms, N. 
J., Nov. 3, 1865. 

Arnold, Hans, pseudonym of 
Bertha von Bulow, a German story 
writer, born at Warmbrunn, Silesia, 
Sept. 30, 1850. 

Arnold, Isaac Newton, an 

American lawyer, politician, and 
author, born at Hartwick, N. Y., Nov. 
30, 1815; was a member of Congress 
from 1861 to 1865. He died in Chi¬ 
cago, Ill., April 24, 1884. 

Arnold, Matthew, an English 
poet, critic, and essayist, born at Lale- 
ham, Dec. 24, 1822; graduated at Ox¬ 
ford in 1844, and was Professor of 
Poetry there from 1857 to 1867. Ar¬ 
nold first became known as a poet ol 
classical taste by the volume of poems 
and selections issued under his name 
in 1854. He died in Liverpool, April 

15, 1888. 

Arnold of Brescia, one of the 

reformers prior to the Reformation, a 







Arnold of Winkelried 


Arrack 


disciple of Abelard of Paris, and of 
Berengarius. As early as the middle 
of the 12th century, his bold spirit, 
his scriptural knowledge, and his elo¬ 
quence, had succeeded in arousing 
France and Italy against the abuses 
of the Roman Church. Driven by the 
clergy from Italy, he sought refuge in 
Zurich, where he made many converts. 
At length, through the instigation of 
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, he was 
charged with heresy, and excommuni¬ 
cated by Pope Innocent II. At this 
juncture, serious popular tumults oc¬ 
curred at Rome, and Arnold, hasten¬ 
ing thither, was received with great 
cordiality, and soon vested with su¬ 
preme power. In 1155, however, Ad¬ 
rian IV. interdicted and expelled him 
from the city. For a time he lived in 
Campagna, but was seized, and taken 
back to Rome, Where he was executed, 
and his ashes were thrown into the 
Tiber. 

Arnold of Winkelried, a Swiss 
hero, who, at the battle of Sempach, 
in 1386, sacrificed himself to insure 
victory to his countrymen. The Aus¬ 
trian knights, dismounted, had formed 
themselves into a phalanx, which the 
Swiss vainly strove to pierce; when 
Arnold, rushing on the spear points 
of the enemy, and burying several in 
his breast, thus opened a gap in the 
fence of steel. The Swiss rushed in 
through the opening, and routed the 
Austrians with great slaughter. 

Arnold, Thomas, an English 
clergyman and historian, born in 
Cowes, Isle of Wight, June 13, 1795. 
He entered Oxford University in 1811, 
and was elected a fellow of Oriel Col¬ 
lege in 1815. While in this place he 
was the friend and contemporary of 
the poet Keble, of Copleston, and of 
Archbishop Whately. In 1828, Ar¬ 
nold was elected to the head-master¬ 
ship of Rugby School, which office he 
held until his death, and raised it, by 
the enlightened system of education 
he inaugurated, to the highest rank 
among the great public schools of Eng¬ 
land. He died June 12, 1842. 

Arnold, Thomas, an English 
writer on literature, and editor of old 
texts, son of Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, 
and brother of Matthew Arnold, born 
at Laleham, Nov. 30, 1823. He pub¬ 
lished a manual of English literature 
that is widely used. He was one of 


those engaged in the Tractarian move¬ 
ment, and w r as closely connected with 
Cardinal Newman. He died in 1890. 

Arnolfi, di Cambio, or di Lapo, 
an Italian architect and sculptor, born 
in Florence, in 1232. He died in 1300. 

Arnott, Neil, a Scottish physicist, 
born in Aberdeen, in 1788. He died 
in 1874. 

Arnotto, the waxy-looking pulp 
which envelops the seeds in the ar- 
notto-tree. This is detached by 
throwing the seed into water, after 
which it dried partially, and made 
up first into soft pellets, rolled in 
leaves, in which state it is called flag, 
or roll arnotto. Afterward, becom¬ 
ing quite dry, it is formed into cakes, 
and becomes cake arnotto. The South 
American Indians color their bodies 
red with it; farmers here and else¬ 
where use it to stain cheese, and 
some dairymen also use it to color 
butter; the Spaniards put it in their 
chocolate and soups; dyers use it to 
produce a reddish color, and varnish 
makers, to impart an orange tint to 
some varnishes. 

Aroostook, an American river; 
rises in Piscataquis county, Me.; flows 
more than 120 miles in a circuitous 
course, receiving many important trib¬ 
utaries; and enters the St. John River 
in New Brunswick. It was an im¬ 
portant factor in the settlement of the 
long-pending dispute concerning the 
boundary between the United States 
and British America. 

Arpad, the conqueror of Hungary, 
and founder of the Arpad dynasty, 
which reigned till 1301, was born in 
the second half of the 9th century. He 
died in 907. 

Arpent, formerly a French meas¬ 
ure for land, equal to five-sixths of an 
English acre; but it varied in differ¬ 
ent parts of France. 

Arquebus, a hand-gun; a species 
of firearm resembling a musket, an¬ 
ciently used. It was fired from a 
forked rest, and sometimes cocked by 
a wheel, and carried a ball that 
weighed nearly two ounces. A larger 
kind used in fortresses carried a heav¬ 
ier shot. 

Arrack, a term used in the coun¬ 
tries to whch the Arabs have pene¬ 
trated, for distilled spirits. 






Arrest 


Art 


Arrest, the seizure of a suspected 
criminal or delinquent that security 
may be taken for his appearance at 
the proper time before a court to an¬ 
swer to a charge. 

In law, an arrest of judgment is the 
act or process of preventing a judg¬ 
ment or verdict from being carried out 
till it shall be ascertained whether it 
is faulty or legally correct. 

Arrow, a missile weapon, designed 
to be propelled by the impulse com¬ 
municated by the snapping of the 
string of a bow, temporarily bent into 
an angular form, back to its normal 
state of rest in a straight line. To 
make the wound it inflicts more dead¬ 
ly, and prevent its being easily pulled 
out, it is barbed at the tip, and often 
poisoned, while at the other extremity 
it is feathered, to make it move more 
directly forward. It is one of the 
most ancient of weapons. 

Arrow Lake, an expansion of the 
Columbia river, in British Columbia, 
Canada; about 95 miles long from N. 
to S.; often regarded as forming two 
lakes—Upper and Lower Arrow Lake. 

Arrowroot. In botany, the Eng¬ 
lish name of the botanical genus ma- 
ranta. The root is a fleshy corm, 
which, when washed, grated, strained 
through a sieve, and again repeatedly 
washed, furnishes the substance so 
much prized as food for invalids. 

Arrowsmith, Aaron, an Eng¬ 
lish cartographer, born in 1750, died 
in 1823. He raised the execution of 
maps to a perfection it had never be¬ 
fore attained. 

Arru Islands, a group of over 80 
islands in the Dutch East Indies, ly¬ 
ing W. of New Guinea, with a united 
area of about 2,650 square miles and 
a population of some 15,000. The in¬ 
habitants resemble the Melanesians of 
New Guinea. - 

Arsaces, founder of the Parthian 
monarchy. He induced his country¬ 
men to rise against the Macedonian 
yoke, 250 b. c., on which they raised 
him to the throne. Arsaces was slain 
in battle, after a reign of 38 years. 
He was the first of a long line of mon- 
archs of the same name, the last of 
whom was put to death about 226 a. d. 

Arsenal, a place appointed for the 
making, repairing, keeping and issu¬ 
ing of military stores of all kinds. 


The principal arsenals of the United 
States in 1900 were the Allegheny 
(Pa.) ; Augusta (Ga.) ; Benecia 
(Cal.) ; Columbia (Tenn.) ; Fort 
Monroe (Ya.) ; Frankford (Pa.) ; In¬ 
dianapolis (Ind.) ; Kennebec (Me.) ; 
New York (N. Y.) ; Rock Island 
(Ill.) ; San Antonio (Tex.) ; Water- 
town "(Mass.) ; and Watervliet (N. 
Y.). There were also powder depots 
at St. Louis (Mo.), and Dover (N. 
J.) ; a noted armory at Springfield 
(Mass.), and an ordnance proving 
ground at Sandy Hook (N. J.). 

Arsenic, (symbol As, atomic weight 
75), a metallic element of very com¬ 
mon occurrence, being found in combi¬ 
nation with many of the metals in a 
variety of minerals. It is of a dark- 
gray color, and readily tarnishes on ex¬ 
posure to the air, first changing to yel¬ 
low, and finally to black. In hardness 
it equals copper; it is extremely brit¬ 
tle, and very volatile, beginning to 
sublime before it melts. It burns with 
a blue flame, and emits a smell of gar¬ 
lic. Its specific gravity is 5.76. It 
forms alloys with most of the metals. 
Combined with sulphur it forms orpi- 
ment and realgar, which are the yellow 
and red sulphides of arsenic. It is 
usually seen in white, glassy, translu¬ 
cent masses, and is obtained by sub¬ 
limation from several ores containing 
arsenic in combination with metals, 
particularly from arsenical pyrites. Of 
all substances arsenic is that which 
has most frequently occasioned death 
by poisoning, both by accident and 
design. The remedies are hydrated ses- 
quioxide of iron with copious draughts 
of gummy liquids. 

Arsinoe, a city of ancient Egypt 
on Lake Mceris, said to have been 
founded about b. c. 2300, but renamed 
after Arsinoe, wife and sister of Ptol¬ 
emy II. of Egypt, and called also 
Crocodilopolis, from the sacred croco¬ 
diles kept at it. 

Arson, the malicious and willfu 
burning of a dwelling-house or out\ 
house belonging to another person by 
directly setting fire to it, or even by 
igniting some edifice of one’s own in 
its immediate vicinity. It is a penal 
offense, whether successful or not. 

Art, the power of doing something 
not taught by nature or instinct; as, 




Art 


Arthur 


to walk is natural, to dance is an art; 
— power or skill in the use of knowl¬ 
edge; the practical application of the 
rules, or principles of science. A sys¬ 
tem of rules to facilitate the perform¬ 
ance of certain actions ; contrivance; 
dexterity; address; adroitness. 

Art, Metropolitan Museum of, 
a spacious edifice in Central Park, 
New York, erected by the city for the 
puipose to which it is devoted. It 
was incorporated in 1870, and pos¬ 
sesses an art collection amounting in 
value to over $23000,000. 

Artaxerxes I., surnamed Longi- 
manus, was the third son of Xerxes, 
King of Persia, and, having murdered 
his brother Darius, ascended the 
throne 465 b. c. He died in 424 b. c. 
and was succeeded by his only son, 
Xerxes. This prince is generally sup¬ 
posed to have been the Ahasuerus of 
Scripture, who married Esther, and 
by whose permission Ezra restored the 
Jewish religion at Jerusalem. Some 
modern authors, nevertheless, identify 
Ahasuerus with Xerxes. 

Artemis, an ancient Greek divin¬ 
ity, identified with the Roman Diana. 
She is variously represented as a hun¬ 
tress, with bow and arrows; as a god¬ 
dess of the nymphs, in a chariot 
drawn by four stags; and as the moon 
goddess, with the crescent of the moon 
above her forehead. 

Artemisia, wormwood; named af¬ 
ter Artemis, the Greek goddess, cor¬ 
responding to the Roman Diana. 
Several species, locally known as sage 
brush, are found on the table-lands of 
the Rocky mountains and on the West¬ 
ern plains of the United States. 

Arteritis, an inflammation occur¬ 
ring in the arteries. It may be acute 
or chronic. 

Artery. The largest arteries which 
leave the heart are the aorta and the 
pulmonary artery; both spring from 
the base of the heart in front. They 
branch and anastomose to a large ex¬ 
tent. The contractility of the arteries 
forces the blood to the extremities 
from the heart, the valves of which 
prevent its return. The prominent 
difference between blood drawn from 
the arteries and that from the veins 
is to be found in the bright scarlet 
color of the former and the dark red, 
utmost black, of the latter. 


Artesian Wells, deep wells 
bored through impervious rock strata 
to a porous water bearing rock strat¬ 
um whence the water flows to the sur¬ 
face and is discharged from the bore. 
It is also applied, though less correct¬ 
ly, to deep wells where the waters rise 
to within a short distance of the sur¬ 
face even if no real flow is establish¬ 
ed. The principal condition of an ar¬ 
tesian well is a pervious stratum pro¬ 
tected above and below by a water¬ 
tight bed. These layers come to the 
surface in some elevated regions where 
they get their rain flow, then pitch 
downward to a considerable depth and 
then rise again, thus forming a great 
basin which retains the water. Rain 
water and surface water fill the porous 
stratum to the brim. If it be tapped 
any, the water will rise in the bore 
and be discharged as long as the sup¬ 
ply equals the demand. 

Arteveld, or Artevelde, the 
name of two men distinguished in the 
history of the Low Countries. (1) 
Jacob van, a brewer of Ghent, born 
about 1300; was selected by ’ his fel¬ 
low townsmen to lead them in their 
struggles against Count Louis of 
Flanders. A proposal to make the 
Black Prince, son of Edward III. of 
England, governor of Flanders, led to 
an insurrection, in which Arteveld lost 
his life (1345). (2) Philip, son of 

the former, at the head of the forces 
of Ghent, gained a great victory over 
the Count of Flanders, Louis II., and 
for a time assumed the state of a sov¬ 
ereign prince. His reign proved short¬ 
lived The Count of Flanders re¬ 
turned with a large French force, fully 
disciplined and skillfully commanded. 
Arteveld was rash enough to meet 
them in the open field at Roosebeke, 
between Courtrai and Ghent, in 1382, 
and fell with 25,000 Flemings. 

Arthralgia, pain in a joint. The 
term is more particularly applied to 
articular pain in the absence of ob¬ 
jective disease. 

Arthritis, any inflammatory dis¬ 
temper that affects the joints, particu¬ 
larly chronic rheumatism or gout. 

Arthur, a prince of the Silures, 
and King of Britain in the time of the 
Saxon invasions in the 5th and 6th 
centuries. The existence and exploits 
of Arthur and of his paladins, the 






.rtkuir 


Articles 


Knights of the Round Table, whether 
they have any real foundation or are 
but a mere historical fable, have been 
for ages the theme of minstrels and 
poets, even down to the present day; 
examples of which are the famous 
romaunt of the “ Mort d’Arthur ” and 
the “ Idylls of the King.” 

Arthur, Chester Alan, 21st 
President of the United States, born 
in Fairfield, Vt., Oct. 15, 1830, his 
father being pastor of Baptist church¬ 
es in Vermont and New York. He 
chose law as a profession, and prac¬ 
ticed in New York. He became an 
active leader in the Republican party. 
During the Civil War he was energetic 
as quartermaster-general of New York 
in getting troops raised and equipped. 
He was afterward collector of customs 
for the port of New York. In 1880 he 
was elected Vice-President, succeeding 
as President on the death of James 
A. Garfield, in 1881, and in this office 
he gave general satisfaction. He died 
in New York city, Nov. 18, 1886. 

Arthur, Joseph Charles, an 
American botanist, born in 1850; was 
graduated at the Iowa Agricultural 
College in 1872; took advance courses 
at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Bonn 
Universities; was instructor in botany 
at the Universities of Minnesota and 
Wisconsin, and for several years bo¬ 
tanist to the Agricultural Experiment 
Station, Geneva, N. Y., subsequently 
becoming Professor of Vegetable Phys¬ 
iology and Pathology at Purdue Uni¬ 
versity, and botanist to the Indiana 
Experiment Station. 

Arthur, Timothy Shay, an 
American author, born in Newburg, 
N. Y., in 1809. He died in Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., March 6, 1885. 

Artichoke, a well-known plant 
cultivated chiefly for culinary pur¬ 
poses. The so-called Jerusalem arti¬ 
choke is a species of sunflower which 
grows wild in parts of South America 
and yields roots or tubers resembling 
those of the potato and used as food. 

Article, in grammar, a part of 
speech used before nouns to limit or 
define their application. 

Articles of Confederation, the 
title of the compact which was made 
by the 13 original States of the United 
States of America. It was adopted 
and carried into force on March 1, 


1781, and remained as the supreme 
law, until the first Wednesday of 
March, 1789. 

Articles of War, a code of laws 
for the regulation of the military 
forces of a country. In the United 
States the articles of war form an 
elaborate code, thoroughly revised in 
1880, but subject at all times to the 
legislation of Congress. 

Articles, The Six, in English ec¬ 
clesiastical history, articles imposed 
by a statute (often called the Bloody 
Statute) passed in 1541, the 33d year 
of the reign of Henry VIII. They de¬ 
creed the acknowledgment of trans¬ 
substantiation, the sufficiency of com¬ 
munion in one kind, the obligation of 
vows of chastity, the propriety of pri¬ 
vate masses, celibacy of the clergy, 
and auricular confession. Acceptance 
of these doctrines was made obligatory 
on all persons under the severest pen¬ 
alties; the act, however, was relaxed 
in 1544, and repealed in 1549. 

Articles, The Thirty-nine, of 
the Church of England, a statement 
of the particular points of doctrine, 39 
in number, maintained by the English 
Church; first promulgated by a convo¬ 
cation held in London in 1562-1563, 
and confirmed by royal authority; 
founded on and superseding an older 
code issued in the reign of Edward 
VI. The five first articles contain a 
profession of faith in the Trinity; the 
incarnation of Jesus Christ, His de¬ 
scent to Hell, and His resurrection; 
the divinity of the Holy Ghost. The 
three following relate to the canon of 
the Scripture. The eighth article de¬ 
clares a belief in the Apostles’, Ni- 
cene, and Athanasian creeds. The 
ninth and following articles contain 
the doctrine of original sin, of justifi¬ 
cation by faith alone, of predestina¬ 
tion, etc. The 19th, 20th, and 21st de¬ 
clare the Church to be the assembly 
of the faithful; that it can decide 
nothing except by the Scriptures. The 
22d rejects the doctrine of purgatory, 
indulgences, the adoration of images, 
and the invocation of saints. The 23d 
decides that only those lawfully called 
shall preach or administer the sacra¬ 
ments. The 24th requires the liturgy 
-to be in English. The 25th and 26th 
declare the sacraments effectual signs 
of grace (though administered by evil 
men), by which God excites and con- 




Artillery 


Aryan Race 


firms our faith. They are two: bap¬ 
tism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism, 
according to the 27th article, is a sign 
of regeneration, the seal of our adop¬ 
tion, by which faith is confirmed and 
grace increased. In the Lord’s Sup¬ 
per, according to article 28th, the 
bread is the communion of the Body of 
Christ, the wine the communion of 
His Blood, but only through faith (ar¬ 
ticle 29) ; and the communion must be 
administered in both kinds (article 
30). The 28th article condemns the 
doctrine of transubstantiation, and 
the elevation and adoration of the 
Host; the 31st rejects the sacrifice of 
the mass as blasphemous; the 32d per¬ 
mits the marriage of the clergy; the 
33d maintains the efficacy of excom¬ 
munication. The remaining articles 
relate to the supremacy of the king, 
the condemnation of Anabaptists, etc. 
They were ratified anew in 1604 and 
1628. 

Artillery, all sorts of great guns, 
cannon, or ordnance, mortars, howitz¬ 
ers, machine-guns, etc., together with 
all the apparatus and stores thereto 
belonging, which are taken into the 
field, or used for besieging and defend¬ 
ing fortified places. It is often di¬ 
vided into (1) horse artillery; (2) 
field artillery; and (3) garrison artil¬ 
lery. 

Artillery, The Ancient and 
Honorable, of Boston, Mass., was 
formed in 1637, and was the first reg¬ 
ularly organized military company in 
America. 

Arundelian Marbles, a series of 
ancient sculptured marbles discovered 
by William Petty, who explored the 
ruins of Greece at the expense of and 
for Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, 
who lived in the time of James I. and 
Charles I., and was a liberal patron 
of scholarship and art. After the 
Restoration they were presented by 
the grandson of the collector to the 
University of Oxford. Among them is 
the “ Parian Chronicle,” a chronolog¬ 
ical account of the principal events in 
Grecian, and particularly in Athenian, 
history, during a period of 1318 years. 

Arundel Society, a society insti¬ 
tuted in London in 1848 for promoting 
the knowledge of art by the publica¬ 
tion of fac-similes and photographs. 


Aruspices, or Haruspices, a 

class of priests in ancient Rome, of 
Etrurian origin, whose business was 
to inspect the entrails of victims killed 
in sacrifice, and by them to foretell 
future events. 

Aryan Languages, a great fam¬ 
ily of languages, sometimes, though 
rarely, and not quite accurately, called 
Japhetic; more frequently designated 
as the Indo-European or Indo-Ger- 
manic family of tongues. They have 
reached a higher development than 
those of the second great family, the 
Semitic, better described as the Syro- 
Arabian family, and are far in ad¬ 
vance of the next one — that compris¬ 
ing the Turanian tongues. Like the 
Syro-Arabian forms of speech, they 
are inflectional; while those of Turan¬ 
ian origin are only agglutinate. 

Aryan Race, a designation, since 
about 1845, of the ethnological divi¬ 
sion of mankind otherwise called Indo- 
European or Indo-Germanic. That 
division consists of two branches geo¬ 
graphically separated, an eastern and 
western. The western branch compre¬ 
hends the inhabitants of Europe, with 
the exception of the Turks, the Mag¬ 
yars of Hungary, the Basques of the 
Pyrenees, and the Finns of Lapland; 
the eastern comprehends the inhabi¬ 
tants of Armenia, of Persia, of Af¬ 
ghanistan, and of Northern Hindu- 
stan.. The evidence on which a family 
relation has been established among 
these nations is that of language, and 
from a multitude of details it has been 
proven that the original mother tongue 
of all these peoples was the same. It 
is supposed that the Aryan nations 
were at first located somewhere in Cen¬ 
tral Asia, probably E. of the Caspian, 
and N. of the Hindu Kush and Paro- 
pamisan Mountains. From this cen¬ 
ter successive migrations took place 
toward the N. W. The first swarm 
formed the Celts, who at one time oc¬ 
cupied a great part of Europe; at a 
considerably later epoch came the an¬ 
cestors of the Italians, the Greeks and 
the Teutonic people. The stream that 
formed the Slavonic nations is thought 
to have taken the route by the N. of 
the Caspian. At a later period the 
remnant of the primitive stock would 
seem to have broken up. Part passed 
southward and became the dominant 
race in the valley of the Ganges, while 






Asa 


Asclepiades 


the rest settled in Persia and became 
the Medes and Persians of history. It 
is from these eastern members that 
the whole family takes its name. In 
the most ancient Sanskrit writings 
(the Veda), the Hindus style them¬ 
selves Aryas, the word signifying “ ex¬ 
cellent,” “ honorable,” originally “lord 
of the soil.” 

Asa, son of Abijah, and third King 
of Judah, conspicuous for his earnest¬ 
ness in supporting the worship of God 
and rooting out idolatry, and for the 
vigor and wisdom of his government. 
He reigned from 955 to 914 b. c. 

Asafetida, Asafcetida, or As- 
safoetida, the English name of two, 
if not more, plants growing in Persia 
and the East Indies. The extract 
is a useful medicine in hysteria, asth¬ 
ma, tympanites, dyspnoea, pertussis, 
and worms; it is sometimes given also 
as a clyster. 

Asama, an active volcano of Ja¬ 
pan, about 50 miles N. W. of Tokio, 
8,260 feet high. 

Asbestos, a variety of hornblende, 
which itself is classed by Dana as a 
synonym or subdivision of emphibole. 

Asbury, Francis, the first Meth¬ 
odist bishop consecrated in America, 
born at Handsworth, Staffordshire, 
Aug. 20, 1745. When 16 years old he 
became an itinerant Wesleyan preach¬ 
er, and in 1771 he was sent as a mis¬ 
sionary to America, where he was con¬ 
secrated in 1784. During a long life 
of almost incessant labor it is esti¬ 
mated by his biographer that he trav¬ 
eled about 270,000 miles (mostly on 
horseback), preached about 16,500 
sermons, and ordained more than 4,000 
preachers. Of great natural ability 
and indomitable energy, he ranks with 
Wesley, Whitefield, and Coke in the 
Methodist movement of his time. He 
died in Richmond, Va., March 31,1816. 

Ascalon, Asbkelon, or Askelon, 
one of the five cities of the Philistines, 
on the Mediterranean, W. S. W. of 
Jerusalem, on the main road from 
Egypt through Gaza to Central Pales¬ 
tine. Very often mentioned in Scrip¬ 
ture, it rose to considerable impor¬ 
tance in past Biblical times. 

Ascaris, a genus of intestinal 
worms, the typical one of the family 
ascaridse. 


Ascension, (discovered on Ascen¬ 
sion Day), an island of volcanic ori¬ 
gin belonging to Great Britain, near 
the middle of the South Atlantic 
Ocean, lying about lat. 7° 55' S.; long. 
15° 25' W.; 800 miles N. W. of St. 
Helena; area, about 36 square miles; 
pop. 165. It is retained by Great 
Britain mainly as a station at which 
ships may touch for stores. 

Ascension, in astronomy, right as¬ 
cension is the distance of a heavenly 
body from the first point of Aries (the 
ram), measured upon the equator. 

Ascension Day, the day on which 
our Saviour’s ascension is commemo¬ 
rated — the Thursday but one before 
Whitsuntide, sometimes called Holy 
Thursday. 

Asceticism, the condition or prac¬ 
tice of ascetics. 

Ascetics, a name given in ancient 
times to those Christians who devoted 
themselves to severe exercises of piety 
and strove to distinguish themselves 
from the world by abstinence from 
sensual enjoyments and by voluntary 
penances. 

Ascbam, Roger, an English 
scholar and author, born at Kirby 
Wiske, near Northallerton, in 1515; 
graduated at Cambridge, and strug¬ 
gled with poverty until patrons came 
to his relief. He was famous for his 
general knowledge and acquirements 
in Greek and Latin, and is classed 
with Spenser, Sir Thomas More, and 
Sir Philip Sidney. His death, in 
London, Dec. 30, 1568, was occasioned 
by his too close application to the 
composition of a poem, which he in¬ 
tended to present to the queen on the 
anniversary of her accession. 

Asclepiad, a kind of verse used by 
Horace and other writers. 

Asclepiades, the descendants of 
the god of medicine, iEsculapius, by 
his sons Podalirius and Machaon, 
spread, together with the worship of 
the god, through Greece and Asia Mi¬ 
nor. They formed an order of priests, 
which preserved the results of the 
medical experience acquired in the 
temples as an hereditary secret, and 
were thus, at the same time, physi¬ 
cians, prophets, and priests. 

Asclepiades, a Greek physician, 
born at Prusa, Bithynia, who flour¬ 
ished during the early part of the 1st 




Asclepias 


Ashtaroth. 


century b. c. He is said to have been 
the first who distinguished between 
acute and chronic diseases, and the 
invention of laryngotomy is also as¬ 
cribed to him; but his knowledge of 
anatomy was apparently very slight. 

Asclepias, a genus of plants. The 
species are found chiefly along the 
eastern portion of North America, in 
Bermuda, etc. Though all more or 
less poisonous, they are used medici¬ 
nally. 

Ascot Heatli, a race-course in 
Berkshire, England, 29 miles W. S. 
W. of London, and 6 miles S. W. of 
Windsor. 

Asdood, or Asdoud, a small sea¬ 
port of Palestine, on the Mediterra¬ 
nean, 35 miles W. of Jerusalem. It 
was the Ashdod of Scripture, one of 
the five confederate cities of the Phil¬ 
istines, and one of the seats of the 
worship of Dagon (1 Sam. v: 5). 

Asgard, the Heaven of Scandina¬ 
vian mythology. 

Ash., a genus of deciduous trees, 
having imperfect flowers and a seed 
vessel prolonged into a thin wing at 
the apex (called a samara). There 
are a good many species, chiefly indig¬ 
enous to North America and Europe. 

Ashanti, or Ashantee, formerly 
a kingdom, now a British protecto¬ 
rate, in West Africa, on the Gold 
Coast, and to the N. of the river Prah ; 
area about 70,000 square miles. It is 
in great part hilly, well watered, and 
covered with dense tropical vegetation. 
The chief town is Coomassie, which, 
before being burned down in 1874, 
was well and regularly built with wide 
streets, and had from 30,000 to 50,- 
000 inhabitants. Horrible human sac¬ 
rifices were a feature of Ashanti wor¬ 
ship when the country was indepen¬ 
dent. In 1896 a British expedition, 
from the Gold Coast, forced the sub¬ 
mission of the King, who, with his 
principal chiefs, was sent to Sierra 
Leone, and established a protectorate 
In 1900 a rising was suppressed and 
Sept. 26, 1901, the country was an¬ 
nexed. A railway has been built from 
the modern port of Sekondi 168 m. to 
Co-omassie, telegraph and telephone 
lines installed, good roads made, and 
steamer river traffic established, to the 
improvement of commerce. Pop. 
1,500,000. 


Ashburton Treaty, a treaty con¬ 
cluded at Washington in 1842, by 
Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton, 
and the President of the United 
States; it defined the boundaries be¬ 
tween the United States and Canada. 

Ashhurst, John, Jr., an Ameri¬ 
can surgeon, born in 1839; was grad¬ 
uated at the University of Pennsyl¬ 
vania in 1857; served as an army sur¬ 
geon in the Civil War; became sur¬ 
geon of several Philadelphia hospitals 
after his return; and was made Presi¬ 
dent of the College of Physicians in 
Philadelphia in 1898. Died 1900. 

Ashley, William James, an 
American educator, born in London, 
England, in 1860; was educated at 
Oxford; became a private tutor in 
history and afterward lecturer in his¬ 
tory in Corpus Christi College. In 
1888 he was appointed Professor of 
Political Economy and Constitutional 
History in the University of Toronto, 
and, in 1892, was called to the newly- 
created chair of Economic History in 
Harvard University. In 1897 he rep¬ 
resented the University at the Halifax 
Cabot celebration. 

Ashmole, Elias, an English anti¬ 
quary, born in 1617. He presented to 
the University of Oxford his collection 
of rarities, to which he afterward add¬ 
ed his books and MSS., thereby com¬ 
mencing the Ashmolean Museum. He 
died in 1692. 

Ashmun, Jehudi, an American 
missionary, born at Champlain, N. Y., 
in April, 1794; graduated at the Uni¬ 
versity of Vermont, in 1816, and later 
became a professor in the Bangor 
Theological Seminary. He resigned 
this chair to unite with the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. On June 19, 1822, 
he sailed for Liberia, and there found¬ 
ed a colony, which, when he left, six 
years, later, had increased to 1,200 in¬ 
habitants. He died in New Haven, 
Conn., Aug. 25, 1828. 

Ashtarotb, or Astarotb, plural 
of Ashtoreth and Astarte, a god¬ 
dess worshipped by the Jews in times 
when idolatry prevailed; the principal 
female divinity of the Phoenicians, as 
Baal was the principal male divinity; 
and the plural Ashtaroth indicate 
probably different modifications of the 
divinity herself. Ashtoreth is the As- 




Asliwanipi 


Asia 


tarte of the Greeks and Romans, and 
is identified by ancient writers with 
the goddess Venus (Aphrodite). She 
is probably the same as the Isis of the 
Egyptians, and closely connected with 
the Asherah of Scripture. 

Asliwanipi, or Hamilton, the 
great river of Labrador, has its source 
near the head waters of the E. branch 
of the Moisic, and after a course of 
GOO miles, enters the Atlantic through 
Esquimaux Bay, or Hamilton Inlet. 
About 100 miles up occur the falls, 
one of the grandest spectacles in the 
world. 

Ash Wednesday, the first day of 
Lent, so called from a custom in the 
Western Church of sprinkling ashes 
that day on the heads of penitents, 
then admitted to penance. 

Asia, the largest of the land divi¬ 
sions of the world, occupies the north¬ 
ern portion of the Eastern Hemisphere 
in the form of a massive continent, 
which extends beyond the Arctic cir¬ 
cle, and by its southern peninsulas 
nearly reaches the equator. The ori¬ 
gin of its name remains unknown. 
Europe and Asia constitute but one 
continent, extending from W. to E., 
and having the shape of an immense 
triangle, the angles of which are 
Spain in the W., the peninsula of the 
Tchuktchis in the N. E., and that of 
Malacca in the S. E. The Arctic 
Ocean in the N., the Pacific in the E., 
and the Indian Ocean, continued by 
its narrow gulf, the Red Sea, which 
nearly reaches the Mediterranean, in¬ 
close the continent of Asia. The area 
covered by Asia and its islands is 17,- 
255,890 square miles; that is, almost 
exactly one-third of the land surface 
of the globe (32 per cent). It is one- 
seventh larger than the surface of 
both Americas together, by one-half 
larger than that of Africa, and more 
than four times larger than Europe. 
Geographically speaking, Europe is a 
mere appendix to Asia, and no exact 
geographical delimitation of the two 
continents is possible. The line of sep¬ 
aration from Africa is better defined 
by the narrow Red Sea; but Arabia 
participates so largely in the physical 
features of Africa that it is in a sense 
intermediate between the two conti¬ 
nents. 

Only four rivers, the Mississippi, 
Amazon, Kongo, and Nile, surpass the 


largest rivers of Asia, the Yenisei and 
the Yang-tse-kiang, both as to length 
and drainage areas; but owing to the 
scarcity of rain over large parts of 
Asia, the amount of water carried 
down by the largest rivers is, as a 
rule, disproportionately small as com¬ 
pared with American or European 
rivers. The predominant feature of 
Asia’s hydrography is the existence of 
very wide areas having no outlet to 
the sea. On the great plateau of 
Eastern Asia, the region which has 
no outlet from the plateau, and whose 
water does not reach even Lake Aral 
or the Caspian, covers a surface larger 
than that of Spain, France, and Ger¬ 
many together. It is watered only by 
the Tarim, which supplies some irri¬ 
gation works in its upper parts, and 
enters the rapidly drying marshes of 
Lob-nor. This area is steadily in¬ 
creasing, and since 1862 we have had 
to add to it the drainage area (as 
large as England and Wales) of the 
Kerulen, which empties into Dalai- 
nor, but no longer reaches the Argun, 
a tributary of the Amur. The Ulyasu- 
tai River and the Tchagantogoi now 
no longer reach Lake Balkash; and 
the Urungu, which obviously joined 
the Upper Irtysh at no very remote 
date, empties into a lake separated 
from the Black Irtysh by a low isth¬ 
mus not 5 miles wide. If we add to 
this the drainage basins of Lake Bal¬ 
kash with its tributaries, the Ili and 
other smaller rivers; the great Lake 
Aral, with the Syr-daria (Jaxartes) 
and Amudaria (Oxus), as also the 
numerous rivers which flow toward it 
or its tributaries, but are desiccated 
by evaporation before reaching them, 
and finally the Caspian with its tribu¬ 
taries, the Volga, Ural, Kura, and 
Terek, we find an immense surface of 
more than 4,000,000 square miles; 
that is, much larger than Europe, 
which has no outlet to the ocean. The 
plateaus of Iran and Armenia, two 
separate areas in Arabia, and one in 
Asia Minor, represent a surface of 5,- 
567,000 square miles. 

A succession of great lakes or in¬ 
land seas are situated all along the 
northern slope of the high plateaus of 
Western and Eastern Asia, their lev¬ 
els becoming higher as we advance 
farther E v The Caspian, 800 miles 
long and 270 wide, is an immense sea, 





Asia 


Asia 


even larger than the Black Sea, but 
its level is now 85 feet below the level 
of the ocean; Lake Aral, nearly as 
wide as the ^gean Sea, has its level 
157 feet above the ocean; farther E. 
we have Lake Balkash (780 feet), 
Zaison (1,200 feet), and Lake Baikal 
(1,550 feet). Many large lakes ap¬ 
pear on the plateaus of Tibet (Tengri- 
nor, Bakha), and on the high plateau 
of the Selenga and Vitim (Ubsa-nor, 
Ikhe-aral, Kosogol, Oron) ; and small¬ 
er lakes and ponds are numerous also 
in the plateau of the Deccan, Ar¬ 
menia, and Asia Minor. Three large 
lakes, Urmia, Van, and Goktcha, and 
many smaller ones, lie on the highest 
part of the Armenian plateau. On 
the Pacific slope of the great plateau, 
the great rivers of China and the 
Amur, with its tributaries, have along 
their lower courses some large and 
very many small lakes. 

More than 120 active volcanoes are 
known in Asia, chiefly in the islands 
of the S. E., the Philippines, Japan, 
the Kurile, and Kamchatka, and also 
in a few islands of the Seas of Bengal 
and Arabia, and in Western Asia. 
Numerous traces of volcanic eruptions 
are found in Eastern Tian-shan in the 
northwestern border ridges of the high 
Siberian plateau, and in the S. W. of 
Aigun, in Manchuria. Earthquakes 
are frequent, especially in Armenia, 
Turkestan, and around Lake Baikal. 

There are gold mines of great wealth 
in the Urals, the Altai, and Eastern 
Siberia; and auriferous sands are 
found in Korea, Sumatra, Japan, and 
in the Caucasus Mountains. Silver is 
extracted in Siberia; platina, in the 
Urals; copper, in Japan, India, and 
Siberia; tin, in Banca; mercury, in 
Japan. Iron ore is found in nearly 
all of the mountainous regions, espe¬ 
cially in Asia Minor, Persia, Turke¬ 
stan, India, China, Japan, and Si¬ 
beria ; but iron mining is still at a 
rudimentary stage. Immense coal-beds 
are spread over China and the islands 
of the Pacific (Hainan, Japanese 
Archipelago, Sakhalin), Eastern Si¬ 
beria, Turkestan, India, Persia, and 
Asia Minor. They cover no less than 
500,000 square miles in China alone; 
but the extraction of coal is as yet 
very limited. Graphite of very high 
quality is found in the Sayans and 
Northern Siberia. The diamonds of 


India, the sapphires of Ceylon, the 
rubies of Burma and Turkestan, the 
topazes, beryls, etc., of the Urals and 
Nertchinsk, have a wide repute. Lay¬ 
ers of rock-salt are widely spread, and 
still more so the salt lakes and springs. 
The petroleum wells of the Caspian 
shores already rival those of the 
United States. A variety of mineral 
springs, some of them equal to the 
best waters of Western Europe, art 
widely spread over Asia. 

The aggregate population of Asia is 
estimated at 865,000,000, being thus 
more than one-half of the entire popu¬ 
lation of the globe. This population, 
however, is small, giving only an aver¬ 
age of 49 inhabitants per square mile. 
It is unequally distributed, and reach¬ 
es 557 per square mile in some prov¬ 
inces of China, denser than in Bel¬ 
gium (539 per square mile), and 520 
in some parts of Northwestern India. 
It is greatest in those parts of Asia 
which are most favored by rains. 
Seven-tenths have scarcely more than 
from 3 to 20 inhabitants per square 
mile; and nearly one-tenth is quite 
uninhabited. The inhabitants of Asia 
belong to five different groups; the 
so-called Caucasian (fair type) in 
Western Asia and India; the Mongo¬ 
lian in Central and Eastern Asia, as 
also in the Indo-Chinese Peninsula; 
the Malay in Malacca and the Indian 
Archipelago; the Dravidas in South¬ 
eastern India and Ceylon; and the Ne¬ 
gritos and Papuas in the virgin forests 
of the Philippine Islands and Celebes; 
also a sixth great division comprising 
the stems which inhabit Northeastern 
Asia, the Hyperboreans, whose affini¬ 
ties are not yet well known. The 
Mongolian race alone embraces nearly 
seven-tenths of the population of Asia; 
the Malay, about two-tenths, and the 
Caucasian about one-tenth.. The Eu¬ 
ropeans reckon about 6,000,000 (Rus¬ 
sians) in Caucasus, Turkestan and 
Siberia; some 150,000 (English) in 
India; and 45,000 in the Dutch Indies. 

Asia has been the birthplace of re¬ 
ligions ; the Jewish, Buddhist, Chris¬ 
tian and Mohammedan having their 
origin in Asia, where they grow up 
under the influence of still older re¬ 
ligions, the Babylonian and that of 
Zoroaster, both also of Asiatic origin. 
At present the inhabitants of Asia be¬ 
long chiefly to the Buddhist religion, 




Asia Minor 


Aspasia 


which has 530,000,000 to 560,000,000 
of followers, i. e., nearly one-third of 
mankind. The old faith of Hinduism 
has 187,000,000 of followers in India. 
Most of the inhabitants of Western 
Asia, as also of part of Central Asia, 
follow the religion of Islam; they may 
number about 90,000,000. The Chris¬ 
tians number about 20,000,000 in Ar¬ 
menia, Caucasus, Siberia and Turke¬ 
stan. Jews are scattered mostly in 
Western .and Central Asia. A few 
fire-worshippers, Guebres or Parsi of 
India and Persia, are the sole rem¬ 
nant of the religion of Zoroaster; 
while vestiges of Sabaeism are found 
amidst the Gesides and Sabians on the 
Tigris. 

Asia Minor (Asia the Less, as 
distinguished from Asia in the widest 
extent), is the name usually given to 
the western peninsular projection of 
Asia, forming part of Turkey in Asia. 

The inhabitants, some 7,000,000 in 
number, consist of the most various 
races. The dominant race are the Os- 
manli Turks, who number about 1,200,- 
000, and are spread over the whole 
country; allied to these are the Turk¬ 
omans and Yuruks, speaking a dialect 
of the same language. The latter are 
found chiefly on the tableland, leading 
a nomadic life; there are also hordes 
of nomadic Kurds. Among the moun¬ 
tains E. of Trebizond are the robber 
tribes of the Lazes. 

The Greeks and Armenians are the 
most progressive elements in the popu¬ 
lation, and have most of the trade. 

Ask, in Scandinavian mythology, 
the name of the first man created. Ac¬ 
cording to the legend, one day three 
gods, Odin, Hsener and Loder, found 
two trees by the seaside, an ash and 
an elm. From these trees they created 
the first man and first woman, Ask 
and Embla, and gave them the earth 
as their dwelling place. 

Askew, Anne, a victim of reli¬ 
gious persecution, born in 1521; was 
a daughter of Sir William Askew of 
Lincolnshire, and was married to a 
wealthy neighbor named Kyme, who, 
irritated by her Protestantism, drove 
her from his house. In London, whith¬ 
er she went, probably to procure a di¬ 
vorce, she spoke against the dogmas 
of the old faith, and, being tried, was 
condemned to death as a heretic. Being 


put to the rack to extort a confession 
concerning those with whom she cor¬ 
responded, she continued firm, and 
was then taken to Smithfield, chained 
to a stake, and burned, in 1546. 

Askja, a volcano near the center 
of Iceland, first brought into notice by 
an eruption in 1875. Its crater is 17 
miles in circumference, surrounded 
by a mountain-ring from 500 to 1,000 
feet high, the height of the mountain 
itself being between 4,000 and 5,000 
feet. 

Asmodai, or Asmodeus, an evil 

spirit, who, as related in the book of 
Tobit, slew seven husbands of Sara, 
daughter of Raguel, but was driven 
away into the uttermost parts of 
Egypt by the young Tobias under the 
direction of the angel Raphael. As¬ 
modai signifies a desolator, a destroy¬ 
ing angel. He is represented in the 
Talmud as the prince of demons who 
drove King Solomon from his king¬ 
dom. 

Asp, a species of viper found in 
Egypt, resembling the cobra da capello, 
and having a very venomous bite. 
When approached or disturbed it ele¬ 
vates its head and body, swells out its 
neck, and appears to stand erect to 
attack the aggressor. Hence the an¬ 
cient Egyptians believed that the asps 
were guardians of the spots they in¬ 
habited, and the figure of this reptile 
was adopted as an emblem of the pro¬ 
tecting genius of the world. Cleopatra 
is said to have committed suicide by 
means of an asp’s bite, but the inci¬ 
dent is generally associated with the 
horned viper. 

Asparagus, a plant of the order 
liliaceae, the young shoots of which, cut 
as they are emerging from the ground, 
are a favorite culinary vegetable. 

Aspasia, a celebrated Grecian, be¬ 
longing to a family of some note in 
Miletus, and was early distinguished 
for her graces of mind and person. 
She went to Athens after the Persian 
War, and, by her beauty and accom¬ 
plishments soon attracted the atten¬ 
tion of the leading men of that city. 
She engaged the affections of Pericles, 
who is said to have divorced his for¬ 
mer wife in order to marry her. Their 
union was harmonious throughout; 
he preserved for her to the end of his 
life the same tenderness; she re- 




Aspen 


Aspinwall 


mained the confidant of the states¬ 
man’s schemes, and the sharer of his 
struggles. She survived Pericles some 
years, and is reported to have married 
an obscure Athenian, Lysicles, whom 
she raised by her example and pre¬ 
cept to be one of the leaders of the 
republic. 

Aspen, a tree, the trembling pop¬ 
lar. The tremulous movement of the 
leaves which exists in all the poplars, 
but culminates in the aspen, mainly 
arises from the length and slender 
character of the petiole or leaf-stalk, 
and from its being much and laterally 
compressed. 

Aspern, a small village of Austria, 
on the Danube, about 2 miles from 
Vienna. Here, and in the neighbor¬ 
ing village of Esslingen, were fought 
the tremendous battles of the 21st and 
22d of May, 1809, between the French 
grand army, commanded by Napoleon, 
and the Austrians under the Archduke 
Charles. The French, after this con¬ 
tinuous fighting, with vast loss to both 
sides, were obliged to retreat, and oc¬ 
cupy the island of Lobau. 

Asphalt, or Asphaltum, the 
most common variety of bitumen; also 
called mineral pitch. Asphalt is a 
compact, glassy, brittle, black or 
brown mineral, which breaks with a 
polished fracture, melts easily with a 
strong pitchy odor when heated, and 
when pure burns without leaving any 
ashes. It is found in the earth in 
many parts of Asia, Europe and the 
United States, and in a soft or liquid 
state on the surface of th'e Dead Sea, 
which, from its circumference, was 
called Asphaltites. It is of organic 
origin, the asphalt of the great Pitch 
Lake of Trinidad being derived from 
bituminous shales, containing vegeta¬ 
ble remains in the process of trans¬ 
formation. Asphalt is produced arti¬ 
ficially in making coal gas. During 
the process, much tarry matter is 
evolved and collected in retorts. If 
this be distilled, naphtha and other 
volatile matters escape, and asphalt 
is left behind. 

What is known as asphalt rock is a 
limestone impregnated with bitumen, 
found in large quantities in the 
United States and in Switzerland, 
France, Alsace, Hanover, Holstein, 
Sicily, and other parts of Europe, the 


purest forms taking the names of elat- 
erite, gilsonite, albertite, maltha, brea, 
etc. In the trade there is wide dis¬ 
tinction between these and the sand¬ 
stones, and limestones impregnated 
with bitumen, which are known as bi¬ 
tuminous or asphaltic limestone, sand¬ 
stone, etc. The latter are usually 
shipped without being previously 
treated or refined, and are used prin¬ 
cipally in street paving. This class 
is known to the trade as bituminous 
rock, and of its entire product Cali¬ 
fornia yields about 90 per cent. The 
productive places are California, Colo¬ 
rado, Kentucky, Texas, Utah, and the 
Indian Territory. 

Asphodel, (Asphodelus), a genus 
of plants, order Liliaceae, consisting of 
perennials, with fasciculated fleshy 
roots, flowers arranged in racemes, six 
stamens inserted at the base of the 
perianth, a sessile almost spherical 
ovary with two cells, each containing 
two ovules; fruit a capsule with three 
cells, in each of which there are, as a 
rule, two seeds. They are fine garden- 
plants, native of Southern Europe. 
The king’s spear, A. luteus, has yellow 
flowers blossoming in June. Asphodel¬ 
us ramosus, which attains a height of 
5 feet, is cultivated in Algeria and else¬ 
where, its tubercles yielding a very 
pure a T cohol, and the residue, together 
with t^e stalks and leaves, are used 
in mak ; ng pasteboard and paper. The 
asphodel was a favorite plant among 
the ancients, who were in the habit of 
planting it round their tombs. 

Asphyxia, suspended animation; 
an interruption of the arterialization 
of the blood, causing the suspension of 
sensation and voluntary motion. It 
may. be produced by breathing some 
gas incapable of furnishing oxygen, by 
submersion under water, by suffoca¬ 
tion, from an impediment to breathing 
applied to the mouth and nostrils, by 
strangulation, or by great pressure, 
external or internal, upon the lungs. 
If asphyxia continues unrelieved for a 
short period, it is necessarily followed 
by death. 

Aspinwall. (See Colon). 

Aspinwall, William, an Ameri¬ 
can physician, born in Brookline, 
Mass., May 23, 1743; was graduated 
at Harvard University in 1764; stud¬ 
ied medicine in Philadelphia; was a 







Aspinwall 


Assault 


volunteer in the fight at Lexington; 
and afterward became surgeon in the 
Revolutionary army, having partial 
charge of the military hospital at Ja¬ 
maica Plains. After the war, he be¬ 
came deeply interested in the subject 
of vaccination, and, building a small¬ 
pox hospital at Brookline, established 
that remedy in American practice. He 
died April 16, 1823. 

Aspinwall, William H., an 
American merchant, born in New 
York city, Dec. 16, 1807; was trained 
to commercial business by his uncles, 
and became a member of the firm of 
Howland & Aspinwall in 1837. He 
is best remembered as the chief pro¬ 
moter of the Panama railroad, and of 
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. 
The eastern terminus of the railroad 
was named in his honor, but has since 
officially been given the name of Co¬ 
lon. He died in New York city, Jan. 
18, 1875. 

Aspromonte, a mountain of Italy, 
in the S. W. of Calabria, where Gari¬ 
baldi was wounded and taken prisoner 
with the greater part of his army, in 
August, 1862. 

Asquith, Herbert Henry, an 

English lawyer, born in Morley, Sept. 
12, 1852; was educated at Oxford 
University, became a barrister at Lin¬ 
coln’s Inn in 1876; was appointed 
Secretary of State for the Home De¬ 
partment : Ecclesiastical Commission¬ 
er in 1882-1885; became Q. C. in 
1890, and P. C. in 1892; and was 
elected to Parliament from East Fife 
in 1896, and has ever since been prom¬ 
inent in British Parliamentary affairs 
on the Liberal side. 

Asrael, the Mohammedan angel of 
death, who takes the soul from the 
body. 

Ass (asinus), a genus closely re¬ 
lated to the horse. It differs from the 
latter in having short hair at the root 
of the tail and a long tuft at the end, 
in the absence of warts on the hind 
legs, and in the persistence of stripes, 
except in albinos. The upright mane, 
the long ears, the cross stripe on the 
shoulders, and the dark bands on the 
back, are also characteristic. The 
stupidity for which the animal has 
for long been proverbially reproached 
seems largely the result of human in¬ 
fluence. The female carries her fpal 


11 months. The mule is a hybrid bred 
between mare and male ass; while the 
hinny is the rare result of hybridism 
between horse and female ass. 

Assam, a province at the N. E. 
extremity of British India, with an 
area of 52,078 square miles. In 1874 
it was formed into a separate adminis¬ 
tration (including Cachar) under a 
chief commissioner. One of the most 
striking features of Assam is the 
abundance of wild animals, such as 
tigers, rhinoceroses, leopards, bears, 
buffaloes, and elephants. The snakes 
are the most destructive to human life. 
Some 400 people are killed every year 
by wild animals, for whose destruction 
about $5,000 is yearly paid as a re¬ 
ward. Tea is the chief product, over 
300,000 acres being cultivated. Pop. 
(1901) 6,122,201. 

Assassination, the act of taking 

the life of anyone by surprise or 
treacherous violence, either by a hired 
emissary, by one devoted to the deed, 
or by one who has taken the task 
upon himself. Generally, the term 
is applied to the murder of a public 
personage. 

Assassins, or Ismaili, a sect of 
religious fanatics who existed in the 
11th and 12 centuries. They derived 
their name of assassins originally from 
their immoderate use of hasheesh, 
which produces an intense cerebral ex¬ 
citement, often amounting to fury. 
Their founder and law giver was Has- 
san-ben-Sabah, to whom the Orientals 
gave the name of Sheikh-el-Jobelz, but 
who was better known in Europe as 
the “ Old Man of the Mountain.” 
They believed assassination to be meri¬ 
torious when sanctioned by his com¬ 
mand, and courted danger and death 
in the execution of his orders. In the 
time of the crusades, they mustered 
to the number of 50,000. 

Assault, in military language, a 
furious effort to carry a fortified post, 
camp, or fortress, where the assailants 
do not screen themselves to any works. 
It is the appropriate termination of a 
siege which has not led to the capitu¬ 
lation of the garrison. To give an 
assault; To attack any post. To 
repulse an assault; To cause the as¬ 
sailants to retreat; to beat them back. 
To carry by assault; To gain a post 
by storm, 




Assaying 


Assiniboin 


In law, an assault is a movement 
which virtually implies a threat to 
strike one, as _ when a person raises 
his hand or his cane in a menacing 
manner, or strikes at another but 
misses him. It is not needful to touch 
one to constitute an assault. When 
a blow actually takes effect, the crime 
is not simple assault, but assault and 
battery. 

Assaying, the estimation of the 
amount of pure metal, and especially 
of the precious metals in an ore or al¬ 
loy. 

Assay Offices, in the United 
States, government establishments in 
which citizens may deposit gold and 
silver bullion, receiving in return its 
value, less charges. The offices are in 
New York city; Boise City, Ida.; 
Helena, Mont.; Denver, Col.; Seattle, 
Wash.; San Francisco, Cal.; Char¬ 
lotte, N. C.; and St. Louis, Mo. 

Assegai, a spear used as a weapon 
among the Kaffirs of South Africa, 
made of hard wood tipped with iron, 
and used for throwing or thrusting. 

Assembly, General, official name 
of the supreme ecclesiastical court of 
the Established Church of Scotland, 
of the Free Church of Scotland, of 
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 
and of the two Presbyterian Churches 
in the United States. The term is 
also used in the United States to des¬ 
ignate the dual legislative body of the 
several States, the branches being com¬ 
monly spoken of as the Senate and the 
House (of Representatives). 

Assembly, National, a body set 
up in France on the eve of the Revolu¬ 
tion. The members bound themselves 
by oath not to separate until they had 
furnished France with a constitution, 
and the court was compelled to give 
its assent. In the 3,250 decrees pass¬ 
ed by the Assembly were laid the foun¬ 
dations of a new epoch, and having 
accomplished this task, it dissolved it¬ 
self, Sept. 30, 1791. The term is also 
applied to a joint meeting of the Sen¬ 
ate and Corps Legislatif, for the pur¬ 
pose of electing a chief magistrate or 
the transaction of other extraordinary 
business. 

Assent, Tbe Royal, is the appro¬ 
bation given by the sovereign in Par¬ 
liament to a bill which has passed both 
Houses, after which it becomes a law. 

E. 10. 


Assets (French, assez, enough), 
property or goods available for the 
payment of a bankrupt or deceased 
person’s obligations. Assets are per¬ 
sonal or real, the former comprising 
all goods, chattels, etc., devolving upon 
the executor as salable to discharge 
debts and legacies. In commerce and 
bankruptcy the term is often used as 
the antithesis of liabilities, to desig¬ 
nate the stock in trade and entire 
property of an individual or an asso¬ 
ciation. 

Assideans, Cbasideans, or Cha¬ 
sidim, one of the two great sects 
into which, after the Babylonish cap¬ 
tivity, the Jews were divided with re¬ 
gard to the observance of the law — 
the Chasidim accepting it in its later 
developments, the Zadikim professing 
adherence only to the law as given by 
Moses. From the Chasidim sprang 
the Pharisees, Talmudists, Rabbinists, 
Cabbalists, etc. 

Assignates, the name of the na¬ 
tional paper currency in the time of 
the French Revolution. 

Assignee, a person appointed by 
another to transact some business, or 
exercise some particular privilege or 
power. Formerly the persons ap¬ 
pointed under a commission of bank¬ 
ruptcy, to manage the estate of the 
bankrupt on behalf of the creditors, 
were so called, but now trustees, or 
receivers. 

Assignment, in law and com¬ 
merce, the act of signing over to an¬ 
other, rights or property which have 
hitherto belonged to one’s self. An 
assignment of estate is a transfer, or 
making over to another, of the right a 
person has in any estate. In general, 
assignments should be recorded in the 
office prescribed by law, or are void as 
against those claiming under subse¬ 
quent assignments. 

Assiniboia, the smallest of the 
four districts into which a portion of 
the Northwest Territories of Canada 
was divided in 1881 and Sept. 1, 1905, 
merged into the provinces of Alberta 
and Saskatchewan. Its area was 89,- 
535 square miles and pop. 67,385. 
Coal mines are worked and irrigation 
is improving the district. 

Assiniboin, a tribe of North 
American Indians, living principally 
in the N. W. part of Canada. 





Assouan 


Astor 


Assouan (also Eswan; the an¬ 
cient Syene), is the southernmost city 
of Egypt proper, on the right bank 
of the Nile, and beside the first or low¬ 
est cataract. Near are the islands of 
Philse and Elephantine, recently sub¬ 
merged almost completely by the great 
Nile dam. On the left bank are cata¬ 
combs. There are some remains of 
the ancient city, as granite columns 
and part of a temple. In the neigh¬ 
borhood are the famous granite quar¬ 
ries from which so many of the huge 
obelisks and colossal statues were cut 
to adorn the temples and palaces of 
ancient Egypt. From Syene, this 
kind of granite came to be known as 
syenite. Pop. about 4,000. 

Assumpsit, a verbal promise made 
by anyone, or which he may in justice 
be held to have more or less directly 
made. 

Assyria, an ancient Semitic king¬ 
dom of Asia, the native name of which 
was Ashur or Asshur, and thus also 
called by the Hebrews. The area was 
fluctuating — at first small, but, 
though it gradually increased, it 
probably never exceeded about 200,000 
square miles. 

The Assyrians were far advanced 
in art and industry, and in civiliza¬ 
tion. They constructed large build¬ 
ings, especially palaces, of an impos¬ 
ing character, the materials being 
burned or sun-dried brick, stone, ala¬ 
baster, slabs for lining and adorning 
the walls internally and externally, 
and timber for pillars and roof. 
The Assyrians understood and applied 
the arch; constructed tunnels, aque¬ 
ducts, and drains; used the pulley, the 
lever, and the roller; engraved gems in 
a highly artistic way;, understood the 
arts of inlaying, enameling, and over¬ 
laying with metals; manufactured 
porcelain, transparent and colored 
glass, and were acquainted with the 
lens; and possessed vases, jars, and 
other dishes, bronze and ivory orna¬ 
ments, bells, gold earrings and brace¬ 
lets of excellent design and workman¬ 
ship. They had also silver ornament¬ 
al work. Their household furniture 
gives a high idea of their skill. 

Asten, Friedricli Emil von, a 
German astronomer, born at Koln, 
1842. His investigations have related 
mostly to comets. 


Aster, a genus of plants, so called 
because the expanded flowers resemble 
stars. In the United States these as¬ 
ters grow wild in the meadows and on 
the prairies. 

Aster, Ernst Eudwig von, a 

German military engineer, born in 
Dresden, Oct. 5, 1778. He died in 
Berlin, Feb. 10, 1855. 

Asthma, a chronic shortness of 
breath, from whatever cause it may 
arise. Till a comparatively recent pe¬ 
riod good medical writers used the 
term in this wide sense, and non-pro¬ 
fessional writers and the public do so 
still. Asthma, or spasmodic asthma, 
is “ a difficulty of breathing, recur¬ 
ring in paroxysms, after intervals of 
comparatively good health, and usual¬ 
ly accompanied by fever.” It is most 
common in persons possessing the 
nervous temperament. 

Aston, William George, an 
English author, born near London¬ 
derry, in 1841; is a standard author¬ 
ity on Japanese subjects. 

Astor, John Jacob, an American 
merchant, born in Waldorf, Germany, 
July 17, 1763. In 1783 he came to 
the United States intending to engage 
in the selling of musical instruments; 
but while on the voyage was induced 
by a fellow passenger to engage in 
buying furs from the Indians,and sell¬ 
ing them to dealers. On reaching 
New York he entered the employ of a 
Quaker furrier, with whom he learned 
the details of the trade, and then be¬ 
gan business on his own account. Soon 
afterward he became American agent 
for a London fur house, and, while ar¬ 
ranging for his supplies, he opened 
the first wareroom for the sale of mu¬ 
sical instruments in the United States. 
His success in the fur business led him 
to become the owner of a number of 
vessels, in which he shipped furs to 
London and brought merchandise 
therefrom. In furtherance of a scheme 
for becoming independent of the Hud¬ 
son Bay Company and establishing a 
thoroughly American system of fur 
trading, he sent out expeditions to 
open up intercourse with the Indians 
on the Pacific coast, by which the 
present city of Astoria at the mouth 
of the Columbia river in Oregon was 
planted in 1811. An interesting out¬ 
line of his projects in this connection 







Astor 


Astrology 


is given in Washington Irving’s “ As¬ 
toria.” Mr. Astor acquired large 
wealth, invested heavily in real estate 
in New York city; and at-his death 
left a fortune estimated at $20,000,- 
000, and the sum of $400,000, with 
which to found a public library in 
New York city. He died March 29, 
1848. See New York Public Li¬ 
brary. 

Astor, John Jacob, an Ameri¬ 
can capitalist, born in Rhinebeck, N. 
Y., July 13, 1864; son of William, 
grandson of John Jacob, and cousin of 
William Waldorf Astor; was grad¬ 
uated at Harvard University in 1888; 
spent three years in European travel; 
and then became manager of the fam¬ 
ily estate. He was appointed Col¬ 
onel on the staff of Gov. Morton; 
was commissioned a Lieutenant-Col¬ 
onel of Volunteers in May, 1898, and 
served on inspection and staff duty in 
the United States and Cuba till the 
surrender of Santiago. He presented 
the United States Government with 
a completely equipped mountain bat¬ 
tery which cost over $75,000, and 
which was sent to the Philippine Is¬ 
lands, and rendered the government 
valuable services in other directions 
during the war with Spain. He pub¬ 
lished “A Journey to Other Worlds; 
a Romance of the Future” (1894). 

Astor, William Backhouse, an 
American capitalist, born in New York 
city, Sept. 19, 1792; eldest son of 
John Jacob Astor; was associated 
with his father in business; increased 
the family fortune to $45,000,000; 
and gave $550,000 to the Astor Li¬ 
brary. He died in New York, Nov. 
24, 1875. 

Astor, William Waldorf, capi¬ 
talist, born in New York city, March 
31, 1848; received a private educa¬ 
tion ; was admitted to the bar in 1875. 
He was elected to the New York As¬ 
sembly in 1871, and to the Senate in 
1879; was defeated for Congress in 
1881, and was United States Minister 
to Italy in 1882-1885. On the death 
of his father, John Jacob Astor, in 
1890, he became the head of the Astor 
family, and inherited a fortune said to 
aggregate $100,000,000. He removed 
to England in 1890; became the owner 
of the “ Pall Mall Gazette ” and “ Pall 
Mall Magazine;” and was naturalized 


a British subject on July 1, 1899. He 
published “Valentino” (1885) and 
“ Sforza ” (1889), both romances. 

Astor Place Riot, a fatal affray 
which took place in New York city, 
May 10, 1854, in which the partici¬ 
pants were the partisans of the actors, 
Edwin Forrest and William C. Ma- 
cready. Twenty-two were killed and 
36 wounded. 

Astraea, one of the asteroids, dis¬ 
covered in 1845. 

Astrakhan, a Russian city, capi¬ 
tal of the government of the same 
name, on an elevated island in the 
Volga, about 30 miles above its mouth 
in the Caspian, communicating with 
opposite banks of the river by numer¬ 
ous bridges. It is the chief port 
of the Caspian, and has regular steam 
communication with the principal 
towns on its shores. Pop. (1897) 
113,001, composed of various races. 

Astrakhan, a name given to 
sheep-skins with a curled woolly sur¬ 
face obtained from a variety of sheep 
found in Bokhara, Persia, and Syria; 
also a rough fabric with a pile in im¬ 
itation of this. 

Astral Spirits, in the demonology 
of the Middle Ages, spirits dwelling in 
the heavenly bodies. As the belief in 
spirits and witchcraft reached its 
height in the 15th century, the demon- 
ologist, or special students of this sub¬ 
ject, systematized the strange fancies 
of that wild period; and astral spirits 
were made to occupy the first rank 
among evil or demoniacal spirits. 

Astringents, substances which 
produce contraction and condensation 
of the muscular fiber: for instance, 
when applied to a bleeding wound 
they so contract the tissues as to stop 
the hemorrhage. Astringents are use¬ 
ful in various diseases. 

Astrolabe, in its etymological 
sense, any instrument for taking the 
altitude of a star or other heavenly 
body, a definition which would include 
not merely the astrolabe properly so 
called, but also the sextant, the quad¬ 
rant, the equatorial, the altitude and 
the azimuth circle, the theodolite, or 
any similar instrument. 

Astrology, originally a discourse 
concerning the stars; subsequently the 
true science of astronomy; now the 




Astronomy 


Atelier 


pseudo science which pretends to fore¬ 
tell future events by studying the po¬ 
sition of the stars, and ascertaining 
their alleged influence upon human 
destiny. 

Astronomy, the science that treats 
of all the heavenly bodies, including 
the earth, as related to them. It is 
the oldest of the sciences, and the 
mother of those generally called exact 
as mathematics, geodesy and physics. 

Asymptote, in geometry, a line 
which is continually approaching a 
curve,-but never meets it, however far 
either of them may be prolonged. This 
may be conceived as a tangent to a 
curve at an infinite distance. 

Atacama, the name formerly, of 
two provinces, (1) Chilian and (2) 
Bolivian ; most of the latter was trans¬ 
ferred to Chile in 1884. (1) A north¬ 

ern Province of Chile, with an area 
of 30,720 square miles, and a popula¬ 
tion (1895) of 59,713 About 1,000 
silver and 250 copper mines are work¬ 
ed, and gold is also found in consider¬ 
able quantities. 

Atahualpa, the last of the Incas, 
succeeded his father in 1529 on the 
throne of Quito, whilst his brother 
Huascar obtained the Kingdom of 
Peru. They soon made war against 
each other, when the latter was de¬ 
feated, and his kingdom fell into the 
hands of Atahualpa. The Spaniards, 
taking advantage of these internal dis¬ 
turbances, with Pizarro at their head, 
invaded Peru, and advanced to Atahu- 
alpa’s camp. Here, while Pizarro’s 
priest was telling the Incas how the 
Pope had given Peru to the Spaniards, 
fire was opened on the unsuspecting 
Peruvians, Atahualpa was captured, 
and, despite the payment of a vast 
ransom in gold, was executed (1533). 

Atalanta, in the Greek mythology, 
a famous huntress of Arcadia. She 
was to be obtained in marriage only by 
him who could outstrip her in a race, 
the consequence of failure being death. 
One of her suitors obtained from Aph¬ 
rodite (Venus) three golden apples, 
which he threw behind him, one after 
another, as he ran. Atalanta stopped 
to pick them up, and was not unwill¬ 
ingly defeated. There was another At¬ 
alanta belonging to Boeotia, who can¬ 
not very . well be distinguished, the 
same stories being told about both. 


Atavism, in biology, the tendency 
to reproduce the ancestral type in ani¬ 
mals or plants which have become con¬ 
siderably modified by breeding or cul¬ 
tivation ; the reversion of a descendant 
to some peculiarity of a more or less 
remote ancestor. 

Ataxy, Ataxia, in medicine, irreg¬ 
ularity in the animal functions, or in 
the symptoms of a disease. (See Lo¬ 
comotor ataxy). 

Atcheen (also Achin or Atchin ; 
called by the Dutch Atjeh) , until 
1873 an independent State in the N. 
W. part of Sumatra, now a Province 
of the Dutch Indies, with an area of 
20,471 square miles, and a population 
of over half a million. 

During the earlier half of the 17th 
century Atcheen was a powerful sul¬ 
tanate, with supremacy over several 
islands and a part of the Malay Pen¬ 
insula. Its power gradually declin¬ 
ed ; but an attempt was made by the 
treaty between the English and the 
Dutch, in 1824, to reserve its inde¬ 
pendence. This reservation was re¬ 
scinded by the Hague treaty in 1871. 
Native resistance was not quelled un¬ 
til their last stronghold was captured 
in Oct., 1906. War had lasted 200 
years at great cost and loss of life. 

Atchison, David Rice, an Amer¬ 
ican legislator, born in Frogtown, Ky., 
Aug. 11, 1807; was educated for the 
bar, and began practicing in Missouri, 
in 1830. In 1843, while Judge of Cir¬ 
cuit Court, he was appointed United 
States Senator to fill a vacancy. He 
was twice elected to the last office, 
and during several sessions was Presi¬ 
dent pro tern, of the Senate. During 
Sunday, March 4, 1849, he was the 
legal President of the United States, 
as Gen. Taylor, the President-elect, 
was not sworn into office until the fol¬ 
lowing day. The city of Atchison, 
Kan., was named after him. He died 
in Clinton county, Mo., June 26, 1886. 

Ate, in Greek mythology, the god¬ 
dess of hate, injustice, crime and ret¬ 
ribution. Ate is seldom personified. 

Ateles, a genus of South Ameri¬ 
can monkeys, of the division with long 
prehensile tails, to which the name 
Sapajou is sometimes applied. 

Atelier, in French, a workshop; a 
studio; more especially applied to an 
artist’s work-room. Ateliers Nation- 




Athabasca 


Athanasian Creed 


aux, or National Workshops. Since 
1845, it has been the custom in France, 
during severe winters, or in times of 
distress caused by stagnation of trade, 
to open temporary workshops, in or¬ 
der to give employment to mechanics 
who were out of work. These work¬ 
shops were called Ateliers de Charity, 
until 1848, when the Provisional Gov¬ 
ernment of the Republic reopened a 
vast number of these establishments 
under the name of Ateliers Nation- 
aux. They were under the control of 
a department called “ The Committee 
of the Government for the Workmen;” 
they were all, however, badly organ¬ 
ized, and failed calamitously. The 
principle on which they were conduct¬ 
ed was, that every workman should 
have a living provided for him on a 
fixed scale. The result was, that 
workmen soon left private employers, 
and entered the national work-shops. 
The numbers who flocked in soon be¬ 
came alarming. More than 100,000 
men enrolled themselves, and insubor¬ 
dination soon began to show itself. 
Danger was imminent, and the Na¬ 
tional Assembly ordered the dissolu¬ 
tion of the ateliers nationaux, an act 
which became the pretext for the terri¬ 
ble insurrection which ensanguined 
Paris in June, 1848. 

Athabasca, a river, lake and dis¬ 
trict of Canada. The Athabasca 
river rises on the E. slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains in the district of 
Alberta, flows in a N. E. direction 
through the district of the same name, 
and falls into Lake Athabasca after a 
course of about 600 miles. Lake Ath¬ 
abasca, or Lake of the Hills, is about 
190 miles S. S. E. of the Great Slave 
Lake, with which it is connected by 
means of the Slave river, a continua¬ 
tion of the Peace. It is about 200 
miles in length from E. to W., and 
about 35 miles wide at the broadest 
part, but gradually narrows to a point 
at either extremity. The district of 
Athabasca, formed 1882, on Sept. 1, 
1905, was merged in the provinces of 
Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is in¬ 
tersected by the Athabasca and Peace 
rivers and, as yet, has a scanty popu¬ 
lation. T^he name is also given to a 
family of Indians. JThe area of the 
district was about 251,300 sq. m. 

Athabascan Indians, a linguistic 
stock of North American Indians, ex¬ 


tending from British North America 
and Alaska to Mexico, who derive 
their name from Lake Athabasca in 
British North America. 

Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, 
King of Israel, and wife of Jehoram, 
King of Judah, was born about 927, 
and died about 878 B. c. She was a 
woman of abandoned character, and 
fond of power; who, after the death of 
her son Ahaziah, opened her way to 
the throne by the murder of every 
prince of the royal blood. She reign¬ 
ed six years: in the seventh, the high- 
priest Jehoiada placed Joash, the 
young son of Ahaziah, on the throne 
of his father, and Athaliah was put to 
death. 

Athanasian Creed, a formulary 
or confession of faith, said to have 
been drawn up by Athanasius, Bishop 
of Alexandria, in the 4th century, to 
justify himself against the calumnies 
of his Arian enemies. That it was 
really composed by this father seems 
more than doubtful; and modern di¬ 
vines generally concur in the opinion 
of Dr. Waterfand, that it was written 
by Hilary, Bishop of Arles, in the 5tb 
century. It is certainly very ancient: 
for it had become so famous in the 
0th century as to be commented upon, 
together with the Lord’s Prayer and 
Apostles’ Creed, by Venantius Fortu- 
natus. Bishop of Poitiers. It was not, 
however, then styled the Athanasian 
Creed, but simply the Catholic Faith. 
It is supposed to have received the 
name of Athanasius on account of its 
agreeing with his doctrines, and being 
an excellent summary of the subjects 
of controversy between him and the 
Arians. The true key to the Athana¬ 
sian Creed lies in the knowledge of 
the errors to which it was opposed. 
The Sabellians considered the Father, 
Son and Holy Spirit as one in per¬ 
son ; this was “ confounding the per¬ 
sons : ” the Arians considered them as 
differing in essence; this was “ divid¬ 
ing the substance; ” and against these 
two errors was the creed originally 
framed. This creed was used in 
France about the year 850; was re¬ 
ceived in Spain about 100 years later, 
and in Germany about the same time. 
It was both said and sung in Eng¬ 
land in the 10th century; was com¬ 
monly used in Italy at the expiration 
of that century, and at Rome a little 





Athanasius 


Athletes 


later. This creed is appointed to be 
read in the Church of England. 

Athanasius, St., one of the fa¬ 
thers of the Christian Church, born 
at Alexandria about 296 A. d. He 
became Patriarch of Alexandria in 
328, being afterward deposed and re¬ 
instated five times. He died in Alex¬ 
andria, May 2, 373. 

Atheism, literally, disbelief in a 
God, if such an attainment is possi¬ 
ble ; or, more loosely, doubt of the ex¬ 
istence of a God; practically, a denial 
that anything can be known about the 
supernatural, supposing it to exist. 

Athel, or iEthel, an Old English 
word meaning noble, eminent not only 
in blood or by descent but in mind; 
frequently a part of Anglo-Saxon 
proper names. 

Atheling, a title of honor among 
the Anglo-Saxons, meaning one who is 
of noble blood. 

Athena, or Athene, a Greek god¬ 
dess, identified by the Romans with 
Minerva, the representative of the in¬ 
tellectual powers; the daughter of Zeus 
(Jupiter) and Metis (that is, wisdom 
or cleverness). 

Athenaeum, or Athenenm, a 

public place frequented by professors 
of the liberal arts, and where rhetori¬ 
cians declaimed, and the poets read 
aloud their works. At Athens these 
assemblies first took place in the tem¬ 
ple of Minerva, whence the name. 

Athens, anciently the capital of 
Attica and center of Greek culture, 
now the capital of the Kingdom of 
Greece. It is situated in the central 
plain of Attica, about 4 miles from 
the Saronic Gulf or Gulf of iEgina, 
an arm of the iEgean Sea running in 
between the mainland and the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus. It is said to have been 
founded about 1550 b. c. by Cecrops, 
:he mythical Pelasgian hero, and to 
have borne the name Cecropia until 
under Erechtheus it received the name 
of Athens in honor of Athene. 
It disputed with Sparta the su¬ 
premacy of Greece, which was then 
virtually the civilized world, and was 
beaten in the struggle. It remained, 
however, the centre of art and culture 
until long after the rise of Rome, to 
which with the rest of Greece it be¬ 
came subject. 

The modern city mostly lies north¬ 


ward and eastward from the Acropo¬ 
lis, and consists mainly of straight 
and well built streets. Among the 
principal buildings are the royal pal¬ 
ace, a stately building with a facade 
of Pentelic marble (completed in 
1843), the university, the academy, 
public library, theater, and observa¬ 
tory. The university was opened in 
1836, and has 1,400 students. There 
are valuable museums, in particular 
the National Museum, and that in the 
Polytechnic School, which embraces 
the Schliemann collection, etc. These 
are constantly being added to by exca¬ 
vations. There are four foreign ar- 
chaeological schools or institutes, the 
French, German, American, and Brit¬ 
ish. Tramways have been made in the 
principal streets, and the city is con¬ 
nected by railway with its port, the 
Pirmus. Pop. 111,486. 

Athens, American School at, 
an institution for classical study, 
founded in Athens, Greece, in 1882. 

Atherstone, Edwin, an English 
poet, born in Nottingham, England, 
about 1788; died Jan. 29, 1872. 

Atherton, George William, an 
American educator, born in Boxford, 
Mass., June 20, 1837; was brought up 
in a cotton mill, and afterward on a 
farm; worked his way through 
Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale 
College; was Professor of Political 
Economy and Constitutional Law in 
Rutgers College, N. J., in 1869-1882; 
admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 
1878; and became President of the 
Pennsylvania State College in 1882. 

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin, 
an American author, born in San 
Francisco, Cal.; daughter of Thomas 
L. Horn and Gertrude Franklin, and 
great-grandniece of Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin ; was educated in California and 
Kentucky, and married the late George 
H. B. Atherton. She began her liter¬ 
ary work while living in San Fran¬ 
cisco, in 1878, and has made a 
specialty of describing Spanish life in 
California as it was previous to 1846. 

Athletes, combatants who took 
part in the public games of Greece. 
The profession was an honorable one; 
tests of birth, position, and character 
were imposed, and crowns, statues, 
special privileges, and pensions were 
among the rewards of success. In 





Athos 


Atlantic Ocean 


April, 1896, the ancient Olympic 
games were revived at Athens (the 
776th Olympiad) under the personal 
patronage of the King of Greece, who 
presented crowns of victory to 44 con¬ 
testants, of whom 11 were from the 
United States, the largest number of 
victors from any country. 

Athos, Mount, or Hagion-Oros, 
or Monte-Santo, a famous moun¬ 
tain of Turkey in Europe, on a pen¬ 
insula projecting into the ^Egean Sea, 
between the Gulfs of Contesa and 
Monte-Santo. In modern times, 
Athos has been occupied for an 
extended period by a number of 
monks of the Greek Church, who live 
in a sort of fortified monasteries, in 
number about 20, of different degrees 
of magnitude and importance. These, 
with the farms or metochis attached 
to them, occupy the whole peninsula; 
hence it has derived its modern name 
of Monte-Santo. 

Atkinson, Edward, an American 
political economist, born in Brook¬ 
line, Mass., Feb. 10, 1827; was edu¬ 
cated in private schools and at Dart¬ 
mouth College. He has become widely 
known by his papers and pamphlets on 
trade competition, banking, railroad¬ 
ing, fire prevention, the money ^ques¬ 
tion, etc. He died Dec. 11, 1905. 

Atkinson, George Francis, an 
American botanist, born in Raism- 
ville, Mich., Jan. 26, 1854; was grad¬ 
uated at Cornell University in 1885; 
Associate Professor of Entomology 
and General Zoology in the University 
of North Carolina, in 1886-1888 ; Pro¬ 
fessor of Zoology and Botany in the 
University of South Carolina; and 
Botanist of the State Experiment 
Station in 1888-1889; Professor of 
Biology in the Alabama Polytechnic 
Institute, and Biologist of the Experi¬ 
ment Station in 1889-1892; became 
Professor of Botany in Cornell Uni¬ 
versity, and Botanist of the Experi¬ 
ment Station there in 1896. He is a 
member of numerous scientific socie¬ 
ties, and author of “Biology of Ferns, 
“Elementary Botany,” and many tech¬ 
nical papers. 

Atlanta, city and capital of the 
State of Georgia and of Fulton coun¬ 
ty; on the Atlanta and West Point, 
the Central of Georgia, the Georgia, 
the Seaboard Air Line, the Southern, 


and the Western and Atlantic rail¬ 
roads ; 171 miles N. by W. of Augusta. 
The city is not only the largest in the 
State, but, commercially and histor¬ 
ically, is one of the most important in 
the South. Bank clearings total over 
$131,000,000 a year. The chief build¬ 
ing is the magnificent capitol com¬ 
pleted March, 1891. 

After being besieged by the Federal 
army, under General Sherman, and 
bombarded for 40 days, it was cap¬ 
tured Sept. 2, 1864. General Sherman, 
before starting on his march to the 
sea, burned the city. After the war, 
the city recuperated more rapidly than 
any other in the South. In 1881 an 
exposition of the Cotton States and in 
1895 a great Cotton States and Inter¬ 
national Exposition were held here, the 
last in Piedmont Park, in which the 
United States and many of the North¬ 
ern States, besides European and 
South American countries, took part. 
Pop. (1890) 65,533; (1900) 89,872. 

Atlantes, in architecture, male fig¬ 
ures used in place of columns or pilas¬ 
ters for the support of an entablature. 

Atlantic Ocean, the name given 
to the vast expanse of sea lying be¬ 
tween the W. coasts of Europe and 
Africa, and the E. coasts of North 
and South America, and extending 
from the Arctic to the Antarctic Seas. 
Its greatest breadth is between the W. 
coast of Northern Africa and the E. 
coast of IHorida in North America, 
the distance here being 4,150 miles. 
If the Gulf of Mexico, in reality one 
of its bays, be included, it will extend 
to 5,000 miles. Its least breadth, 
which is between Norway and Green¬ 
land, is about 930 miles. Between 
Cape St. Roque, Brazil, and Sierra 
Leone, the breadth is 1,730 miles. Its 
superficial extent has been estimated* 
at 25,000,000 square miles. 

The great currents of the Atlantic 
are the Gulf Stream, the equatorial 
current — which may be divided into 
the main equatorial current, the N. 
equatorial current, and the S. equa¬ 
torial currents, the North African and 
Guinea current, the South connecting 
current, the Southern Atlantic cur¬ 
rent, Cape Horn current, Rennel 
current, and the Arctic current. 

The Gulf Stream is a continuation 
of the main equatorial current, and 
partly of the N. equatorial current, 






Atlantic Telegraph 


Atlee 


both W. drift currents produced by the 
trade winds. The former passes across 
the Atlantic to the American coast, 
upon which it strikes from Cape St. 
Roque to the Antilles. On being 
turned by the coast it runs along it at 
a rate of 30 to 50 miles per day, and 
sometimes at a higher speed, till it 
enters the Gulf of Mexico, from which 
having previously received part of the 
waters of the N. equatorial current, 
it issues between Florida and Cuba 
under the name of the Gulf stream. 
It afterward flows nearly parallel to 
the coast of the United States, sepa¬ 
rated from it by a belt of cold water. 
Off Cape Hatteras it spreads into an 
expanding channel, reaching a breadth 
of 167 miles, and consisting of three 
warm sections with two cold belts in¬ 
terposed. On passing Sandy Hook 
it turns E. and continues to be recog¬ 
nizable, partly by a blue color derived 
from the silt of the Mississippi, till 
about Ion. 30° W., where, with a 
greatly diminished temperature, it is 
found flowing nearly due E. 

Atlantic Telegraph, lines laid on 
the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. The 
union of the Old and New Worlds by 
means of the electric telegraph, prob¬ 
ably the boldest feat of electric engi¬ 
neering ever projected, was first sug¬ 
gested by Prof. Morse in 1843. When 
Lieut. Maury of the United States 
navy discovered that between Ireland 
and Newfoundland the bed of the ocean 
was nearly level and covered with 
soft ooze, and Cyrus W. Field and 
others had thoroughly discussed the 
practical methods, a company was 
formed for the purpose, in 1856, to 
which the Governments of Great Brit¬ 
ain and the United States gave liberal 
guarantees. This company, after a 
fruitless attempt to lay an electric ca¬ 
ble in 1857, finally succeeded in 1858. 

The result was not encouraging. 
The current obtained through the wire 
was so weak that a congratulatory 
message from the Queen to the Presi- 
rent, consisting of 90 words, took 67 
minutes to transmit. After a few 
more messages, the cable became use¬ 
less. In consequence of this failure, it 
was not until 1865 that capital was 
found to make another attempt. 
The paying-out journey was com¬ 
menced at Yalentia, but when the ves¬ 
sel was 1,064 miles from that port, 


the cable broke from an accidental 
strain. After a fruitless effort to fish 
up the broken cable from the bottom, 
it was abandoned for the season. In 
1866 another line, so modified in con¬ 
struction as to be both lighter and 
stronger than the previous one, was 
successfully laid -by the “ Great East¬ 
ern.” The 1865 cable was then, by 
means of the same vessel, grappled for, 
and brought up from a depth of two 
miles, spliced, and completed to Trin¬ 
ity Bay. 

The practicability of laying an elec¬ 
tric wire across the Atlantic being 
thus demonstrated, many lines have 
been projected, and several of them 
carried out. Marconi’s wireless tele¬ 
graph system has introduced a new 
era in transatlantic telegraphy, but 
has not, so far, been developed suffi¬ 
ciently to interfere with the business 
of the cable companies. 

Atlantides, a name given to the 
Pleiades, which were fabled t© be the 
seven daughters of Atlas or of his 
brother Hesperus. 

Atlantis, or Atlantica, an island, 

said by Plato and others to have once 
existed in the ocean immediately be¬ 
yond the Straits of Gades; that is, 
in what is now called the Atlantic 
Ocean, a short distance W. of the 
Straits of Gibraltar. Atlantis is rep¬ 
resented as having ultimately sunk 
beneath the waves, leaving only iso¬ 
lated rocks and shoals in its place. 
Geologists have discovered that the 
coast-line of Western Europe did once 
run farther in the direction of Amer¬ 
ica than now; but its submergence 
seems to have taken place long before 
historic times. 

Atlas, in Greek mythology, the 
name of a Titan whom Zeus con¬ 
demned to bear the vault of heaven. 
The same name is given to a collection 
of maps and charts, and was first used 
by Gerard Mercator in the 16th cen¬ 
tury, the figure of Atlas bearing the 
globe being given on the title-pages 
of such works. 

Atlee, Washington Lemuel, an 

American surgeon, born in Lancaster, 
Pa., Feb. 22, 1808; became noted as a 
pioneer in ovariotomy and the removal 
of uterine fibroid tumors. He died 
Sept. 6, 1878. 




Atmometer 


Atrato 


Atmometer, an instrument invent¬ 
ed by Sir John Leslie for measuring 
the quantity of moisture exhaled in 
a given time from any humid sur¬ 
face. 

Atmosphere, literally, the air sur¬ 
rounding our planet, and which, as the 
etymology implies, is, speaking broad¬ 
ly, a “ sphere ” (not, of course, a 
solid, but a hollow one). With strict 
accuracy, it is a hollow spheroid. Its 
exact height is unknown. At 2.7 miles 
above the surface of the earth, half 
its density is gone, and the remainder 
is again halved for every further rise 
of 2.7 miles. Some small density 
would remain at 45 miles high. At 80 
miles, this would have all but disap¬ 
peared. But from sundry observa¬ 
tions, made at Rio Janeiro and else¬ 
where, on the twilight arc, M. Liais 
infers that the extreme limit of the 
atmosphere is between 198 and 212 
miles. In the lower strata of the at¬ 
mosphere, the temperature falls at 
least a degree for every 352 feet of 
ascent; hence, even in the tropics, 
mountains of any considerable eleva¬ 
tion are snow-capped. The atmosphere 
appears to us blue, because, absorbing 
the red and yellow solar rays, it re¬ 
flects the blue ones. It revolves with 
the earth, but being extremely mobile, 
winds are generated in it, so that it is 
rarely long at rest. Evaporation, con¬ 
tinually at work, sends into it quanti¬ 
ties of water m a gaseous state; clouds 
are formed, and in due time descend in 
rain. The atmosphere always con¬ 
tains free electricity, sometimes posi¬ 
tive and sometimes negative. There 
appears to be no atmosphere around 
the moon; but the case seems different 
with the sun, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, 
and Saturn. 

Atmospheric Pressure, the pres¬ 
sure exerted by the atmosphere, not 
merely downward, but in every direc¬ 
tion. It amounts to 14.7 pounds of 
weight on each square inch, which is 
often called in round numbers 15. On 
a square foot it is =2,160 pounds, or 
nearly a ton. It would act upon our 
bodies with crushing effect were it not 
that the pressure, operating in all di¬ 
rections, produces an equilibrium. If 
any gas or liquid press upon a surface 
with a force of 15 pounds on a square 
inch, it is generally described as hav¬ 
ing a pressure of one atmosphere; if 


60 pounds, of four atmospheres; if 120 
pounds, of eight atmospheres, and 
so on. 

Atmospheric Railway. (See 
Pneumatic Dispatch). 

Atomic Theory, a theory as to the 
existence and properties of atoms; es¬ 
pecially, in chemistry, the theory ac¬ 
counting for the fact that in compound 
bodies the elements combine in certain 
constant proportions, by assuming that 
all bodies are composed of ultimate 
atoms, the weight of which is different 
in different kinds of matter. It is as¬ 
sociated with the name of Dalton, who 
systematized and extended the imper¬ 
fect results of his predecessors. On 
its practical side the atomic theory 
asserts three Laws of Combining Pro¬ 
portions : (1) The Law of Constant 

or Definite Proportions, teaching that 
in every chemical compound the na¬ 
ture and proportion of the constituent 
elements are definite and invariable; 
(2) The Law of Combination in Mul¬ 
tiple Proportions, according to which 
the several proportions in which one 
element unites with another, invariably 
bear towards each other a simple rela¬ 
tion ; (3) The Law of Combination in 
Reciprocal Proportions, that the pro¬ 
portions in which two elements com¬ 
bine with a third also represent the 
proportions in which, or in some sim¬ 
ple multiple of which, they will them¬ 
selves combine. Without expressly 
adopting the atomic theory, chemists 
have followed Dalton in the use of the 
terms atom and atomic weight, yet in 
using the word atom it should be held 
in mind that it merely denotes the pro¬ 
portions in which elements unite. 

Atonement, in theology, the sac¬ 
rificial offering made by Christ in ex¬ 
piation of the sins, according to the 
Calvinists, of the elect only; according 
to the Arminians, of the whole human 
race. 

Atrato, a river of Colombia, inter¬ 
esting because it has repeatedly been 
made to bear a part in schemes for a 
ship-canal across the Isthmus of Pana¬ 
ma. Rising on the Western Cordillera 
at an altitude of 10,560 feet, above 
sea-level, it runs 305 miles northward 
through low, swampy country, and 
falls by several mouths, interrupted 
by bars, into the Gulf of Darien. It 
is navigable by steamers for fully 250 




Atrium 


Attock 


miles, being 750 to 1,000 feet wide, 
and 8 to 70 feet deep. A route, sur¬ 
veyed by the United States Govern¬ 
ment in 1871, proposed to connect the 
Atrato and the Jurador, flowing into 
the Pacific, by a canal 48 miles long. 
At the Paris International Congress 
(1879), for deciding the best route for 
the interoceanic canal, that route was, 
with various others, discussed and re¬ 
jected in favor of De Lesseps’ line 
from Limon to Panama. Gold-dust is 
found in and about the Atrato. 

Atrium, in ancient times, tl^e hall 
or principal room in an ancient Ro¬ 
man house. In a large house the 
rooms opened into it from all sides, 
and were lighted from it. 

Atrophy, a wasting of the flesh 
due to some interference with the nu¬ 
tritive processes. It may arise from 
a variety of causes, such as perma¬ 
nent, oppressive and exhausting pas¬ 
sions, organic disease, a want of prop¬ 
er food or of pure air, suppurations in 
important organs, copious evacuations 
of blood, saliva, semen, etc., and it is 
also sometimes produced by poisons, 
for example, arsenic, mercury, lead, in 
miners, painters, gilders, etc. 

Atropin, or Atropine, a crystal¬ 
line alkaloid obtained from the deadly 
nightshade (atropa belladonna). It is 
very poisonous and produces persist¬ 
ent dilation of the pupil. 

Attache, a military, naval or sub¬ 
ordinate member of the diplomatic ser¬ 
vice attached to an embassy or lega¬ 
tion. 

Attachment, in law, the taking 
into the custody of the law the person 
or property of one already before the 
court, or of one whom it is sought to 
bring before it. 

Attack, the opening act of hostil¬ 
ity by a force seeking to dislodge an 
enemy from its position. 

Attainder, the legal consequences 
of a sentence of death or outlawry 
pronounced against a person for trea¬ 
son or felony, the person being said 
to be attainted. 

In the United States, the Federal 
Constitution declares that “ No bill of 
attainder shall be passed, and no at¬ 
tainder of treason, in consequence of a 
judicial sentence, shall work corrup¬ 
tion of blood or forfeiture except dur¬ 
ing the life of the person attainted.” 


Attar, Ferid eddin, a celebrated 

Persian poet, born near Nishapur in 
1119 ; died about 1229 (?). 

Attar, or Otto, o£ Roses (oil of 
roses), an essential oil obtained from 
the petals of three species of roses, 
viz.: rosa centifolia, moschata and 
damascena. 

Atterbury, Francis, an English 
prelate, born March 6, 1662, and ed¬ 
ucated at Westminster and Oxford. 
He died Feb. 15, 1732, and his body 
was interred in Westminster Abbey. 

Attic, pertaining to Attica or to 
Athens. Pure; elegant; classical; 
poignant; characterized by keenness 
of intellect, delicacy of wit, purity of 
elegance, soundness of judgment and 
most expressive brevity; as, the Attic 
Muse. Attic dialect is that dialect of 
the Greek language which was spoken 
in Attica. It was the most refined 
and polished of all the dialects of an¬ 
cient Greece. 

Attica, a State of ancient Greece, 
the capital of which, Athens, was 
once the first city in the world. 

Atticus, Titus Pomponius, a 
noble Roman, the contemporary of 
Cicero and Csesar. ■ 

Attila, the famous leader of the 
Huns, was the son of Mundzuk, and 
the successor, in conjunction with his 
brother Bleda, of his uncle Rhuas. . 
The rule of the two leaders extended 
over a great part of Northern Asia 
and Europe, and they threatened the 
Eastern Empire, and twice compelled 
the weak Theodosius II. to purchase 
an inglorious peace. Attila caused his 
brother Bleda to be murdered (444), 
and in a short time extended his do¬ 
minion over all the peoples of Ger¬ 
many and exacted tribute from the 
Eastern and Western emperors. He 
invaded Italy and conquered and de¬ 
stroyed Aquileia, Padua, Vicenza, Ve¬ 
rona, and Bergamo, laid waste the 
plains of Lombardy, and was march¬ 
ing on Rome when Pope Leo I. went 
with the Roman ambassadors to his 
camp and succeeded in obtaining a 
peace. Attila went back to Hungary, 
and died on the night of his marriage 
with Hilda or Ildico (453), either 
from the bursting of a blood vessel or 
by her hand. 

Attock, a town and fort of the 
Punjab, on the left or E. bank of the 





Attorney 


Aublet 


Indus. The great railway bridge 
across the Indus here was opened in 
1883. It has five arches 130 feet high, 
and renders continuous the railway 
connection between Calcutta and Pesh- 
awur (1,600 miles). 

Attorney, a person appointed to 
do something for and in the stead and 
name of another. An attorney at law 
is a person qualified to appear for an¬ 
other before a court of law to prose¬ 
cute or defend any action on behalf of 
his client. 

Attorney-General. In the United 
States the Department of Justice is 
presided over by the Attorney-General, 
whose duty it is to furnish all legal 
advice needed by Federal authorities, 
and conduct all litigation in which the 
United States is concerned. The 
States have similar officers. 

Attraction, in natural philosophy, 
a force in virtue of which the material 
particles of all bodies tend necessarily 
to approach each other. 

Capillary attraction, meaning the 
attraction excited by a hair-like tube 
- on a liquid within it, is, properly 
speaking, a variety of adhesion. 

In magnetism, the power excited by 
a magnet or loadstone of drawing and 
attaching iron to itself. 

In electricity, the power possessed 
by an electrified body of drawing cer¬ 
tain other bodies to itself. 

Atwater, Lyman Hotchkiss, an 
American theologian, born in Hamp¬ 
den, Conn., Feb. 23, 1813; died in 
Princeton, N. J., Feb. 17, 1883. 

Atwater, Wilber Olin, an Amer¬ 
ican chemist, born in Johnsburg, N. 
Y., May 3, 1844; was graduated at 
Wesleyan University in 1865; made a 
special study of chemistry in the Shef¬ 
field Scientific School of Yale and the 
Universities of Leipsic and Berlin; 
became Professor of Chemistry in 
East Tennessee University in 1873; 
was director of the Connecticut Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station in 1875- 
1877, and was appointed director of 
the Storrs (Conn.) Experiment Sta¬ 
tion in 1887. He has been connected 
for several years with the. United 
States Department of Agriculture; 
has published a large numoer of pa¬ 
pers on chemical and allied subjects; 
and, since 1894, has given much atten¬ 
tion to nutrition investigations. 


Atwill, Edward Robert, an 

American clergyman, born in Red 
Hook, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1840; was grad¬ 
uated at Columbia College. in 1862, 
and at the General Theological Sem¬ 
inary 1864; consecrated the first Prot¬ 
estant Episcopal bishop of West Mis¬ 
souri, Oct. 14, 1890. 

Atwood, Isaac Morgan, an 
American educator, born in Pembroke, 
N. Y., March 24, 1838; was ordained 
in the Universalist Church in 1861; 
held several pastorates; edited “ The 
Christian Leader ” 1867-1873; became 
an associate editor of the “ Universal¬ 
ist Leader ; ” and was chosen president 
of the Canton (N. Y.) Theological 
Seminary in 1879. 

Atwood, Melville, an Anglo- 
American geologist, born in Prescott 
Hall, England, July 31, 1812; studied 
lithology, microscopy, and geology 
early in life, and engaged in gold and 
diamond mining in Brazil. In 1843 
he made a discovery that greatly en¬ 
hanced the value of zinc ore. After 
coming to the United States, in 1852, 
he invented the blanket system of 
amalgamation. He also established 
the value of the famous Comstock sil¬ 
ver lode, by an assay of minerals in 
that region. He died in Berkeley, 
Cal., April 25, 1898. 

Auber, Daniel Francois Es¬ 
prit, a French operatic composer, 
born Jan. 29, 1782, at Caen, in Nor¬ 
mandy ; was originally intended for a 
mercantile career, but devoted him¬ 
self to music, studying under Cheru¬ 
bini. He died in Paris, May 13, 1871. 

Auberlen, Karl August, a Ger¬ 
man Protestant theologian, born at 
Fellbach, Wiirtemberg, Nov. 19, 1824; 
died at Basel, May 2, 1864. 

Aubert, Joachim Marie Jean 
Jacques Alexandre Jules, a 
French general and military writer; 
born in 1804; prominent in several 
campaigns, and was made commander 
of the Legion of Honor in 1860. He 
is best known to the public as a jour¬ 
nalist and historical writer. He died 
in 1890. 

Aubertin, Charles, a French 
scholar, born in St. Didier, Dec. 24, 
1825. 

Aublet, Albert, a French paint¬ 
er, born in Paris; studied historical 
painting under Gerome; won a first- 




Aubrey 


Auersperg 


class medal in the Paris Exposition of 
1889, and the decoration of the Legion 
of Honor in 1890. 

Aubrey, Jobn, an English anti¬ 
quary, born in Wiltshire March 12 or 
Nov. 3, 1626; died in June, 1697. 

Aubry de Montdidier, a French 
soldier, supposed to have been mur¬ 
dered by his comrade, Richard de Ma- 
caire, in 1371. He is the hero of 
many dramas, founded on the details 
of the discovery of his murderer. His 
faithful dog persisted in pursuing and 
harassing Macaire, and this coming to 
the ears of King Charles V., he or¬ 
dered a fight to be tried between them. 
The dog was victorious, and he has 
ever since been famous in story as the 
“ Dog of Montargis; ” from the place 
of the fight. 

Auburn Theological Seminary, 

a Presbyterian institution in Auburn, 
N. Y.; organized in 1820. 

Auchmuty, Richard Tylden, 

an American philanthropist, born in 
New York city in 1831; received a 
collegiate education; practiced archi¬ 
tecture for many years with James 
Ren wick; served in the Union army 
through the Civil War; declined sev¬ 
eral public offices after its close, and 
with his wife founded the New York 
Trade Schools, on a plan entirely orig¬ 
inal and which almost immediately 
became productive of large results, at 
a cost of $250,000. The success of 
this institution was made permanent 
by J. Pierpont Morgan, who, in 1892, 
gave it an endowment of $500,000. 
Auchmuty died in Lenox, Mass., July 
18, 1893. 

Auckland, a town in New Zealand, 
in the North Island, founded in 1840, 
and situated on Waitemata harbor, 
one of the finest harbors of New Zea¬ 
land, where the island is only 6 miles 
across, there being another harbor 
(Manukau) on the opposite side of 
the isthmus. It was formerly the cap¬ 
ital of the colony. Pop. (1901), in¬ 
cluding suburbs, 67,226. 

Auckland Islands, a group lying 
in the Pacific Ocean to the S. of New 
Zealand. The largest of these islands 
is about 30 miies long by 15 broad, 
and is covered with dense vegetation. 
They are almost entirely uninhabited, 
belong to the British and are a sta¬ 
tion for whaling ships. 


Auction, the public disposal of 
goods to the highest bidder. 

Audiometer, or Audimeter, an 

instrument devised by Prof. Hughes, 
the inventor of the microphone. Orig¬ 
inally its object was to measure with 
precision the sense of hearing. 

Audiphone, an invention to assist 
the hearing of deaf persons in whom 
the auditory nerve is not entirely de¬ 
stroyed. 

Audit, an examination into ac¬ 
counts or dealings with money or 
property, along with vouchers or other 
documents connected therewith, espe¬ 
cially by proper officers, or persons ap¬ 
pointed for the purpose. 

Audsley, George Ashdown, a 
Scottish-American architect, born in 
Elgin, Scotland, Sept. 6, 1838; estab¬ 
lished himself in the United States in 
1892, and subsequently became promi¬ 
nent both as an architect and author. 

Audubon, John James, an 
American naturalist of French extrac¬ 
tion, born near New Orleans, May 4, 
1780; was educated in France, and 
studied painting under David. In 1798 
he settled in Pennsylvania, but, hav¬ 
ing a great love for ornithology, he 
set out in 1810 with his wife and 
child, descended the Ohio, and for 
many years roamed the forests in every 
direction, drawing the birds which he 
shot. In 1826 he went to England, 
exhibited his drawings in Liverpool, 
Manchester and Edinburgh, and final¬ 
ly published them in an unrivaled 
work of double-folio size, with 435 
colored plates of birds the size of life 
(“The Birds of America,” 4 vols., 
1827-1839), with an accompanying 
text (“ Ornithological Biography,” 5 
vols., 8 vo., partly written by Prof. 
Macgillivray). On his final return to 
the United States he labored with Dr. 
Bachman on an illustrated work en¬ 
titled “ The Quadrupeds of America ” 
(1843-1850, 3 vols.). He died in 
New York city, June 27. 1851. 

Auerbach^ Berthold, a German 
novelist, born at Nordstetten, Wur- 
temberg, Feb. 28, 1812. He died at 
Cannes, France, Feb. 8, 1882. 

Auersperg, Autou Alexander, 
Graf von, a German poet, born at 
Laibach, April 11, 1806. He died at 
Gratz, Sept. 12, 1876. His poems are 
very popular in Germany. 







Auerstadt 


August 


Auerstadt, a village in the Prus¬ 
sian Province of Saxony, 10 miles W. 
of Naumburg. It is famous for the 
great battle which took place there 
Oct. 14, 1806, between the French un¬ 
der Davoust, and the Prussian army 
under Duke Charles of Brunswick, 
which ended in a great victory for the 
former. The Prussians, who num¬ 
bered fully 48,000, left nearly half of 
their men dead or wounded on the 
ground, while the French (30,000) es¬ 
caped with a loss of only 7,000. Na¬ 
poleon, who had, on the same day, 
defeated the main army of Frederick 
William III. at Jena, made Davoust 
Duke of Auerstadt. 

Augeas, a fabulous king of Elis, 
in Greece, whose stable contained 
3,000 oxen, and had not been cleaned 
for 30 years. Hercules undertook to 
clear away the filth in one day in re¬ 
turn for a 10th part of the cattle, and 
executed the task by turning the river 
Alpheus through it. Augeas, having 
broken the bargain, was deposed and 
slain by Hercules. 

Augsburg, Confession of, name 
given to the celebrated declaration of 
faith, compiled by Melanchthon, re¬ 
vised by Luther and other reformers, 
and read before the Diet of Augsburg, 
June 25, 1530. It consisted of 28 arti¬ 
cles, seven of which refuted Roman 
Catholic errors, and the remaining 21 
set forth the Lutheran creed. Soon 
after its promulgation, the last hope 
of reforming the Roman Catholic 
Church was abandoned, and complete 
severance followed. An answer by the 
Roman Catholics was read Aug. 3, 
1530; when the Diet declared that it 
had been refuted. Melanchthon then 
drew up another confession. The first 
is called the unaltered, and the sec¬ 
ond, the altered form. 

Augsburg, Diet of, the most cel¬ 
ebrated of the numerous diets held at 
Augsburg. Pope Clement VII. refus¬ 
ing to call a general council for the 
settlement of all religious disputes, 
the Emperor Charles V. summoned 
one to meet at Augsburg, June 20, 
1530. On the 25th the famous “ Con¬ 
fession ” was read; later an answer 
was made by the Catholics, whereupon 
the Protestants were ordered to con¬ 
form in all points to the Church of 
Rome, Charles V. giving them till 


April 15, 1531, to reunite with the 
Mother Church. On Nov. 22, the em¬ 
peror announced his intention to ex¬ 
ecute the edict of Worms, made severe 
enactments against the Protestants, 
and reconstituted the Imperial Cham¬ 
ber. The Protestants put in a counter 
declaration, and the Diet closed. 

Augsburg, League of, a league 
concluded at Augsburg, July 9, 1686, 
for the maintenance of the treaties of 
Munster and Nimeguen, and the truce 
of Ratisbon, and to resist the en¬ 
croachments of France. The contract¬ 
ing parties were the Emperor Leopold 
I., the Kings of Spain and Sweden, 
the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria, 
and the circles of Suabia, Franconia, 
Upper Saxony and Bavaria. 

Augur, Christopher Colon, an 
American military officer; born in 
New York, July 10, 1821; was gradu¬ 
ated at the United States Military 
Academy in 1843; became Major of 
the 13th United States Infantry in 
1861; Colonel of the 12th Infantry 
in 1866; Brigadier-General, United 
States army, March 4, 1869; Major- 
General in the volunteer service in 
1862; mustered out of that service in 
1866; and was retired in the regular 
army, July 16, 1885. He commanded 
a division in the battle of Cedar 
Mountain, being severely wounded. 
He died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 
16, 1898. 

Augurs, a college of diviners in 
ancient Rome, who predicted future 
events and read the will of the gods 
from the occurrence of certain signs, 
connected with thunder and light¬ 
ning; the flight and cries of birds; the 
feeding of the sacred chickens; the ac¬ 
tion of certain quadrupeds or serpents; 
accidents, such as spilling the salt, etc. 
The answers of the augurs and the 
signs were called auguries; bird-pre¬ 
dictions were auspices. Nothing was 
undertaken without the augurs, and 
by the words “alio die” (“meet on 
another day ”), they could dissolve the 
assembly of the people and annul de¬ 
crees passed at the meeting. 

August, the eighth month of our 
year, named by the Roman Emperor 
Augustus, after himself, being asso¬ 
ciated with several of his victories and 
other fortunate events. Before this it 
was called Sextilis or the sixth month 





Augusta Victoria 


(counting from March). July had 
been named for Julius Caesar and the 
Senate to please Augustus decreed that 
August should have equal length, tak¬ 
ing a day from February. 

Augusta Victoria, Duchess of 
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augus- 
tenburg, born Oct. 22, 1858; daugh¬ 
ter of the late Duke Friedrich; mar¬ 
ried Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, after¬ 
ward Wilhelm II., Feb. 27, 1881; be¬ 
came Empress of Germany and Queen 
of Prussia on the accession of her hus¬ 
band to the thrones in June, 1888. In 
1900 she had borne the Emperor-King 
seven children, the Crown Prince, 
Friedrich Wilhelm, being born May 
6, 1882. 

Augustine, Aurelius Augus¬ 
tinus, St., was born at Tagaste, in 
Africa, in 354, his mother, Monica, 
being a Christian, his father, Pa- 
tricius, a pagan. He was one of the 
most distinguished fathers of the early 
church. He died Aug. 28, 430, while 
Hippo was besieged by the Vandals. 

Augustine, or Austin, St., the 
Apostle of the English, flourished at 
the close of the 6th century, was sent 
with 40 monks by Pope Gregory I. to 
introduce Christianity into Saxon 
England, and was kindly received by 
Ethelbert, King of Kent, whom he 
converted, baptizing 10,000 of his sub¬ 
jects in one day. He died in 604 or 
605. 

Augustulus, Romulus, the last 
of the Western Roman emperors; 
reigned for one year (475-476), when 
he was overthrown by Odoacer and 
banished. 

Augustus, Caius Julius Caesar 
Octavianus, originally called Caius 
Octavius, the celebrated Roman em¬ 
peror, was the son of Caius Octavius 
and Atia, a daughter of Julia, the sis¬ 
ter of Julius Caesar. He was born 
63 b. c., and died a. d. 14. He was 
the first emperor of Rome in the full 
sense of exercising imperial power as 
a recognized monarch, and he was 
also one of the greatest, if not the 
greatest of the emperors, a liberal pa¬ 
tron of art, and broad and sagacious 
in the exercise of his authority. He 
is said to have “ found Rome of brick 
and left it of marble.” 

Auk, the name given to several sea 
birds, especially the great and the lit- 


Aurifaber 


tie auk. The great auk is from two 
to two and a half feet high, with 
short wings almost useless for flight. 
In the water, however, it makes way 
with astonishing rapidity. It is es¬ 
sentially a northern bird. It seems to 
be rapidly verging to extinction. 

Aulic, an epithet given to a coun¬ 
cil (the Reichshofrath) in the old 
German Empire, one of the two su¬ 
preme courts of the German Empire, 
the other being the court of the im¬ 
perial chamber (Reichskammerge- 
richt). It had not only concurrent 
jurisdiction with the latter court, but 
in many cases exclusive jurisdiction, 
in all feudal processes, and in crim¬ 
inal affairs, over the immediate feuda¬ 
tories of the emperor and in affairs 
which concerned the Imperial Govern¬ 
ment. The title is now applied in 
Germany in a general sense to the 
chief council of any department, po¬ 
litical, administrative, judicial or mili¬ 
tary. 

Aurelian, Lucius Domitius 
Aurelianus, an Emperor of Rome, 
distinguished for his military abilities 
and stern severity of character; was 
the son of a peasant of Illyricum. He 
was born about 212 a. d., and lost his 
life, a. d. 275, by assassination, the 
result of a conspiracy excited by a 
secretary whom he intended to call to 
account for peculation. 

Aureola, or Aureole, in paint¬ 
ings, an illumination surrounding a 
holy person, as Christ, a saint, or a 
martyr, intended to represent a lu¬ 
minous cloud or haze emanating from 
him. 

Aureus, the first gold coin which 
was coined at Rome, 207 B. c. Its 
value varied at different times, from 
about $3 to $6. 

Auricles of tke Heart, those two 
of the four cavities of the heart which 
are much smaller than the others, and 
each of which, moreover, has falling 
down upon its external face a flattened 
appendage, like the ear of a dog, from 
which the name of the whole struc¬ 
ture is derived. 

Auricula, a beautiful garden flow¬ 
er. It is a native of the Alpine dis¬ 
tricts of Italy, Switzerland, and Ger¬ 
many, and occurs also in Astrakhan. 

Aurifaber, the Latinized name of 
Johann Goldschmidt, one of Lu- 





Auriga 


Austin 


ther’s companions, born in 1519, be¬ 
came pastor at Erfurt in 1566; died 
there in 1579. He collected the un¬ 
published manuscripts of Luther. 

Auriga, in astronomy, the Wag¬ 
oner, a constellation of the northern 
hemisphere containing 68 stars, in¬ 
cluding Capella of the first magnitude. 

Auringer, Obadiah Cyrus, an 
American poet, born at Glens Falls, 
N. Y., June 4, 1849. He served for 
some years in the United States navy. 

Aurochs, the name of a species of 
ox, with a shaggy coat and mane, 
found by the Romans in the forests 
of Germany and Belgium, and still 
existing in small numbers in Lithu¬ 
ania, being preserved by strict pro¬ 
tective laws. It is not to be confound¬ 
ed with the urus of Csesar. 

Aurora, the dawning light before 
sunrise ; daybreak ; the morning. 

Aurora Borealis, a luminous me¬ 
teoric phenomenon appearing in the 
N. most frequently in high latitudes, 
the corresponding phenomenon in the 
southern hemisphere being called au¬ 
rora australis, and both being also 
called polar light, streamers, etc. 

Aurungzebe, known as the Great 
Mogul, or Emperor of Hindustan, 
born Oct. 22, 1618. He was the son 
of Shah of Jehan, and properly named 
Mohammed, but received from his 
grandfather that of Aurungzebe (Or¬ 
nament of the Throne), by which he 
is known to history. Aurungzebe died 
at Ahmednagar, in the Deccan, Feb. 
21, 1707, master of 21 provinces, and 
of a revenue of about $200,000,000. 

Auscultation, the art of discov¬ 
ering diseases within the body by 
means of the sense of hearing. Being 
carried out most efficiently by means 
of an instrument called a stethoscope, 
it is often called mediate auscultation. 

Auspices, among the Romans, 
omens, especially those drawn from 
the flight or other movements of birds, 
or, less properly, from the occurrence 
of lightning or thunder in particular 
parts of the sky. These were sup- 
osed to be indications of the will of 
eaven, and to reveal futurity. 

Austen, Jane, an English novelist, 
born at Steventon, Hampshire, of 
which parish her father was the rec¬ 
tor, Dec. 16, 1775; died, July 18, 1817. 


Austerlitz, a small town of Mo¬ 
ravia, on the Littawa, 13 miles S. E. 
of Briinn. In the vicinity, on Dec. 2, 
1805, was fought the famous battle 
that bears its name, between the 
French army of 80,000 men, com¬ 
manded by Napoleon, and the com¬ 
bined Russian and Austrian armies, 
numbering 84,000, under their respec¬ 
tive Emperors; in which the former 
achieved a signal victory. 

Austin, capital of the State of 
Texas, and county-seat of Travis co.; 
on the Colorado river; 230 miles N. 
W. of Galveston. It derives large 
power for manufacturing from the riv¬ 
er. Besides the State Capitol, the city 
contains the main building of the State 
University, four State asylums, the 
State Confederate Home. The Capi¬ 
tol, which cost $3,000,000, is in a 
square of 10 acres. The recent con¬ 
struction of a dam in the river has 
given the city a large and beautiful 
stretch of water, known as Lake Mc¬ 
Donald. The city was originally 
known as Waterloo; was named after 
Stephen F. Austin; became the capital 
of the Republic of Texas in 1839; and 
the capital of the State in 1872. Pop. 
(1900) 22,258. 

Austin, Alfred, an English poet, 
critic, and journalist, born at Head- 
ingly, near Leeds, May 30, 1835. He 
graduated from the University of Lon¬ 
don in 1853, was called to the bar in 
1857, and was editor of the “ National 
Review,” 1883-1893. He was ap¬ 
pointed poet laureate of England in 
1896. 

Austin, George Lowell, an 

American physician and writer, born 
in Massachusetts in 1849; died in 
1893. 

Austin, Henry, an American law¬ 
yer and legal writer, born in Boston, 
Mass., Dec. 21, 1858; wrote several 
valuable law books. 

Austin, Jane Goodwin, an Amer¬ 
ican novelist, born in Worcester, 
Mass., Feb. 25, 1831; was educated 
and thenceforth lived in Boston. She 
died in Boston, March 30, 1894. 

Austin, John, an English writer 
on jurisprudence, born fn Creeling 
Mill, Suffolk, March 3, 1790. From 
1826 to 1835 he filled the chair of 
Jurisprudence at London University. 
Died in Weybridge, Surrey, in Decern- 




Austin 


Australia 


ber, 1859. His wife, Sarah, one of 
the Taylors of Norwich, born in 1793, 
produced translations of German 
works, and other books bearing on 
Germany or its literature. She died 
in Weybridge, Surrey, Aug. 8, 1867. 
Her daughter, Lady Duff Gordon, 
translated several German works. 

Austin, Stephen Fuller, an 
American pioneer, born in Austinville, 
Va., Nov. 31, 1793; a son of Moses 
Austin, the real founder of the State 
of Texas, who, about 1820, obtained 
permission from the Mexican Govern¬ 
ment to establish an American colony 
in Texas, but died before his plans 
were accomplished. Stephen took up 
the work unfinished by his father, and 
located a thrifty colony on the site 
of the present city of Austin, in 1821. 
Subsequently he was a commissioner 
to urge the admission of Texas into 
the Mexican Union; was imprisoned 
there for several months; and, in 
1835 was a commissioner to the 
United States Government to secure 
the recognition of Texas as an inde¬ 
pendent State. He died in Columbia, 
Tex., Dec. 25, 1836. 

Australasia, a division of the 
globe usually regarded as comprehend¬ 
ing the islands of Australia, Tasmania, 
New Zealand, New Caledonia, the 
New Hebrides, the Solomon Islands, 
New Ireland, New Britain, the Ad¬ 
miralty Islands, New Guinea, and the 
Arru Islands, besides numerous other 
islands and island groups; area, 3,259,- 
199 square miles, pop. about five mil¬ 
lions. It forms one of three portions 
into which some geographers have di¬ 
vided Oceania, the other two being 
Malaysia and Polynesia. 

Australia (older name, New Hol¬ 
land), the largest island in the world, 
a sea-girt continent, lying between the 
Indian and Pacific Oceans, S. E. of 
Asia; between lat. 10° 39' and 39° 11' 
S.; long. 113° 5' and 153° 16' E.; 
greatest length, from W. to E., 2,400 
miles; greatest breadth from N. to S., 
1,700 to 1,900 miles. It is separated 
from New Guinea on the N. by Torres 
Strait, from Tasmania on the S. by 
Bass Strait. It is divided into two 
unequal parts by the Tropic of Capri¬ 
corn, and is occupied by what are 
known as the original states of the 
Commonwealth of Australia. 


The area and the population (exclu¬ 
sive of aborigines) of the different 
States composing the Commonwealth 
of Australia in 1901 were as follows: 


Original States. 

Area 
Sq. M. 

Pop. 

New South Wales. 

310,367 

1,362,232 

Victoria. 

87,884 

1,199,692 

Queensland. 

668497 

502,892 

South Australia. . 

903,690 

354,001 

Western Australia. 

975,920 

182,553 

Tasmania. 

26,215 

172,000 

Total. 

2,972,573 

3,773,370 


Sydney, the capital of New South 
Wales, Melbourne, the capital of Vic¬ 
toria, Adelaide, the capital of South 
Australia, and Brisbane, the capital 
of Queensland, are the chief towns. 

Australia is a region containing a 
vast quantity of mineral wealth. Fore¬ 
most come its rich and extensive de¬ 
posits of gold, which, since the 
precious metal was first discovered, in 
1851, have produced a total of more 
than $1,350,000,000. The greatest 
quantity has been obtained in Vic¬ 
toria, but New South Wales and 
Queensland have also yielded a consid¬ 
erable amount. Probably there are 
rich stores of gold as yet undiscovered. 
Australia also possesses silver, cop¬ 
per, tin, lead, zinc, antimony, mercury, 
plumbago, etc., in abundance, besides 
coal (now worked to a considerable 
extent in New South Wales) and iron. 
Various precious stones are found, as 
the garnet, ruby, topaz, sapphire, and 
even the diamond. Of building stone 
there are granite, limestone, marble, 
and sandstone. 

The Australian flora presents pecu¬ 
liarities which mark it off by itself in 
a very decided manner. Many of its 
most striking features have an unmis¬ 
takable relation to the general dryness 
of the climate. The trees and bushes 
have, for the most part, a scanty foli¬ 
age, presenting little surface for evap¬ 
oration, or thick leathery leaves well 
fitted to retain moisture. 

The Australian fauna is almost 
unique in its character. Its great 
feature is the nearly total absence of 
all the forms of mammalia which 
abound in the rest of the world, their 
place being supplied by a great va¬ 
riety of marsupials — these animals 

















Australia 


Austria 


being nowhere else found, except in 
the opossums of America. There are 
about 30 kinds of marsupials (of 
which the kangaroo, wombat, bandi¬ 
coot, and phalangers or opossums, are 
the best known varieties), over 20 
kinds of bats; a wild dog (the dingo), 
and a number of rats and mice. Two 
extraordinary animals, the platypus, 
or water mole of the colonist, and the 
porcupine ant-eater constitute the low¬ 
est order of mammals, and are con¬ 
fined to Australia. Their young are 
produced from eggs. Australia now 
possesses a large stock of domestic ani¬ 
mals which thrive remarkably well. 

The birds of Australia are numer¬ 
ous and in great variety, all the more 
important orders and families of class 
Aves being represented. 

The natives belong to the Austral¬ 
ian negro stock, and are sometimes 
considered the lowest as regards intel¬ 
ligence in the whole human family, 
though this is doubtful. They are be¬ 
lieved to number about 60,000, ex¬ 
clusive of those in the unexplored 
parts. They are of a dark-brown or 
black color, with jet-black curly, but 
not woolly hair, of medium size, but 
inferior muscular development. In 
the settled parts of the continent they 
are inoffensive, and rapidly dying out. 
They have no fixed habitations; in the 
summer they live almost entirely in 
the open air, and in the more inclem¬ 
ent weather they shelter themselves 
with bark erections of the rudest con¬ 
struction. They have no cultivation 
and no domestic animals. Their food 
consists of such animals as they can 
kill, and no kind of living creature 
seems to be rejected, snakes, lizards, 
frogs, or even insects being eaten, 
often half raw. They are ignorant 
of the potter’s art. In their natural 
condition they wear little or no cloth¬ 
ing. They speak a number of differ¬ 
ent languages or dialects. The women 
are regarded merely as slaves, and are 
frightfully maltreated. They have no 
religion; they practice polygamy, and 
are said to sometimes resort to canni¬ 
balism, but only in exceptional cir¬ 
cumstances. They are. occasionally 
employed by the settlers in light kinds 
of work, and as horse-breakers; but 
they dislike continuous occupation, 
and soon give it up. The weapons of 
all the tribes are generally similar, 


consisting of spears, shields, boomer¬ 
angs, wooden axes, clubs, and stone 
hatchets. Of these the boomerang is 
the most singular, being an invention 
confined to the Australians. 

Australia, South., one of the orig¬ 
inal States in the Commonwealth of 
Australia; occupies the middle of Aus¬ 
tralia, and stretches from sea to sea. 
At first as the colony of South Aus¬ 
tralia it extended between Ion. 132° 
and 141° E., and from the Southern 
Ocean to lat. 26° N. It now has an area 
of about 903,690. Pop. (1901) 354,001. 

Australia, Western, one of the 
original States in the Commonwealth 
of Australia; embraces all that por¬ 
tion of Australia W. of Ion. 129° E., 
bounded E. by South Australia, and 
N., W., and S. by the Indian Ocean; 
area, 975,920 square miles; capital, 
Perth. The coast-line measures about 
3,000 miles, and, except on the S., is 
indented by numerous bays, creeks, and 
estuaries. From 1850 to 1868 it was a 
place for the transportation of con¬ 
victs. In 1890 the State received au¬ 
tonomous government. On Oct. 16, 
1906, the Legislature adopted a motion 
to secede from the commonwealth, the 
union being detrimental to the devel¬ 
oping interests of the State. Pop. 
182,553. 

Australian Federation, a poli¬ 
tical union of all the Australian colo¬ 
nies, the agitation for which began in 
1852. Feb., 1899, a unanimous agree¬ 
ment was reached by the colonial pre¬ 
miers in conference at Melbourne, re¬ 
garding the unsettled questions re¬ 
ferred to them by the colonial Legisla¬ 
tures, thus insuring the success of the 
federation project. In 1900, a bill 
making Federation effective was intro¬ 
duced into Parliament, at London, and 
passed, the only amendment offered 
having reference to the royal preroga¬ 
tive. Later in that year the Earl of 
Hopetoun was appointed by the Queen 
first Governor-General. He resigned 
in May, 1902. 

Austria, or Austria-Hungary, 

an extensive monarchy in Central Eu¬ 
rope, inhabited by several distinct 
nationalities, and consisting of two 
semi-independent countries, each with 
its own parliament and government, 
but with one common sovereign, army, 


• E. 11. 




Austria 


Austria 


and system of diplomacy, and also 
with a parliament common to both. 
The Austrian empire extends from 
about lat. 42° to 51° N., or, exclusive 
of Dalmatia and the narrower part of 
Croatia, from about lat. 44° 30' to 
51° N., and from Ion. 8° 30' to 26 
30' E., the total area in round num¬ 
bers is 240,000 square miles. Its 
greatest length from E. to W. is about 
860 miles; its greatest breadth from 
N. to S., with the exclusion above 
stated, is about 400 miles; bounded S. 
by Turkey, the Adriatic Sea, and the 
kingdom of Italy; W. by Switzerland, 
Bavaria, and Saxony; N. by Prussia 
and Russian Poland; and E. by Rus¬ 
sia and Rumania. On the shores of 
the Adriatic, along the coasts of Dal¬ 
matia, Croatia, Istria, etc., lies its only 
sea frontage. 

Besides being divided into the two 
great divisions above mentioned, the 
Austro-Hungarian monarchy is 
further divided into a number of gov¬ 
ernments or provinces. The follow¬ 
ing table gives their name, area, and 
population in 1900: 


Divisions. 

Area in 
sq. m. 

Pop., Dec. 
31, 1900 

Austrian Provinces — 
Lower Austria.... 

7,654 

3,100,493 

Upper Austria. 

4,631 

810,246 

Salzburg . 

2,767 

192,763 

Styria . 

8,670 

1,356,494 

Carinthia . 

4,005 

367,337 

Carniola . 

3,856 

508,150 

Coast land. 

3,084 

756,546 

Tyrol and Vorarl¬ 
berg . 

Bohemia . 

11,324 

981,989 

20,060 

6,318,697 

Moravia . 

8,583 

2,437,706 

Silesia . 

1,987 

680,422 

Galicia .. 

30,307 

7,315,816 

Bukowina . 

4,035 

730,195 

Dalmatia . 

4,940 

593,783 


115,903 

26,150,597 

Hungarian Prov¬ 
inces — 

Hungary and Tran¬ 
sylvania . 

108,258 

16,656,904 

Croatia and Slavo¬ 
nia . 

16,773 

2,397,249 

Fiume . 

8 

38,139 

Military out of the 
country . 


114,811 


125,039 

19,207,103 

Total . 

240,942 

45,357,700 


None of the European States, with 
the exception of Russia, exhibits such 
a diversity of race and language 
among their population as does the 
Austrian empire. The Slavs, who 
amount to above 19,000,000, or 4o 
per cent, of the total population, are 
the chief of the component nationali¬ 
ties of the monarchy in point of num¬ 
bers, forming the great mass of the 
population of Bohemia, Moravia, Car- 
niola, Galicia, Dalmatia, the kingdom 
of Croatia and Slavonia, and North¬ 
ern Hungary, and half the population 
of Silesia and Bukowina. This pre¬ 
ponderance, however, is only apparent, 
as none of the other races are split up 
into so many branches differing so 
greatly from each other in language, 
religion, civilization, manners, and 
customs. These branches are the 
North Slavic Czechs, Moravians, and 
Slovaks, the Ruthenians and Poles, 
and the South Slavic Slovenians, 
Croats, Serbs, and Bulgarians. The 
Germans, about 10,570,000 in num¬ 
ber, are scattered over the whole mon¬ 
archy, and form almost the sole popu¬ 
lation of the archduchy of Austria, 
Salzburg, the greatest portion of 
Styria and Carinthia, almost the 
whole of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, con¬ 
siderable portions of Bohemia and Mo¬ 
ravia, the whole of the W. of Silesia, 
etc.; and they are also numerous in 
Hungary and Transylvania. The Mag¬ 
yars or Hungarians (7,440,000 in 
number, or about 16 per cent, of the 
total population) form the great bulk 
of the inhabitants of the kingdom of 
Hungary and of the E. portion of 
Transylvania. To the Italic or West¬ 
ern Romanic stock belong the inhabi¬ 
tants of South Tyrol and parts of the 
coast lands and Dalmatia, numbering 
about 700,000 in all. A considerable 
portion of the S. E. of the empire is 
occupied by members of the Ruma¬ 
nian (or Eastern Romanic) stock, 
who number altogether about 2,800,- 
000, and form more than half the pop¬ 
ulation of Transylvania, besides being 
spread over the S. E. parts of Hun¬ 
gary, Bukowina, and part of Croatia 
and Slavonia. The number of Jews 
also very considerable (above 


is 


1,000,000), especially in Galicia, Hun¬ 
gary, Bohemia, and Moravia. There 
are also several other races whose 
numbers are small, such as the Gyp- 












































































I 






















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Austria 


Automobiles 


sies (95,000), who are most numerous 
in Hungary and Transylvania, and the 
Albanians in Dalmatia and neighbor¬ 
ing regions. The population is thick¬ 
est in Lower Austria, Bohemife, Sile¬ 
sia, and Moravia; thinnest in Salz¬ 
burg. Generally speaking, it de¬ 
creases in density from W. to E. The 
weakness of the empire lies in this 
diversity of race and language; al¬ 
ready the contest between the German 
and Czech elements have caused seri¬ 
ous tension, and it is probable that the 
death of the emperor, whose personal 
influence has thus far prevented ac¬ 
tual warfare, will allow the race hat¬ 
red that exists to break into danger¬ 
ous manifestations. All legislative 
business was at a standstill for nearly 
three years until an agreement in 
April, 1906, between the factions 
permitted the ordinary functions of 
government to be resumed. 

The State religion of Austria is the 
Roman Catholic, and next in numbers 
is the Greek Church. Calvinism and 
Lutheranism are also professed by a 
large body of the people; the former 
mostly in Hungary and Transylvania, 
the latter in the German provinces and 
in Galicia. The civil power exercises 
supreme control in all ecclesiastical 
matters, the emperor being, in every¬ 
thing but the name, head of the 
Church ; and as no sentence or excom¬ 
munication, or other ecclesiastical 
edict can be issued without the sanc¬ 
tion of the crown, the Pope’s direct 
authority in Austria is limited. 

Military service is obligatory on all 
citizens capable of bearing arms who 
have attained the age of 20, and lasts 
up to the age of 42, either in the ac¬ 
tive army, in the landwehr, or the 
landsturm. The period of service in 
the active army is 12 years, of which 
three are passed in the line, seven in 
the reserve, and two in the landwehr. 
In 1900 the standing army numbered 
361,693 men (including officers) on 
the peace footing, and 1,826,940 men 
and 45,238 officers when placed on the 
war footing. 

The Austrian navy comprises about 
120 vessels of all kinds, including 8 
battleships, 10 port defense ships (4) 
monitors on the Danube), and 3o 
cruisers. The other vessels are mostly 
torpedo craft. The crews number 
about 8,500 officers and men. 


Author’s Guild, American, an 

organization founded in New York 
city, in 1892, and incorporated, in 
1895, has for its objects the promo¬ 
tion of a professional spirit among 
authors and a better understanding 
between authors and their publishers, 
and, in general, the protection of lite¬ 
rary property and the advancement of 
the interests of American authors and 
literature. The guild has a pension 
fund for members who become needy. 

Autocracy, a word signifying that 
form of government in which the sov¬ 
ereign unites in himself the legislative 
and the executive powers of the State, 
and thus rules uncontrolled. Such a 
sovereign is, therefore, called an auto¬ 
crat. Nearly all Eastern governments 
are of this form. Among European 
rulers, the Emperor of Russia alone 
bears the title of Autocrat, the name 
indicating his freedom from constitu¬ 
tional restraint of every kind. 

Automatic Gun, a light-mounted 
breech-loading gun, in which the recoil 
of the first shot is turned to account 
in discharging the empty cartridge 
case, reloading, and returning the gun 
to firing readiness. 

Automaton (Greek automates, 
spontaneous), a self-moving machine 
performing actions like those of a liv¬ 
ing being, and often shaped like one. 
The walking statues of Daedalus, the 
flying dove of Archytas, the brazen 
head of Friar Bacon, the iron fly of 
Regiomontanus, the door-opening fig¬ 
ure of Albertus Magnus, the parading 
knights of the clock presented to Char¬ 
lemagne by Harun al Rashid, the toy 
carriage and attendants constructed by 
Camus for Louis XIV., and the flute- 
player of Vaucanson, are among the 
noteworthy automata. 

Automobiles, a term under which 
are comprised horseless carriages, mo¬ 
tor vans, motor omnibus, and all the 
motor traction vehicles adapted for use 
on ordinary roads having no rails. 
Electricity, steam and gasoline or 
naptha are the three main sources of 
power that do the bidding of the man 
behind the lever. Other sources of 
power, such as compressed air, liquid 
air, carbonic acid gas and , alcohol, 
have been experimented with; but are 
regarded as impracticable by experts. 
The modern automobile, which was 
led up to by the bicycle with its rub- 




Autonomy 


Avebury 


ber tires, found its first great devel¬ 
opment in France, encouraged by the 
perfection of the highways in that 
country, and the name also originated 
there. The automobile industry has 
reached enormous proportions in the 
United States. The capital engaged 
aggregating over $30,000,000, and the 
value of the yearly product reaching 
$20,000,000. The demand for machines 
cannot be supplied by home manufac¬ 
turers, and immense numbers are im¬ 
ported, especially from France, where 
larger and powerful vehicles are made. 
The cost ranges from $200, to $35,000. 
Not the least important result of the 
increasing use of such vehicles, is the 
effect upon the roads of America. A 
satisfactory use of the machines re¬ 
quires a good road, which the automo¬ 
bile public is not backward in demand¬ 
ing, for the very first action of an as¬ 
sociation of automobilists, is to ask 
the local authorities to improve the 
highways. 

Autonomy, the arrangement by 
which the citizens of a State manage 
their own legislation and government; 
and this evidently may, with certain 
restrictions, be the case also within 
limited bodies of the same people, such 
as corporations, religious sects, etc. 

Autopsy, eye-witnessing, a direct 
observation; generally applied to a 
post mortem examination, or the dis¬ 
section of a dead body. 

Autumn, the season of the year 
which follows summer and precedes 
winter. Astronomically, it is consid¬ 
ered to extend from the autumnal equi¬ 
nox, Sept. 23, in which the sun enters 
Libra, to the winter solstice, Dec. 22, 
in which he enters Capricorn. Pop¬ 
ularly, it is believed to embrace the 
months of September, October and 
November. 

Auvergne, a province of Central 
France, now merged into the Depart¬ 
ments of Cantal and Puy-de-Dome, 
and an arrondissement of Haute- 
Loire. It contains the Auvergne Moun¬ 
tains, the highest in France. 

Auxetophone, a device which 
greatly increases the sound produced 
by the graphophone (q. v.). 

Auzout, Adrian, a French math¬ 
ematician ; inventor of the micrometer, 
which is still in use among astron¬ 


omers to measure the apparent diam¬ 
eter of celestial bodies. He was the 
first who thought of applying the tel¬ 
escope to the astronomical quadrant. 
He died in 1691. 

Ava, Arva, Yava, or Kava, a 

plant possessing narcotic proprieties. 
Until recently it was ranked in the 
genus piper (pepper). It is a native 
of many of the South Sea islands, 
where the inhabitants intoxicate them¬ 
selves with a fermented liquor pre¬ 
pared from the upper portion of the 
root and the base of the stem. 

Avalanches, masses of snow or 
ice that slide or roll down the decliv¬ 
ities of high mountains, and often 
occasion great devastation. They 
are most common in July, August 
and September. Sudden avalanches, 
larger or smaller, constitute one of 
the special dangers of Alpine climbing. 

Avars, a people, probably of Tu¬ 
ranian origin, who at an early period 
may have migrated from the region E. 
of the Tobol in Siberia to that about 
the Don, the Caspian Sea, and the 
Volga. A part advanced to the Dan¬ 
ube in 555 a. D., and settled in Dacia. 
They served in Justinian’s army, aid¬ 
ed the Lombards in destroying the 
kingdom of the Gepidse, and in the 
6th century conquered under their 
khan, Bajan, the region of Pannonia. 
They then won Dalmatia, pressed into 
Thuringia and Italy against the 
Franks and Lombards, and subdued 
the Slavs dwelling on the Danube, as 
well as the Bulgarians on the Black 
Sea. But they were ultimately lim¬ 
ited to Pannonia, where they were 
overcome by Charlemagne, and nearly 
extirpated by the Slavs of Moravia. 
After 827 they disappear from history. 
Traces of their fortified settlements 
are found, and known as Avarian 
rings. 

Avatar, more properly Avatara, 
in Hindu mythology, an incarnation 
of the Deity. Of the innumerable 
avatars the chief are the 10 incarna¬ 
tions of Vishnu, who appeared succes¬ 
sively as a fish, a tortoise, a boar. 

Avdyeyev, Michael Vassily e- 
vich, a Russian novelist (1821-1876). 

Avebury, a village of England, in 
Wiltshire, occupying the site of a so- 
called Druidical temple, which origi¬ 
nally consisted of a large outer circle 




Avellaneda 


Avignon 


of 100 stones, from 15 to 17 feet in 
height, and about 40 feet in circum¬ 
ference, surrounded by a broad ditch 
and lofty rampart, and inclosing two 
smaller circles. 

Avebury, Lord. See Lubbock. 

Avellaneda, Nicholas, an Ar¬ 
gentine statesman, born in Tucuman, 
Oct. 1, 183G; Minister of Public in¬ 
struction in 1868-1874, and President 
of the Republic in 1874-1886; pub¬ 
lished several historical and economi¬ 
cal works. He died Dec. 26, 1885. 

Avellaneda y Arteaga, Ger- 
trudis Gomez de, a distinguished 
Spanish poet, dramatist and novelist, 
born in Puerto Principe, Cuba, March 
23, 1814. She died in Madrid, Feb. 
2, 1873. 

Ave Maria (“Hail, Mary”), the 
first two words of the angel Gabriel’s 
salutation (Luke i: 28), and the be¬ 
ginning of the very common Latin 
prayer to the Virgin in the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

Average, formerly the apportion¬ 
ment of losses by sea or elsewhere in 
just proportions among different indi¬ 
viduals ; now the medium or mean 
proportion between certain given 
quantities. It is ascertained by ad¬ 
ding all the quantities together and 
dividing their sum by the number of 
them. 

Averell, William Woods, an 

American military officer, born in 
Cameron, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1832; was 
graduated at the United States Mili¬ 
tary Academy in 1855; served on the 
frontier and in* several Indian cam¬ 
paigns till the beginning of the Civil 
War, when he was appointed Colonel 
of the 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry, and 
assigned to the command of the caval¬ 
ry defenses of Washington. During 
the war he distinguished himself on 
numerous occasions as a cavalry raid¬ 
er and commander, and at its close 
was brevetted Major-General of volun¬ 
teers. He was retired in 1888. 
He was United States Consul-general 
at Montreal in 1866-1869. He died in 
Bath, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1900. 

Avernus, or Averno, a lake in 
the neighborhood of Naples, about 2% 
miles N. W. of Puzzuoli, and near the 
coast of Baise, the waters of which 
were so unwholesome and putrid that 
no birds ever visited its banks. The 


ancients made it the entrance of hell, 
by which Ulysses and iEneas descend¬ 
ed into the lower regions. 

Averrhoa, a genus of plants. It 
consists of two species, both of which 
form small trees in the East Indies. 
One has fruit resembling a small 
cucumber. The latter is intensely 
acid and cannot be eaten raw. It 
is pickled or candied, or a syrup is 
obtained from it by boiling with sugar, 
and its juice is found an excellent 
agent for removing iron mold or other 
spots from linen. To the Malays it 
answers the same purposes as the cit¬ 
ron, the gooseberry, the caper and the 
cucumber of Europe. 

Avery, Benjamin Parke, an 
American journalist and diplomatist, 
born in New York city in 1829. From 
1874 to 1875 he was United States 
Minister to China. He died in Pekin, 
China, Nov. 8, 1875. 

Avery, Samuel Putnam, an 
American merchant, born in New 
York city, March 17, 1822; became a 
copper-plate and wood engraver, and 
subsequently an art publisher and 
dealer, and retired from business in 
1888. In 1891, with his wife, he cre¬ 
ated and endowed the Avery Architec¬ 
tural Library, in Columbia University, 
as a memorial of his deceased son; 
and in May, 1900, he presented to the 
trustees of the New York Public Li¬ 
brary a collection of etchings, litho¬ 
graphs and photographs, numbering 
more than 17,500 pieces, together with 
a number of large volumes illustrated 
by the same arts. Died Aug. 12, 1904. 

Aviary, a building or inclosure for 
keeping, breeding and rearing birds. 

Avicennia, or White Man¬ 
grove, a genus which consists of 
trees or large shrubs resembling man¬ 
groves, and, like them, growing in 
tidal estuaries and salt marshes. 

Avienus, Rufus Festus, a Latin 
descriptive poet, who flourished about 
the end of the 4th century after 
Christ, and wrote “ Descriptio Orbis 
Terrse,” a general description of the 
earth; “ Ora Maritima,” an account 
of the Mediterranean coasts, etc. 

Avignon (ancient Avenio), a city 
of France, capital of the Department 
of Yaucluse, on the left bank of the 
Rhone, 76 miles N. N. W. of Mar¬ 
seilles, on the railway to Paris. In 




Avoca 


Ayesliah 


1309, Clement V. transferred thither 
the abode of the Popes, who continued 
to reside here till 1377, when they re¬ 
turned to Rome; but two schismatical 
Popes, or Popes elected by the French 
cardinals, resided at Avignon till 
1409. Avignon and its territory re¬ 
mained the property of the Holy See 
until 1797, when it was incorporated 
with France. 

Avoca, or Ovoca, a beautiful val¬ 
ley and river of Ireland, near Glendal- 
ough, in the county of Wicklow, and 
celebrated as being the scene which 
gave rise to one of the finest of 
Moore’s “ Irish Melodies.” 

Avocado, a West Indian fruit, 
called also avocado pear, alligator 
pear, subaltern’s butter tree, avigato, 
and sabacca. It is found in tropical 
America. 

Avoirdupois, a system of weights 
used for all goods except precious met¬ 
als, gems, and medicines, and in which 
a pound contains 16 ounces, or 7,000 
grains, while a pound troy contains 12 
ounces, or 5,760 grains. A hundred¬ 
weight contains 112 pounds avoirdu¬ 
pois. 

Avon, the name of several Eng¬ 
lish and Scottish rivers, the best 
known of which is that Avon which 
rises in Northamptonshire, and flows 
into the Severn a't Tewkesbury, after 
a course of 100 miles. On its banks 
is Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace 
and abode of Shakespeare, who has 
hence been styled the Bard of Avon. 

Axayacat, or Axayacatl, a Mex¬ 
ican fly, the eggs of which, deposited 
abundantly on rushes and flags, are 
collected and sold as a species of cavi¬ 
are. 

Axim, an important station and 
port on the African Gold Coast, a lit¬ 
tle to the E. of the mouth of the Anco- 
brah river. Inland from Axim, in the 
basin of that river, and in the district 
between it and the Prah, gold mining 
operations have been carried on on a 
large scale. 

Axinomancy, a mode of divina¬ 
tion much practiced by the ancient 
Greeks, particularly with the view of 
discovering the perpetrators of great 
crimes. An ax was poised upon a 
stake,. and was supposed to move so 
as to indicate the guilty person; or the 
names of suspected persons being pro¬ 


nounced, the motion of the ax at a 
particular name was accepted as a sign 
of guilt. 

Axiom, a Greek word meaning a 
decision or assumption, is commonly 
used to signify a general proposition 
which the understanding recognizes as 
true, as soon as the import of the 
words conveying it is apprehended. 

Axis, a straight line, real or im¬ 
aginary, passing through a body, and 
around which that body revolves, or 
at least may revolve; also, the imag¬ 
inary line connecting the poles of a 
planet, and around which the planet 
rotates. 

Axis, a species of deer found in 
India, called by Anglo-Indian sports¬ 
men hog deer. 

Axminster, a market town in 
England, in the county Devon, on the 
Axe, at one time celebrated for its 
woolen cloth and carpet manufactures, 
and giving name to an expensive va¬ 
riety of carpet having a thick, soft 
pile, and also to a cheaper variety. 

Axolotl, a curious Mexican am¬ 
phibian, not unlike a newt, from 8 to 
10 inches in length, with gills formed 
of three long, ramified or branch-like 
processes floating on each side of the 
neck. It reproduces by laying eggs, 
and was for some time regarded as a 
perfect animal with permanent gills. 
It is said, however, that they frequent¬ 
ly lose their gills like the other mem¬ 
bers of the genus, though some au¬ 
thorities maintain that the true ax¬ 
olotl never loses its gills. The axolotl 
is esteemed a luxury by the Mexicans. 
There are a number of species in 
North America. 

Ayacucho, formerly Huamanga or 
Guamanga, a town in the Peruvian 
department of the same name, 220 
miles E. S. E. of Lima. Here, on Dec. 
9, 1824, the combined forces of Peru 
and Colombia — the latter then com¬ 
prising Ecuador, New Granada, and 
Venezuela — totally defeated the last 
Spanish army that ever set foot on 
the continent. 

Aye-aye, an animal of Madagas¬ 
car, so called from its cry, now re¬ 
ferred to the lemur family. It is about 
the size of a hare, has large, flat ears 
and a bushy tail. 

Ayeshah, also Aysha, or Aisha, 

the favorite wife of Mohammed, and 




Aylmer 


Azores 


daughter of Abu-Bekr, was born at 
Medina about 610 a. d. ; and was only 
nine years of age when the Prophet 
married her. She was the only one of 
Mohammed’s wives who accompanied 
him in his campaigns. Although Aye- 
shah bore no children to Mohammed, 
she was tenderly beloved by him. She 
died at Medina (677 a. d.), highly 
venerated by all true Mussulmans, and 
named the Prophetess and the Mother 
of Believers. 

Aylmer, Matthew, a Canadian 
military officer, born in Melbourne, P. 
Q., March 28, 1842; became Adjutant- 
General of the Dominion militia, the 
highest military office in Canada next 
to that of the Major-General com¬ 
manding, in 1896. 



AYE-AYE. 


Ayr, a town of Scotland, a royal 
and parliamentary borough and capi¬ 
tal of Ayrshire, at the mouth of the 
river Ayr. The house in which the 
poet Burns was born stands with¬ 
in 1 y 2 miles of the town, between it 
and the Church of Alloway (“Allo- 
way’s auld haunted kirk”), and a 
monument to him stands on a height 
between the kirk and the bridge over 
the Doon.. 

Ayrer, Jacob, a German dramat¬ 
ist ; next to Hans Sachs the most pro¬ 
lific dramatist of Germany in the 16th 
century. He died in Nuremberg, 
March 26, 1605. 

Ayres, Anne, an American au¬ 


thor, born in England in 1816; was 
the first member of an American sis¬ 
terhood in the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. She died in February, 1896. 

Ayrton, William Edward, an 
English electrician and inventor, born 
in London, in 1847; was graduated at 
University College, London, in 1867; 
entered the Indian telegraph service, 
having studied electrical engineering 
with Prof. William Thomson; became 
electrical superintendent and intro¬ 
duced throughout India the system of 
determining the position of a fault by 
electrically testing one end of a line. 
He has been a voluminous writer and 
is widely known for his “ Practical 
Electricity.” 

Aytoun, Sir Robert, poet, born 
in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1570; died 
in 1638. 

Aytoun, William Edmond- 
stoune, poet and prose writer, born 
at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1813. In 
1848 he published a collection of bal¬ 
lads entitled “ Lays of the Scottish 
Cavaliers,” which has proved the most 
popular of all his works. He died at 
Blackhills, Elgin, 1865. 

Ayuntamiento, the name given in 
Spain to the councils or governing 
bodies of towns. 

Ayuthia, the ancient capital of 
Siam, on the Menam, 50 miles N. of 
Bangkok. Some magnificent buildings 
still remain, now crumbling into ruins 
and overgrown with luxuriant vege¬ 
tation ; notable among them are Bud¬ 
dhist 'temples, especially the Golden 
Mount, 400 feet high. 

Azalea, a genus of plants belong¬ 
ing to the heathworts. Several for¬ 
eign azaleas are cultivated in gardens 
and greenhouses on account of the 
abundance of their fine flowers, and, 
in some cases, their fragrant smell. 

Azeglio, Massimo Taparelli, 
Marquis d’, an Italian author, art¬ 
ist, diplomatist, and statesman, born 
at Turin, in 1801. He died Jan. 15, 
1866. 

Azores, or Western Islands, a 

Portuguese archipelago, in the mid- 
Atlantic, between 36° 55' and 39° 55' 
N. lat. and between 25° 10' and 31° 
16' W. long., stretching over a dis¬ 
tance of 400 miles. 

The total area of the group is 919 




Azov 


Azurine 


square miles, and the pop. (1890) 
255,594. The coast is generally steep 
and rugged; the interior abounds in 
ravines and mountains. Perhaps the 
greatest want of the group is a good 
harbor. The Azores are regarded as 
a province, not a colony, of Portugal. 

Azov, Sea of, is a large gulf of 
the Black Sea, formed by the Crimean 
peninsula, or rather an inland lake 
connected with the Black Sea by the 
Strait of Yenikale or Kertch (an¬ 
cient Bosporus Cimmerius), 28 miles 
long, and barely 4 wide at the narrow¬ 
est. The whole sea is shallow, from 3 
to 52 feet deep; and measuring 235 by 
110 miles, it occupies an area of 14,- 
500 square miles. 

Azrael, the name given to the 
angel of death by the Mohammedans. 

Aztecs, a race of people who set¬ 
tled in Mexico early in the 14th cen¬ 


tury, ultimately extended their domin¬ 
ion over a large territory, and were 
still extending their supremacy at the 
time of the arrival of the Spaniards, 
by whom they were speedily subju¬ 
gated. See Mexico. 

Azuline, or Azurine, blue dyes 
belonging to the coal-tar class. 

Azuni, Domenico Alberto, an 
Italian jurist, born in Sassari, Sar¬ 
dinia, in 1749. He became judge of 
the Tribunal of Commerce at Nice, 
and in 1795 published a work in which 
he endeavored to reduce maritime 
laws to fixed principles. He died Jan. 
23, 1827. 

Azure, the heraldic term for the 
color blue, represented in engraving by 
horizontal lines. 

Azurine, a fresh water fish of the 
same genus as the roach, chub and 
minnow; called also blue roach. 





b, the second letter in all 
European alphabets, in He¬ 
brew, and most other lan¬ 
guages. It belongs to the 
mutes and labials, and as all 
labials are easy to be pronounced, b 
is one of the first letters which chil¬ 
dren learn to speak, after a, ba or pa 
generally being the first syllable. 

Baal, the chief male divinity among 
the Phoenicians, as Ashtoreth was the 
leading female one. The Carthagin¬ 
ians, who sprang from the Phoenicians, 
carried with them his worship to their 
new settlements, as is proved, among 
other evidence, by the names of some 
of their world-renowned heroes; thus 
Hannibal, written in Punic inscrip¬ 
tions, Hannibaal, signifies the grace of 
Baal; and Hasdrubal, or Asdrubal, 
Azrubaal = “ Help of Baal.” The 
worship of Baal early existed among 
the Canaanites and the Moabites, 
whence it spread to the Israelites, be¬ 
coming at last for a time completely 
dominant among the 10 tribes, and to 
a certain extent even among the two. 
Perhaps the Babylonian Bel was only 
Baal with a dialectic difference of 
spelling, though Prof. Rawlinson 
thinks differently (Isa. xlvi: 1). There 
was an affinity between Baal and Mo¬ 
loch. The Beltein or Beltane fires, lit 
in early summer in Scotland and Ire¬ 
land, seem to be a survival of Baal’s 
worship. 

Baalbek (ancient Heliopolis, city 
of the sun), a place in Syria, in a 
fertile valley at the foot of Antili- 
banus, 40 miles from Damascus, fa¬ 
mous for its magnificent ruins. Of 
these, the chief is the temple of the 
Sun, built either by Antoninus Pius 
or by Septimius Severus. Some of the 
blocks used in its construction are 60 
feet long by 12 thick; and its 54 col¬ 


umns, of which 6 are still standing, 
were 72 feet high and 22 in circum¬ 
ference. Near it is a temple of Jupi¬ 
ter, of smaller size, though still larger 
than the Parthenon at Athens, and 
there are other structures of an elab¬ 
orately ornate type. Originally a 
center of the sun-worship, it became 
a Roman colony under Julius Caesar, 
was garrisoned by Augustus, and ac¬ 
quired increasing renown under Tra¬ 
jan as the seat of an oracle. Un¬ 
der Constantine its temples became 
churches, but after being sacked by 
the Arabs in 748, and more complete¬ 
ly pillaged by Tamerlane in 1401, it 
sank into hopeless decay. The work 
of destruction was completed by an 
earthquake in 1759. 

Baba, a Turkish word, signifying 
father, originating, like our word 
papa, in the first efforts of children to 
speak. In Persia and Turkey it is 
prefixed as a title of honor to the 
names of ecclesiastics of distinction, 
especially of such as devote themselves 
to an ascetic life; it is often affixed 
in courtesy, also, to the names of 
other persons, as Ali-Baba. 

Babbage, Charles, an English 
mathematician and inventor of a cal¬ 
culating machine; born near Teign- 
mouth, England, Dec. 26, 1792. He 
died in London, Oct. 18, 1871. 

Babbitt, Isaac, an American in¬ 
ventor, born in Taunton, Mass., July 
26, 1799; learned the goldsmith’s 

trade; early became interested in the 
production of alloys; and in 1824 
manufactured the first britannia ware 
in the United States. In 1839, he dis¬ 
covered the well known anti-friction 
metal which bears his name, Babbitt 
metal. For this discovery, the Massa¬ 
chusetts Charitable Mechanics’ Asso¬ 
ciation awarded him a gold medal in 







Babbitt Metal 


Babu 


1841, and subsequently Congress voted 
him $20,000. He died in Somerville, 
Mass., May 26, 1862. 

Babbitt Metal, a soft metal re¬ 
sulting from alloying together certain 
proportions of copper, tin, and zinc, 
or antimony, used with the view of as 
far as possible obviating friction in 
the bearings of journals, cranks, axles, 
etc. Invented by Isaac Babbitt. 

Babcock, Earle Jay, an Amer¬ 
ican educator; born in St. Charles, 
Minn., June 11, 1865; was graduated 
at the University of Minnesota in 
1899; worked extensively with the 
United States Geological Survey; and 
in 1902 was director of the State 
School of Mines of North Dakota, and 
Professor of Chemistry and Geology in 
the State University. 

Babcock, Orville E., an Ameri¬ 
can military officer, born in Franklin, 
Vt., Dec. 25, 1835; served with dis¬ 
tinction in the Civil War, and was a 
member of Gen. Grant’s staff. When 
the latter was elected President, Bab¬ 
cock became his secretary, and the 
superintending engineer of several im¬ 
portant public works. He was in¬ 
dicted in 1876 for taking part in reve¬ 
nue frauds, but on his trial was ac¬ 
quitted. He died in Florida, June 2, 
1884. 

Babcock, Stephen Moulton, an 

American educator; born in Bridge- 
water, N. Y., Oct. 22, 1843. He was 
instructor of chemistry at Cornell 
University in 1875-1876; Professor of 
Agricultural Chemistry at the Uni¬ 
versity of Wisconsin; and chemist to 
the New York State Experimental 
Station. 

Babel, a place or circumstances in 
which confusion of sounds — as, for 
instance, by several people speaking 
at once — is the predominating char¬ 
acteristic. The reference is to the 
confusion of tongues divinely sent in 
consequence of the building of the 
Tower of Babel (Gen. xi: 1-9). The 
magnificent temple of Belus, asserted 
to have been originally this tower, is 
said to have had lofty spires, and many 
statues of gold, one of them 40 feet 
high. In the upper part of this tem¬ 
ple was the tomb of the founder, Be¬ 
lus (the Nimrod of the sacred Scrip¬ 
tures), who was deified after death. 
The Tower of Babel is most frequent¬ 


ly identified with the enormous ruin 
at Birs, 2.000 ft. in base circumference, 
156 ft. high, and two hours west of 
Hillah on the site of the ancient bib¬ 
lical city of Babylon. 

Bab-el-Mandeb (i. e., the gate 
of tears), the name of the strait be¬ 
tween Arabia and the continent of 
Africa, by which the Red Sea is con¬ 
nected with the Gulf of Aden and the 
Indian Ocean. 

Babi, the name of a modern Per¬ 
sian sect, derived from the title, B&b- 
ed-Din (gate of the faith), assumed 
by its founder, Mirza Ali Mohammed, 
a native of Shiraz, who, in 1843, after 
a pilgrimage to Mecca, undertook to 
form a new religion from a mixture 
of Mohammedan, Christian, Jewish, 
and Parsee elements. Babism enjoins 
few prayers, and those only on fixed 
occasions; encourages hospitality and 
charity; prohibits polygamy, concu¬ 
binage, and divorce; discourages as¬ 
ceticism and mendicancy; and directs 
women to discard the veil, and share 
as equals in the intercourse of social 
life. 

Babington, Anthony, a Roman 

Catholic gentleman of Derbyshire, whc 
associated with others of his own per 
suasion to assassinate Queen Eliza¬ 
beth, and deliver Mary, Queen of 
Scots. The plot being discovered, the 
conspirators were executed in 1586. 

Babiroussa (a Malay word signi¬ 
fying stag hog), a species of wild hog, 
sometimes called the horned or stag 
hog, from the great length and curva¬ 
ture of its upper tusks or canines, 
which curl upward and backward 
somewhat like the horns of Rumin- 
antia, the lower canines being also 
very prominent. It is nearly of the 
size of a common hog, but rather 
longer, and with more slender limbs. 
The babiroussa is very numerous in 
Celebes, the Moluccas, and Java. It 
is hunted with dogs, and when taken 
makes little resistance; sometimes 
when pressed it endeavors to reach the 
sea, and eludes its pursuer by its dex¬ 
terity in diving and swimming. 

Baboo, or Babu, a Hindu title of 
respect equivalent to sir or master, 
usually given to wealthy and educated 
native gentlemen, especially when of 
the mercantile class. 




Baboon 


Bach 


Baboon, a common name applied 
to a genus of monkeys, natives of Af¬ 
rica. They make a very obstinate re¬ 
sistance to dogs, and only retreat be¬ 
fore men when armed with guns. They 
feed exclusively on fruits, seeds, and 
other vegetable matter, and display a 
great deal of cunning and audacity 
when engaged in their marauding ex¬ 
peditions. This animal has the re¬ 
markable instinctive power of being 
able to detect the presence of water, 
and in South Africa is often employed 
for this purpose when the ordinary 
water supply fails. The baboon can 
never be called tamed, however long 
his confinement may have endured. 

Babuyanes, or Madjicosima 
Islands, a number of islands lying 
about 30 miles N. of Luzon, and gen¬ 
erally considered the most northern of 
the Philippines. They are subject to 
the Loo-Choo Islands; aggregate pop. 
about 12,000. 

Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, 
on both sides of the Euphrates, one of 
the largest and most splendid cities 
of the ancient world, now a scene of 
ruins, and earth-mounds containing 
them. Babylon was a royal city 1600 
years before the Christian era; but 
the old city was almost entirely de¬ 
stroyed in 683 b. C. A new city was 
built by Nebuchadnezzar nearly a cen¬ 
tury later. This was in the form of a 
square, each side 15 miles long, with 
walls of such immense height and 
thickness as to constitute one of the 
wonders of the world. It contained 
splendid edifices, large gardens and 
pleasure-grounds, especially the hang¬ 
ing-gardens, a sort of lofty terraced 
structure supporting earth enough for 
trees to grow, and the celebrated tow¬ 
er of Babel, or temple of Belus, rising 
by stages to the height of 625 feet. 
(See Babel.) After the city was 
taken by Cyrus in 538 b. c., and Baby¬ 
lonia made a Persian province, it 
began to decline, and had suffered se¬ 
verely by the time of Alexander the 
Great. He intended to restore it, but 
was prevented by his death, which 
took place here in 323 b. c., from 
which time its decay was rapid. 

The great city of Babylon, or Babel, 
was the capital of Babylonia, which 
was called by the Hebrews Shinar. 
The country was, as it still is, ex¬ 
ceedingly fertile, and must have 


anciently supported a dense popula¬ 
tion. The chief cities, besides Baby¬ 
lon, were Ur, Calneh, Erech, and Sip- 
para. Babylonia and Assyria were 
often spoken of together as Assyria. 

Babylonish Captivity, a term 
usually applied to the deportation of 
the two tribes of the kingdom of Ju¬ 
dah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, 
585 B. c. The duration of this cap¬ 
tivity is usually reckoned TO years, 
though strictly speaking, it lasted only 
56 years. A great part of the 10 
tribes of Israel had been previously 
taken captive to Assyria. 

Baccarat, or Baccara, a game 
played with the ordinary playing 
cards. It acquired notoriety owing to 
a fraud alleged to have been perpe¬ 
trated by one of the persons present 
in a game at which the Prince of 
Wales, now King Edward, was 
“ banker,” some years ago. 

Bacchus (in Greek generally 
Dionysos), the god of wine. 

Bach, Alexander von, an Aus¬ 
trian statesman, born in Loosdorf, 
Jan. 4, 1813; was Minister of Justice 
in 1848, of the Interior in 1849-1859; 
and, subsequently, ambassador to 
Rome. In 1855, he negotiated the 
Concordat with the Papacy which 
brought Austria into submission to 
the Roman Church. He died Nov. 15, 
1892. 

Bach Heinrich a German musi¬ 
cian, born Sept. 16, 1615; member of 
the celebrated family of musicians, 
father of Johann Christoph and Jo¬ 
hann Michael Bach; was organist at 
Arnstadt, where he died July 10, 1691. 

Bach, Johann Christian, a Ger¬ 
man musician, born in Erfurt, in 
1640; a member of the family of mu¬ 
sicians; son of Johannes Bach, the 
great uncle of Johann Sebastian Bach. 
He died in Erfurt, in 1682. 

Bach, Johann Christian, a 
German musician, born in Leipsic, in 
1735; a son of Johann Sebastian 
Bach; died in London, in 1782. 

Bach, Johann Christoph 
Friedrich, a German musician, born 
in Leipsic, in 1732; a son of Johann 
Sebastian Bach; died in Biickeburg, 
in 1795. 

Bach, Johann Michael, a Ger¬ 
man composer and instrument maker, 




Bach 


Bachelor’s Buttons 


born in 1648; a son of Heinrich 
Bach; father-in-law of Johann Sebas¬ 
tian Bach. He died in Arnstadt, in 
1694. 

Bach, Johann Sebastian, a cel¬ 
ebrated musician, born at Eisenach, 
Upper Saxony, March 21, 1685. When 
he was 10 years old his father, who 
was a musician at Eisenach, died, and 
Bach sought the protection of an elder 
brother, who, dying soon after, he 
was again left destitute, and, to earn 
a livelihood, entered the choir of St. 
Michael’s, Luneberg, as a soprano 
singer. In 1703 he became court mu¬ 
sician at Weimar, the following year 
organist at Arnstadt, and in 1708 
court organist at Weimar. While 
holding this office he labored to make 
himself master of every branch of 
music. In 1717 he was made Director 
of Concerts, and six years afterward 
Director of Music and Cantor to St. 
Thomas’ School, Leipsic, an appoint¬ 
ment which he held to his death. 
Bach’s close studies affected his eyes, 
and an operation left him totally 
blind and hastened his death, in Leip¬ 
sic, July 28, 1750. With the excep¬ 
tion of Handel, Bach had no rival as 
an organist. 

Bach, Karl Philipp Emanuel, 

a German musician, born in Weimar, 
March 14, 1714; son of Johann Se¬ 
bastian Bach; was court musician in 
the service of Frederick the Great in 
1740-1767. He died in Hamburg, 
Dec. 14, 1788. 

Bache, Alexander Dallas, an 

American scientist, born in Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., July 19, 1806; was gradu¬ 
ated at the United States Military 
Academy, at the head of his class, in 
1825; became Professor of Natural 
Philosophy and Chemistry at the Uni¬ 
versity of Pennsylvania in 1828; was 
the organizer and first President of 
Girard College, 1836; and was ap¬ 
pointed superintendent of the United 
States Coast Survey, in 1843. In the 
last office he performed services of 
lasting and invaluable character. He 
was regent of the Smithsonian Insti¬ 
tution in 1846-1867; an active mem¬ 
ber of the United States Sanitary 
Commission during the Civil War; 
and President of the National Acad¬ 
emy of Sciences in 1863. He died in 
Newport, R. I., Feb. 17, 1867. 


Bache, Hartman, an American 
military engineer, born in Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., Sept. 3, 1798; was graduat¬ 
ed at the United States Military 
Academy, in 1818. His most notable 
achievements were the building of the 
Deiavvare Breakwater and the appli¬ 
cation of iron-screw piles for the foun¬ 
dation of lighthouses upon sandy 
shoals and coral reefs. He died in 
Philadelphia, Oct. 8, 1872. 

Bache, Sarah, an American phi¬ 
lanthropist, born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
Sept. 11, 1744; was the only daugh¬ 
ter of Benjamin Franklin, and the 
wife of Richard Bache. During the 
Revolutionary War she organized and 
became chief of a baud of patriotic 
ladies who made clothing for the sol¬ 
diers, and in other ways relieved their 
sufferings, especially during the severe 
winter of 1780. At one time she had 
nearly 2,500 women engaged under 
her direction in sewing for the army.. 
She personally collected large sums 
of money to provide the material for 
this work, and also for the purchase 
of medicines and delicacies for the 
soldiers in the hospitals, where she 
also personally acted as nurse. She 
died Oct. 5, 1808. 

Bacheller, Irving, an American 
novelist, born in Pierpont, N. Y., Sept. 
26, 1859. He was graduated at St. 
Lawrence University in 1879 and be¬ 
came a reporter of the Brooklyn 
“ Times.” Subsequently he estab¬ 
lished a newspaper syndicate. He has 
written several novels, notable for 
originality, and for fresh, and fasci¬ 
nating pen pictures of American life. 

Bachelor, a term applied anciently 
to a person in the first or probation¬ 
ary stage of knighthood who had not 
yet raised his standard in the field. It 
also denotes a person who has taken 
the first degree in the liberal arts and 
sciences, or in divinity, law, or medi¬ 
cine, at a college or university; or a 
man of any age who has not been mar¬ 
ried. A knight bachelor is one who 
has been raised to the dignity of a 
knight without being made a member 
of any of the orders of chivalry such 
as the Garter or the Thistle. 

Baclielor’s Buttons, the double 

flowering buttercup with white or yel¬ 
low blossoms, common in gardens. 







Bachman 


Bacon 


Bachman, John, an American 
clergyman and naturalist, born in 
Duchess county, N. Y., Feb. 4, 1790; 
became pastor of a Lutheran church 
in Charleston, S. C. He is best known 
by reason of his association with Au¬ 
dubon in the making of the “ Quad¬ 
rupeds of North America,” he writ¬ 
ing the principal part of the text, 
which Audubon and his sons illustrat¬ 
ed. He died in Charleston, S. C., 
Feb. 25, 1874. 

Bacillus, a name given to cer¬ 
tain filiform bacteria, which have as¬ 
sumed much importance of late, prin¬ 
cipally because of their constant 
presence in the blood and tissues in 
splenic fever and malignant pustule. 
See Bacteria. 

Back, Sir George, an English ex¬ 
plorer, bom in Stockport, Nov. 6, 
1796. He died in London, June 23, 
1878, after visiting both polar regions. 

Backgammon, a favorite game of 
calculation. It is played by two 
persons, with two boxes, and two dice, 
upon a quadrangular table, or board, 
on which are figured 24 points, or 
filches, of two colors, placed alter¬ 
nately. The board is divided into four 
compartments, two inner and two 
outer ones, each containing six of the 
24 points (alternate colors). The 
players are each furnished with 15 
men, or counters, black and white. 

Backhuysen, Ludolf, a cele¬ 
brated painter of the Dutch school, 
particularly in sea pieces, born in 
1631. He died in 1709. 

Backus, Truman Jay, an Amer¬ 
ican educator, born in Milan, N. Y., 
Feb. 11, 1842; was graduated at the 
University of Rochester in 1864; and 
became President of the Packer Col¬ 
legiate Institute in Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Since going to Brooklyn, he has served 
on several State commissions. 

Bacolor, a town in the Island of 
Luzon, Philippine Islands; 10 miles 
N. W. of Manila. 

Bacon, a word applied to the 
sides of a pig which have been cured 
or preserved by salting with salt and 
saltpeter, and afterward drying with 
or without wood smoke. 

Bacon, Alice Mitckell, an Amer¬ 
ican educator, born in New Haven, 
Conn., Feb. 26, 1858; was educated 


privately and took the Harvard exam¬ 
inations in 1881; taught at the Hamp¬ 
ton Normal and Agricultural Insti¬ 
tute in 1883-1888, and in Tokio, Ja¬ 
pan, in 1888-1889; returned to the 
Hampton Institute in 1889, and found¬ 
ed the Dixie Hospital for training 
colored nurses in 1890. 

Bacon, Benjamin Wismer, an 
American educator, bom in Litchfield, 
Conn., Jan. 15, 1860; in 1896 became 
Professor of New Testament Criticism 
and Exegesis in Yale University. 

Bacon, Delia Salter, an Ameri¬ 
can author; born in Tallmadge, O., 
Feb. 2, 1811; died in Hartford, Conn., 
Sept. 2, 1859. 

Bacon, Edwin Munroe, an 

American author; born in Providence, 
R. I., Oct. 20, 1844. 

Bacon, Francis, Viscount St. Al¬ 
bans, one of the most remarkable men 
of whom any age can boast; a reform¬ 
er of philosophy, by founding it on 
the observation of nature, after it 
had consisted, for many centuries, of 
scholastic subtleties and barren dia¬ 
lectics; bom in London, Jan. 22, 1561, 
his father being Sir Nicholas Bacon, 
lord keeper of the great seal. He 
contracted an advantageous mar¬ 
riage ; was made solicitor-general 
and then attorney-general; in 1617 
became lord keeper of the seals; in 
1618 was made lord high chancellor 
and created Baron of Verulam, and in 
1621 Viscount St. Albans. He might 
have lived with splendor without de¬ 
grading his character by those acts 
which stained his reputation. He 
was accused before the House of 
Lords of having received money for 
grants of offices and privileges under 
the seal of State. He was unable to 
justify himself, and, desiring to avoid 
the mortification of a trial, confessed 
his crimes and threw himself on the 
mercy of the peers, beseeching them 
to limit his punishment to the loss of 
the high office which he had dishon¬ 
ored. The lords sentenced him to 
pay a fine of £40,000, and to be im¬ 
prisoned in the Tower during the 
pleasure of the king. He was also 
declared forever incapable of place or 
employment, and forbidden to sit in 
Parliament or to appear within the 
verge of the court. He survived his 
fall only a few years, and died in 






Bacon 


Bactria 


Highgate, April 9, 1626. Efforts have 
been made to prove him the real au¬ 
thor of the works of Shakespeare, and 
the controversy still goes on. 

Bacon, Henry, an American paint¬ 
er, born in Haverhill, Mass., in 1839. 
He served in the Civil War, studied 
art in Paris under Cabanel and Ed¬ 
ward Frere, and painted, among oth¬ 
ers, “ Boston Boys and Gen. Gage ” 
“ Paying the Scot; ” etc. 

Bacon, John, an English sculp¬ 
tor, born in London, Nov. 24, 1740. 
He died Aug. 4, 1799. 

Bacon, John Mosby, an Ameri¬ 
can military officer, born in Kentucky, 
April 17, 1844; served in the Union 
army, through the Civil War; was 
appointed Captain in the 9th United 
States Cavalry, in 1866, and Colonel 
of the 8th Cavalry, in 1897. On May 
4, 1898, he was appointed Brigadier- 
General of Volunteers and placed in 
command of the Department of Da¬ 
kota. In October of that year he put 
down the outbreak of the Pillager 
band of the Chippewa Indians in Cass 
county, Minn. Subsequently, he was 
assigned to duty in Cuba, with head¬ 
quarters at Neuvitas, till May 8, 1899, 
when he was retired. 

Bacon, Leonard, an American 
clergyman, born in Detroit, Mich., 
Feb. 19, 1802; graduated at Yale in 
1820, after which he studied theology 
at Andover, Mass. In 1825 he became 
pastor of the First Congregational 
church in New Haven, Conn., where 
he died Dec. 24, 1881. He was joint- 
editor of the “ Independent ” for 16 
years and from 1866-1871 was Prof, 
of Didactic Theology at Yale. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, an Anglo- 
American lawyer, born in Suffolk, 
England, Jan. 2, 1642; became the 
leader in Bacon’s Rebellion (q. v.) 
in Virginia, and died Oct. 29, 1676. 

Bacon, Robert, American states¬ 
man, b. Cape Cod, Mass., 1858. He 
graduated from Harvard Univ. 1880; 
became a banker in the firm of J. 
Pierpont Morgan, and in 1905 was ap¬ 
pointed by Pres. Roosevelt first assist, 
sec. of state. 

Bacon, Roger, an English monk, 
and one of the most profound and 
original thinkers of his day, was born 
about 1214, near Ilchester, Somerset¬ 
shire. He died in Oxford, in 1294. 


Baconian Philosophy, the in¬ 
ductive philosophy of which it is some¬ 
times said that Lord Bacon was the 
founder. This, however, is an exag¬ 
gerated statement. What Lord Bacon 
did for this mode of ratiocination was 
to elucidate and systematize it; to 
point out its great value, and to bring 
it prominently before men’s notice; 
lending it the support of his great 
name at a time when most of his con¬ 
temporaries were satisfied with the 
barren logic of the schools. The great 
triumphs of modern science have aris¬ 
en from a resolute adherence on the 
part of its votaries to the Baconian 
method of inquiry. 

Bacon’s Rebellion, a popular 
uprising of the Virginian colonists, 
headed by Nathaniel Bacon, in pro¬ 
test against certain government abus¬ 
es, which prevailed under the ad¬ 
ministration of Sir William Berkeley. 
Bacon compelled Berkeley to take 
refuge on a warship, and burned 
all the public buildings at Jamestown. 
He died at the most critical moment, 
and the rebellion came to an end. 

Bacteria, a class of very minute 
microscopic organisms or microbes 
which are regarded as of vegetable 
nature, and as being the cause of ac¬ 
companiment of various diseases, as 
well as of putrefaction, fermentation, 
and certain other phenomena. Some 
of the better known of these organ¬ 
isms are so exceedingly minute, that 
under the highest power of improved 
microscopes they appear no larger 
than the periods of ordinary type. 
Various classifications have been pro¬ 
posed for them, for they differ largely 
in size, form, and mode of multiplica¬ 
tion. 

Bacteriology, that branch of 
biology which treats of bacteria. The 
study of these microscopic organisms 
has developed into one of the most 
important branches of modern bio¬ 
logical science. Their importance to 
mankind rests chiefly in the fact that 
their nourishment consists of albumi¬ 
nous substances, which they convert 
into complex chemical compounds, 
many of which are highly poisonous. 

Bactria, a province of the an¬ 
cient Persian empire., lying N. of the 
Paropamisus (Hindu Kush) Moun¬ 
tains, on the Upper Oxus. It corre- 


« 







Baczko 


Badger 


sponded pretty nearly with the mod¬ 
ern Balkh. Here many scholars locate 
the original home of the Aryan or 
Indo-European family of nations. Its 
capital, Bactra, or Zariaspa, was also 
the cradle of the Zoroastrian religion. 

Baczko, Ludwig von, a German 
historian and scholar, born in Lick, 
Prussia, June 8, 1756; died March 27, 
1828. 

Badajoz, the fortified capital of 
the Spanish province of Badajoz, on 
the left bank of the Guadiana. It 
was besieged by Wellington on March 
16, and taken April 6, 1812, by one of 
the most bloody assaults in history, 
the British charging over the dead 
bodies of their comrades, 

Badakshan, a territory of Cen¬ 
tral Asia, tributary to the Ameer of 
Afghanistan. The inhabitants profess 
Mohammedanism. Pop. 100,000. 

Badeau, Adam, an American mil¬ 
itary officer, born in New York city, 
Dec. 29, 1831; educated at private 
schools. He served with gallantry in 
the Union army during the Civil War; 
was on the staff of General Sherman 
in 1862-1863, and secretary to Gen¬ 
eral Grant in 1864-1869; and in the 
latter year was retired with the rank 
of Captain in the regular army and of 
Brevet Brigadier-General of Volun¬ 
teers, and was appointed Secretary of 
Legation in London. He was Consul- 
General in London, 1870-1881, and 
during this period was given leave of 
absence to accompany General Grant 
on his tour around the world (1877- 
1878). In 1882-1884 he was Consul- 
General in Havana. After the death 
of General Grant he brought suit 
against his heirs for payment of ser¬ 
vices which he asserted had been ren¬ 
dered in the preparation of General 
Grant’s “ Memoirs,” but lost his case. 
He died in Ridgewood, N. J., March 
19, 1895. 

Baden, Grand Ducky of, one of 

the more important States of the Ger¬ 
man empire, situated in the S. W. of 
Germanto the W. of Wiirtemberg. 
It is divided into four districts, Con¬ 
stance, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, and 
Mannheim: has an area of 5,823 
square miles, and pop. 1,866,584. 
Baden sends three* members to the 
German Bundesrath, or Federal Coun¬ 
cil, and 14 deputies to the Diet. Two- 


thirds of the population are Roman 
Catholics, the rest Protestants. 

Baden-Baden, a town in the 
Grand Duchy of Baden; pop. (1900) 
15,731. It is chiefly celebrated for 
its medicinal springs, which were 
known at the time of the Romans. Its 
gaming tables, the most renowned in 
Europe, were closed with the rest of 
the licensed German gaming houses in 
1872. 

Baden-Powell, Robert Steven¬ 
son Smyth, a British military offi¬ 
cer; born in London, Feb. 22, 1857. 
In the war in South Africa in 1899- 
1902, he signally distinguished himself 
by his defense of Mafeking, Cape Col¬ 
ony. In recognition of his heroic de¬ 
fense, the queen promoted Baden-Pow¬ 
ell to be a Major-General. 

Badeni, Count Cassimir Felix, 
an Austrian statesman; born in Po¬ 
land, Oct. 14, 1846; Prime Minister 
of Austria-Hungary, Sept. 15, 1895. 

Badge, a distinctive device, em¬ 
blem, mark, honorary decoration, or 
special cognizance, used originally to 
identify a knight or distinguish his 
followers, now worn as a sign of of¬ 
fice or licensed employment, as a token 
of membership in some society, or gen¬ 
erally as a mark showing the relation 
of the wearer to any person, occupa¬ 
tion, or order. 

Badger, a plantigrade, carnivorous 
mammal, allied both to the bears and 
to the weasels, of a clumsy make, 
with short, thick legs, and long claws 
on the fore feet. The species known 
are the American and European. 
The American badger is only found 
in the remote W. sections of the Unit¬ 
ed States and in some parts of the 
British possessions in North America. 
It is more carnivorous than the Eu¬ 
ropean badger. The weight of the 
American species is from 14 to 18 
pounds. 

Badger, George Edmund, an 

American statesman, born in New- 
bern, N. C., April 13, 1795; was grad¬ 
uated at Yale College in 1813, and 
was a judge and U. S. Senator. 
He served in the State Convention 
called to pass on the question of se¬ 
cession, although oposed to that 
measure, and after making a strong 
speech in defense of the Union, was 
afterward known as a member of the 




Badger 


Baffin 


Conservative Party. He died in Ral¬ 
eigh, N. C., April 13, 1866. 

Badger, Oscar L., an American 
naval officer, born in Windham, Conn., 
Aug. 12, 1823; entered the United 
States navy, Sept. 9, 1841; became 
Lieutenant-Commander, July 16, 
1862; Commander, July 25, 1866; 
Captain, Nov. 25, 1872; Commodore, 
Nov. 15, 1881; and was retired Aug. 
12, 1885. He served on the steamer 
“ Mississippi ” during the Mexican 
War, taking part in the attack on Al¬ 
varado, in 1846; led the party that 
attacked and destroyed the village of 
Vutia, Fiji Islands, while on the sloop 
“John Adams,” in 1855-1856; ^ and 
in the Civil War commanded the iron¬ 
clads “ Patapsco ” and “ Montauk,” 
in the operations in Charleston harbor 
in 1863; and was Acting Fleet Cap¬ 
tain on the flag ship “ Weehawken ” 
in the attack on Fort Sumter, Sept. 
1, 1863. He died in Concord, Mass., 
June 20, 1899. 

Badgley, Sidney Rose, a Cana¬ 
dian architect, born near Kingston, 
Ont., May 28, 1850. He has planned 
and erected churches in almost all 
parts of Canada and the United States. 

Badfiam, Charles, an English ed¬ 
ucator, born in Ludlow, July 18, 
1813; died in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 
26, 1884. 

Badlam, Stephen, an American 
military officer, born in Milton, Mass., 
March 25, 1748; entered the Revolu¬ 
tionary army in 1775; became com¬ 
mander of the artillery, in the Depart¬ 
ment of Canada. On the announce¬ 
ment of the adoption of the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence, he took posses¬ 
sion of the heights opposite Ticonder- 
oga, and named the place Mt. Inde¬ 
pendence. Subsequently he rendered 
good service at Fort Stanwix, and in 
1799 was made Brigadier-General. He 
died in Dorchester, Mass., Aug. 24, 
1815. 

Bad Lands, tracts of land in the 
N. W. part of the United States. The 
absence of vegetation enables the rains 
to wash clean the old lake beds, and 
in many instances to disclose remark¬ 
able fossils of extinct animals. They 
were first called Bad Lands (mau- 
vaises terres) by the French explorers 
in the region of the Black Hills in 
South Dakota. 


Badminton, a popular game, close-, 
ly resembling lawn tennis, played with 
battledore and shuttlecock on a rec¬ 
tangular portion of a lawn. 

Badrinatli, a peak of the main 
Himalayan range, in Garhwal dis¬ 
trict, Northwestern Provinces, India; 
23,210 feet above the sea. On one of 
its shoulders, at an elevation of 10,400 
feet, stands a celebrated temple of 
Vishnu, which some years attracts as 
many as 50,000 pilgrims. 

Baedeker, Karl, a German pub¬ 
lisher, born in 1801; originator of a 
celebrated series of guide-books for 
travelers. He died in 1859. 

Baeyer, Adolf von, a German 
chemist, born in Berlin, Oct. 31, 1835; 
son of Johann Jakob Baeyer; became 
Professor of Chemistry at Strasburg 
in 1872, and at Munich, in 1875, suc¬ 
ceeding Liebig at the latter. He made 
many important discoveries in organic 
chemistry, especially cerulein, eosin, 
and indol. 

Baeyer, Johann Jakob, a Prus¬ 
sian geometrician, born in Miiggels- 
heim, Nov. 5, 1794; died in Berlin, 
Sept. 10, 1885. 

Baez, Buenaventura, a Domin¬ 
ican statesman, born in Azua, Haiti, 
about 1810; aided in the establish¬ 
ment of the Dominican Republic; was 
its President in 1849-1853; was then 
expelled by Santa Ana and went to 
New York city; was recalled in 1856, 
on the expulsion of Santa Ana, and 
again elected President; and was re¬ 
elected President in 1865 and 1868. 
During his last term, he signed treat¬ 
ies with the United States (Nov. 29, 
1869), for the annexation of Santo 
Domingo to the United States, and for 
the cession of Samana Bay. The 
treaties failed of ratification in the 
United States Senate and caused the 
downfall of Baez. He died in Porto 
Rico, March 21, 1884. 

Baffin, William, an English nav¬ 
igator and discoverer, believed to have 
been born in London about 1584. 
In 1615 he took service as pilot 
of the “ Discovery,” in search of a 
northwest passage, and made a care¬ 
ful examination of Hudson Strait. 
His recorded latitudes and notes 
of the tides are in remarkable 
agreement with those of a later date. 
In the following year, with Capt. By- 






Baffin Land 


Bagley 


lot, he discovered, charted, and named 
Smith Sound, and several others, and 
explored the large inlet now associated 
with his name. His last voyages, 
1616-1621, were to the East. At 
the siege of Ormuz, which the Eng¬ 
lish were helping the Shah of Persia 
to recover from the Portuguese, he 
was killed, Jan. 23, 1622. 

Baffin Land, a Canadian island, 
crossed by the Arctic Circle; area, 
236,000 square miles. 

Baffin Sea (erroneously styled a 
Bay), a large expanse of water in 
North America, between Greenland 
and the lands or islands N. of Hudson 
Bay. This sea was discovered by the 
English navigator, Baffin, in 1616, 
while in search of a passage to the 
Pacific Ocean. 

Bagamoyo, a town of German 
East Africa, on the coast opposite the 
island of Zanzibar; pop. (1899), 
about 13,000. It is an important trad¬ 
ing station for ivory, gum and caout¬ 
chouc. 

Bagasse, the sugar cane in its dry, 
crushed state, as delivered from the 
mill, and after the main portion of its 
juice has been expressed; used as fuel 
in the sugar factory, and called also 
cane trash. 

Bagatelle, a game played on a 
long, flat board, covered with cloth 
like a billiard-table, with spherical 
balls and a cue, or mace. 

Bagby, George William, an 
American physician and humorist, 
born in Buckingham co., Va., Aug. 13, 
1828; died in Richmond, Va., Nov. 
29, 1883. 

Bagdad, capital of the Turkish 
vilayet and city of the same name, in 
the southern part of Mesopotamia 
(now Irak Arabi). Bagdad was found¬ 
ed in 762, by the Caliph Almansur, 
and raised to a high degree of splen¬ 
dor, in the 9th century, by Haroun A1 
Raschid. It is the scene of a number 
of the tales of the “ Arabian Nights.” 
In the 13th century it was stormed by 
Hulaku, grandson of Genghis-Khan, 
who caused the reigning caliph to be 
slain, and destroyed the caliphate. The 
vilayet has an area of 54,503 square 
miles, and an estimated population of 
850,000, and the city an estimated 
population of 145,000. 

E. 12. 


Bagdad, a town in Tamaulipas, 
Mexico, near the mouth of the Rio 
Grande; was of great importance dur¬ 
ing the Civil War to Confederate 
blockade runners. 

Bagehot, Walter, an English 
writer on political economy and gov¬ 
ernment, born in Langport, Somerset¬ 
shire, Feb. 3, 1826; died in Langport, 
March 24, 1877. 

Baggage, a term supposed to be 
derived from the old French word 
bague, meaning bundle. As ordinar¬ 
ily used, it includes trunks, valises, 
portmanteaus, etc., which a traveler 
carries with him on a journey. 

Baggesen, Jens, a Danish poet; 
born in Korsor, Zealand, Feb. 15, 
1764; died in Hamburg, Oct. 3, 1826. 

Bagirmi, or Baghermi, a coun¬ 
try in Central Africa, bounded on the 
W. by Bornu and a portion of Lake 
Tchad, and with the powerful Sultan¬ 
ate of Wadai to the N. E. Its area 
is estimated at nearly 71,000 square 
miles. The country was first vis¬ 
ited by Barth in 1852. Most of it 
was recognized as in the German 
sphere (as Hinterland of Kamerun), 
by the Anglo-German agreement of 
1893. Its surface is mainly flat. 

Bagley, Worth, an American na¬ 
val officer, born in Raleigh, N. C., 
April 6, 1874; was graduated at the 
United States Naval Academy in 
1895; promoted to Ensign, July 1, 
1897, and was detailed as inspector to 
the new torpedo-boat “ Winslow ” in 
November following. This boat went 
into commission the next month, and 
he was appointed her executive officer. 
In April, 1898, the “ Winslow ” was 
assigned to the American fleet off the 
coast of Cuba, and on May 9, while 
on blockading duty at the harbor of 
Cardenas, with the “ Wilmington ” 
and “ Hudson,” drew the fire of sev¬ 
eral Spanish coast-guard vessels. All 
the American vessels escaped untouch¬ 
ed. Two days afterward, the three 
vessels undertook to force an entrance 
into the harbor, when they were fired 
on by Spanish gunboats. The “ Wins¬ 
low ” was disabled, and with difficulty 
was drawn out of range of the en¬ 
emy’s guns. The “ Wilmington ” then 
silenced the Spanish fire, and as the 
action closed, Ensign Bagley and four 
sailors on the “ Winslow ” were in- 




Bagpipe 


Bail 


stantly killed by a shell, he being the 
first American naval officer to fall in 
the war with Spain. 

Bagpipe, a musical wind instru¬ 
ment of very great antiquity, having 
been used among the ancient Greeks 
for many ages, and is the favorite 
musical instrument of the Scottish 
Highlanders. 

Bagration, Peter Ivanovich, 
Prince, a Russian general, descended 
from the royal family of the Bagra- 
tidse of Georgia and Armenia, born in 
1765. In the campaign of 1812, he 
commanded the Second Russian Army 
of the West. He was mortally wound¬ 
ed in the battle of Borodino, and died 
Oct. 7, 1812. 

Bahama Channel, Old and New, 

two American channels; the former 
separates the Great Bahama Bank and 
Cuba; the latter, also called the Gulf 
of Florida, is between the Great and 
Little Bahama Banks and Florida, 
and forms a part of the channel of the 
great Gulf Stream, which flows here 
at the rate of from 2 to 5 miles an 
hour. 

Bahama Islands, or Lucayos, a 

group of islands in the West Indies, 
forming a colony belonging to Great 
Britain, lying N. E. of Cuba and S. E. 
of the coast of Florida, the Gulf 
Stream passing between them and the 
mainland. They extend a distance of 
upward of COO miles, and are said to 
be 29 in number, besides keys and 
rocks innumerable. Of the whole 
group about 20 are inhabited, the 
most populous being New Provi¬ 
dence, which contains the capital, 
Nassau, the largest being Andros, 
100 miles long, 20 to 40 broad. They 
are low and flat, and have in many 
parts extensive forests. Total area, 
5,450 square miles. Pop. (1901) 53,- 
735. 

Bahia, formerly San Salvador, a 
city of Brazil, on the Bay of All 
Saints, in the State of Bahia. The 
harbor is one of the best in South 
America; and the trade, chiefly in 
sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco, hides, 
piassava, and tapioca, is very exten¬ 
sive. Pop. 174,412. The State, area, 
164,649 square miles; pop. about 2,- 
000,000, has much fertile land, both 
along the coast and in the interior. 


Bahia Honda, a seaport of Cuba, 
on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, 
and lying on a small bay, bearing the 
same name. The town and bay are 
about 50 miles W. of Havana, being 
commanded by a small fort. 

Bahr, Johann Christian Felix, 
a German philologist, born at Darm¬ 
stadt, June 13, 1798; died Nov. 29, 
1872. 

Bahrein Islands, a group of 
islands in the Persian Gulf, in an in¬ 
dentation on the Arabian coast. The 
Bahrein Islands are chiefly noted for 
their pearl-fisheries, which were known 
to the ancients, and which employ in 
the season from 2,000 to 3,000 boats 
with from 8 to 20 men each. Total 
pop., est. at 70,000. 

Bahr-el-Ghazal, the name of the 
old Egyptian province which incloses 
the district watered by the southern 
tributaries of Bahr-el-Arab and Bahr- 
el-Ghazal. It is said to be a good 
cotton-growing country, and abounds 
in timber. Slatin Pasha has drawn 
attention both to the fertility of 
the province and to its strategical 
importance. To the W. of it lies the 
Ubangi district of French Kongo; and 
it was thence that Major Marchand 
made his way through the Bahr-el- 
Ghazal to Fashoda in the summer of 
1898. 

Bahr Yusuf, or Bahr el Yusuf, 

an artificial irrigation channel from 
the left bank of the Nile below Sint, 
to the Fayum; 270 miles long. Ac¬ 
cording to Koptic traditions it was 
constructed during Joseph’s adminis¬ 
tration. 

Baikal, an extensive lake of East¬ 
ern Siberia; crescent-shaped, and sur¬ 
rounded by high and wild mountains 
rising 3,000 to 4,000 feet above its 
surface. Length, S. W. to N. E., 370 
miles; breadth, 20 to 70 miles; alti¬ 
tude, about 1,400 feet; greatest ascer¬ 
tained depth, 4,500 feet; average 
depth of its southern part, about 800 
feet. 

Bail. (1) Of persons: Those who 
stand security for the appearance of 
an accused person. The word is a col¬ 
lective one, and not used in the plural. 
They were so called because formerly 
the person summoned was bailie, that 
is, given into the custody of those who 
were security for his appearance. 





Astor 


Astrology 


is given in Washington Irving’s “As¬ 
toria.” Mr. Astor acquired large 
wealth, invested heavily in real estate 
in New York city; and at his death 
left a fortune estimated at $20,000,- 
000, and the sum of $400,000, with 
which to found a public library in 
New York city. He died March 29, 
1848. See New York Public Li¬ 
brary. 

Astor, John Jacob, an Ameri¬ 
can capitalist, bom in Rhinebeck, N. 
Y., July 13, 1864; son of William, 
grandson of John Jacob, and cousin of 
Wiiliam Waldorf Astor; was grad¬ 
uated at Harvard University in 1888; 
spent three years in European travel; 
and then became manager of the fam¬ 
ily estate. He was appointed Col¬ 
onel on the staff of Gov. Morton; 
was commissioned a Lieutenant-Col¬ 
onel of Volunteers in May, 1898, and 
served on inspection and staff duty in 
the United States and Cuba till the 
surrender of Santiago. He presented 
the United States Government with 
a completely equipped mountain bat¬ 
tery which cost over $75,000, and 
which was sent to the Philippine Is¬ 
lands, and rendered the government 
valuable services in other directions 
during the war with Spain. He pub¬ 
lished “ A Journey to Other Worlds; 
a Romance of the Future” (1894). 

Astor, William Backhouse, an 
American capitalist, born in New York 
city, Sept. 19, 1792; eldest son of 
John Jacob Astor; was associated 
with his father in business; increased 
the family fortune to $45,000,000; 
and gave $550,000 to the Astor Li¬ 
brary. He died in New York, Nov. 
24, 1875. 

Astor, William Waldorf, capi¬ 
talist, born in New York city, March 
31. 1848; received a private educa¬ 
tion ; was admitted to the bar in 1875. 
He was elected to the New York As¬ 
sembly in 1871, and to the Senate in 
1879; was defeated for Congress in 
1881, and was United States Minister 
to Italy in 1882-1885. On the death 
of. his father, John Jacob Astor, in 
1890, he became the head of the Astor 
family, and inherited a fortune said to 
aggregate $100,000,000. He removed 
to England in 1890; became the owner 
of the “ Pall Mall Gazette ” and “ Pall 
Mall Magazine;” and was naturalized 


a British subject on July 1, 1899. He 
published “Valentino” (1885) and 
“ Sforza ” (1889), both romances. 

Astor Place Riot, a fatal affray 
which took place in New York city, 
May 10, 1854, in which the partici¬ 
pants were the partisans of the actors, 
Edwin Forrest and William C. Ma- 
cready. Twenty-two were killed and 
36 wounded. 

Astraea, one of the asteroids, dis¬ 
covered in 1845. 

Astrakhan, a Russian city, capi¬ 
tal of the government of the same 
name, on an elevated island in the 
Volga, about 30 miles above its mouth 
in the Caspian, communicating with 
opposite banks of the river by numer¬ 
ous bridges. It is the chief port 
of .the Caspian, and has regular steam 
communication with the principal 
towns on its shores. Pop. (1897) 
113,001, composed of various races. 

Astrakhan, a name given to 
sheep-skins with a curled woolly sur¬ 
face obtained from a variety of sheep 
found in Bokhara, Persia, and Syria; 
also a rough fabric with a pile in im¬ 
itation of this. 

Astral Spirits, in the demonology 
of the Middle Ages, spirits dwelling in 
the heavenly bodies. As the belief in 
spirits and witchcraft reached its 
height in the 15th century, the demon- 
ologist, or special students of this sub¬ 
ject, systematized the strange fancies 
of that wild period; and astral spirits 
were made to occupy the first rank 
among evil or demoniacal spirits. 

Astringents, substances which 
produce contraction and condensation 
of the muscular fiber: for instance, 
when applied to a bleeding wound 
they so contract the tissues as to stop 
the hemorrhage. Astringents are use¬ 
ful in various diseases. 

Astrolabe, in its etymological 
sense, any instrument for taking the 
altitude of a star or other heavenly 
body, a definition whjch would include 
not merely the astrolabe properly so 
called, but also the sextant, the quad¬ 
rant, the equatorial, the altitude and 
the azimuth circle, the theodolite, or 
any similar instrument. 

Astrology, originally a discourse 
concerning the stars; subsequently the 
true science of astronomy; now the 




Astronomy 


Atelier 


pseudo science which pretends to fore¬ 
tell future events by studying the po¬ 
sition of the stars, and ascertaining 
their alleged influence upon human 
destiny. 

Astronomy, the science that treats 
of all the heavenly bodies, including 
the earth, as related to them. It is 
the oldest of the sciences, and the 
mother of those generally called exact 
as mathematics, geodesy and physics. 

Asymptote, in geometry, a line 
which is continually approaching a 
curve, but never meets it, however far 
either of them may be prolonged. This 
may be conceived as a tangent to a 
curve at an infinite distance. 

Atacama, the name formerly, of 
two provinces, (1) Chilian'and (2) 
Bolivian ; most of the latter was trans¬ 
ferred to Chile in 1884. (1) A north¬ 

ern Province of Chile, with an area 
of 30,720 square miles, and a popula¬ 
tion (1895) of 59,713 About 1,000 
silver and 250 copper mines are work¬ 
ed, and gold is also found in consider¬ 
able quantities. 

Ataliualpa, the last of the Incas, 
succeeded his father in 1529 on the 
throne of Quito, whilst his brother 
Huascar obtained the Kingdom of 
Peru. They soon made war against 
each other, when the latter was de¬ 
feated, and his kingdom fell into the 
hands of Atahualpa. The Spaniards, 
taking advantage of these internal dis¬ 
turbances, with Pizarro at their head, 
invaded Peru, and advanced to Atahu- 
alpa’s camp. Here, while Pizarro’s 
priest was telling the Incas how the 
Pope had given Peru to the Spaniards, 
fire was opened on the unsuspecting 
Peruvians, Atahualpa was captured, 
and, despite the payment of a vast 
ransom in gold, was executed (1533). 

Atalanta, in the Greek mythology, 
a famous huntress of Arcadia. She 
was to be obtained in marriage only by 
him who could outstrip her in a race, 
the consequence of failure being death. 
One of her suitors obtained from Aph¬ 
rodite (Venus) three golden apples, 
which he threw behind him, one after 
another, as he ran. Atalanta stopped 
to pick them up, and was not unwill¬ 
ingly defeated. There was another At¬ 
alanta belonging to Boeotia, who can¬ 
not very well be distinguished, the 
same stories being told about both. 


Atavism, in biology, the tendency 
to reproduce the ancestral type in ani¬ 
mals or plants which have become con¬ 
siderably modified by breeding or cul¬ 
tivation ; the reversion of a descendant 
to some peculiarity of a more or less 
remote ancestor. 

Ataxy, Ataxia, in medicine, irreg¬ 
ularity in the animal functions, or in 
the symptoms of a disease. (See Lo¬ 
comotor ataxy). 

Atcheen (also A chin or Atchin ; 
called by the Dutch Atjeh), until 
1873 an independent State in the N. 
W. part of Sumatra, now a Province 
of the Dutch Indies, with an area of 
20,471 square miles, and a population 
of over half a million. 

During the earlier half of the 17th 
century Atcheen was a powerful sul¬ 
tanate, with supremacy over several 
islands and a part of the Malay Pen¬ 
insula. Its power gradually declin¬ 
ed ; but an attempt was made by the 
treaty between the English and the 
Dutch, in 1824, to reserve its inde¬ 
pendence. This reservation was re¬ 
scinded by the Hague treaty in 1871. 
Native resistance was not quelled un¬ 
til their last stronghold was captured 
in Oct., 1906. War had lasted 200 
years at great cost and loss of life. 

Atchison, David Rice, an Amer¬ 
ican legislator, born in Frogtown, Ky., 
Aug. 11, 1807; was educated for the 
bar, and began practicing in Missouri, 
in 1830. In 1843, while Judge of Cir¬ 
cuit Court, he was appointed United 
States Senator to fill a vacancy. He 
was twice elected to the last office, 
and during several sessions was Presi¬ 
dent pro tem. of the Senate. During 
Sunday, March 4, 1849, he was the 
legal President of the United States, 
as Gen. Taylor, the President-elect, 
was not sworn into office until the fol¬ 
lowing day. The city of Atchison, 
Kan., was named after him. He died 
in Clinton county, Mo., June 26, 1886. 

Ate, in Greek mythology, the god¬ 
dess of hate, injustice, crime and ret¬ 
ribution. Ate is seldom personified. 

Ateles, a genus of South Ameri¬ 
can monkeys, of the division with long 
prehensile tails, to which the name 
Sapajou is sometimes applied. 

Atelier, in French, a workshop; a 
studio; more especially applied to an 
artist’s work-room. Ateliers Nation- 




Athabasca 


Athanasian Creed 


aux^ or National Workshops. Since 
1845, it has been the custom in France, 
during severe winters, or in times of 
distress caused by stagnation of trade, 
to open temporary workshops, in or¬ 
der to give employment to mechanics 
who were out of work. These work¬ 
shops were called Ateliers de Charite, 
until 1848, when the Provisional Gov¬ 
ernment of the Republic reopened a 
vast number of these establishments 
under the name of Ateliers Nation- 
aux. They were under the control of 
a department called “ The Committee 
of the Government for the Workmen 
they were all, however, badly organ¬ 
ized, . and failed calamitously. The 
principle on which they were conduct¬ 
ed was, that every workman should 
have a living provided for him on a 
fixed scale. The result was, that 
workmen soon left private employers, 
and entered the national work-shops. 
The numbers who flocked in soon be¬ 
came alarming. More than 100,000 
men enrolled themselves, and insubor¬ 
dination soon began to show itself. 
Danger was imminent, and the Na¬ 
tional Assembly ordered the dissolu¬ 
tion of the ateliers nationaux, an act 
which became the pretext for the terri¬ 
ble insurrection which ensanguined 
Paris in June, 1848. 

Athabasca, a river, lake and dis¬ 
trict of Canada. The Athabasca 
river rises on the E. slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains in the district of 
Alberta, flows in a N. E. direction 
through the district of the same name, 
and falls into Lake Athabasca after a 
course of about 600 miles. Lake Ath¬ 
abasca, or Lake of the Hills, is about 
190 miles S. S. E. of the Great Slave 
Lake, with which it is connected by 
means of the Slave river, a continua¬ 
tion of the Peace. It is about 200 
miles in length from E. to W., and 
about 35 miles wide at the broadest 
part, but gradually narrows to a point 
at either extremity. The district of 
Athabasca, formed 1882, on Sept. 1, 
1905, was merged in the provinces of 
Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is in¬ 
tersected by the Athabasca and Peace 
rivers and, as yet, has a scanty popu¬ 
lation. The name is also given to a 
family of Indians. The area of the 
district was about 251,300 sq. m. 

Athabascan Indians, a linguistic 
stock of North American Indians, ex¬ 


tending from British North America 
and Alaska to Mexico, who derive 
their name from Lake Athabasca in 
British North America. 

Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, 
King of Israel, and wife of Jehoram, 
King of Judah, was born about 927, 
and died about 878 B. c. She was a 
woman of abandoned character, and 
fond of power; who, after the death of 
her son Ahaziah, opened her way to 
the throne by the murder of every 
prince of the royal blood. She reign¬ 
ed six years: in the seventh, the high- 
priest Jehoiada placed Joash, the 
young son of Ahaziah, on the throne 
of his father, and Athaliah was put to 
death. 

Atbanasian Creed, a formulary 
or confession of faith, said to have^ 
been drawn up by Athanasius, Bishop 
of Alexandria, in the 4th century, to 
justify himself against the calumnies 
of his Arian enemies. That it was 
really composed by this father seems 
more than doubtful; and modern di¬ 
vines generally concur in the opinion 
of Dr. Waterland, that it was written 
by Hilary, Bishop of Arles, in the 5tb 
century. It is certainly very ancient: 
for it had become so famous in the 
6th century as to be commented upon, 
together with the Lord’s Prayer and 
Apostles’ Creed, by Venantius Fortu- 
natus, Bishop of Poitiers. It was not, 
however, then styled the Athanasian 
Creed, but simply the Catholic Faith. 
It is supposed to have received the 
name of Athanasius on account of its 
agreeing with his doctrines, and being 
an excellent summary of the subjects 
of controversy between him and the 
Arians. The true key to the Athana¬ 
sian Creed lies in the knowledge of 
the errors to which it was opposed. 
The Sabellians considered the Father, 
Son and Holy Spirit as one in per¬ 
son ; this was “ confounding the per¬ 
sons : ” the Arians considered them as 
differing in essence; this was “ divid¬ 
ing the substance; ” and against these 
two errors was the creed originally 
framed. This creed was used in 
France about the year 850; was re¬ 
ceived in Spain about 100 years later, 
and in Germany about the same time. 
It was both said and sung in Eng¬ 
land in the 10th century; was com¬ 
monly used in Italy at the expiration 
of that century, and at Rome a little 




Athanasius 


Athletes 


later. This creed is appointed to be 
read in the Church of England. 

Athanasius, St., one of the fa¬ 
thers of the Christian Church, born 
at Alexandria about 296 A. D. He 
became Patriarch of Alexandria in 
328, being afterward deposed and re¬ 
instated five times. He died in Alex¬ 
andria, May 2, 373. 

Atheism, literally, disbelief in a 
God, if such an attainment is possi¬ 
ble ; or, more loosely, doubt of the ex¬ 
istence of a God; practically, a denial 
that anything can be known about the 
supernatural, supposing it to exist. 

Athel, or ASthel, an Old English 
word meaning noble, eminent not only 
in blood or by ^descent but in mind; 
frequently a part of Anglo-Saxon 
proper names. 

Atheling, a title of honor among 
the Anglo-Saxons, meaning one who is 
of noble blood. 

Athena, or Athene, a Greek god¬ 
dess, identified by the Romans with 
Minerva, the representative of the in¬ 
tellectual powers; the daughter of Zeus 
(Jupiter) and Metis (that is, wisdom 
or cleverness). 

Athenaeum, or Atheneum, a 

public place frequented by professors 
of the liberal arts, and where rhetori¬ 
cians declaimed, and the poets read 
aloud their works. At Athens these 
assemblies first took place in the tem¬ 
ple of Minerva, whence the name. 

Athens, anciently the capital of 
Attica and center of Greek culture, 
now the capital of the Kingdom of 
Greece. It is situated in the central 
plain of Attica, about 4 miles from 
the Saronic Gulf or Gulf of iEgina, 
nn arm of the iEgean Sea running in 
between the mainland and the Pelo¬ 
ponnesus. It is said to have been 
founded about 1550 b. c. by Cecrops, 
:he mythical Pelasgian hero, and to 
have borne the name Cecropia until 
under Erechtheus it received the name 
of Athens in honor of Athene. 
It disputed with Sparta the su¬ 
premacy of Greece, which was then 
virtually the civilized world, and was 
beaten in the struggle. It remained, 
however, the centre of art and.culture 
until long after the rise of Rome, to 
which with the rest of Greece it be¬ 
came subject. 

The modern city mostly lies north¬ 


ward and eastward from the Acropo¬ 
lis, and consists mainly of straight 
and well built streets. Among the 
principal buildings are the royal pal¬ 
ace, a stately building with a facade 
of Pentelic marble (completed in 
1843), the university, the academy, 
public library, theater, and observa¬ 
tory. The university was opened in 
1836, and has 1,400 students. There 
are valuable museums, in particular 
the National Museum, and that in the 
Polytechnic School, which embraces 
the Schliemann collection, etc. These 
are constantly being added to by exca¬ 
vations. There are four foreign ar¬ 
chaeological schools or institutes, the 
French, German, American, and Brit¬ 
ish. Tramways have been made in the 
principal streets, and the city is con¬ 
nected by railway with its port, the 
Piraeus. Pop. 111,486. 

Athens, American School at, 
an institution for classical study, 
founded in Athens, Greece, in 1882. 

Atherstone, Edwin, an English 
poet, born in Nottingham, England, 
about 1788; died Jan. 29, 1872. 

Atherton, George William, an 
American educator, born in Boxford, 
Mass., June 20, 1837; was brought up 
in a cotton mill, and afterward on a 
farm; worked his way through 
Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale 
College; was Professor of Political 
Economy and Constitutional Law in 
Rutgers College, N. J., in 1869-1882; 
admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 
1878; and became President of the 
Pennsylvania State College in 1882. 

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin, 
an American author, born in San 
Francisco, Cal.; daughter of Thomas 
L. Horn and Gertrude Franklin, and 
great-grandniece of Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin ; was educated in California and 
Kentucky, and married the late George 
H. B. Atherton. She began her liter¬ 
ary work while living in San Fran¬ 
cisco, in 1878, and has made a 
specialty of describing Spanish life in 
California as it was previous to 1846. 

Athletes, combatants who took 
part in the public games of Greece. 
The profession was an honorable one; 
tests of birth, position, and character 
were imposed, and crowns, statues, 
special privileges, and pensions were 
among the rewards of success. In 




Athos 


Atlantic Ocean 


April, 1896, the ancient Olympic 
games were revived at Athens (the 
776th Olympiad) under the personal 
patronage of the King of Greece, who 
presented crowns of victory to 44 con¬ 
testants, of whom 11 were from the 
United States, the largest number of 
victors from any country. 

Athos, Mount, or Hagion-Oros, 
or Monte-Santo, a famous moun¬ 
tain of Turkey in Europe, on a pen¬ 
insula projecting into the iEgean Sea, 
between the Gulfs of Contesa and 
Monte-Santo. In modern times, 
Athos has been occupied for an 
extended period by a dumber of 
monks of the Greek Church, who live 
in a sort of fortified monasteries-, in 
number about 20, of different degrees 
of magnitude and importance. These, 
with the farms or metochis attached 
to them, occupy the whole peninsula; 
hence it has derived its modern name 
of Monte-Santo. 

Atkinson, Edward, an American 
political economist, born in Brook¬ 
line, Mass., Feb. 10, 1827; was edu¬ 
cated in private schools and at Dart¬ 
mouth College. He has become widely 
known by his papers and pamphlets on 
trade competition, banking, railroad¬ 
ing, fire prevention, the money ques¬ 
tion, etc. He died Dec. 11, 1905. 

Atkinson, George Francis, an 
American botanist, born in Raisin- 
ville, Mich., Jan. 26, 1854; was grad¬ 
uated at Cornell University in 1885; 
Associate Professor of Entomology 
and General Zoology in the University 
of North Carolina, in 1886-1888 ; Pro¬ 
fessor of Zoology and Botany in the 
University of South Carolina; and 
Botanist of the State Experiment 
Station in 1888-1889; Professor of 
Biology in the Alabama Polytechnic 
Institute, and Biologist of the Experi¬ 
ment Station in 1889-1892; became 
Professor of Botany in Cornell Uni¬ 
versity, and Botanist of the Experi¬ 
ment Station there in 1896. He is a 
member of numerous scientific socie¬ 
ties, and author of “Biology of Ferns,” 
“Elementary Botany,” and many tech¬ 
nical papers. 

Atlanta, city and capital of the 
State of Georgia and of Fulton coun¬ 
ty; on the Atlanta and West Point, 
the Central of Georgia, the Georgia, 
the Seaboard Air Line, the Southern, 


and the Western and Atlantic rail¬ 
roads ; 171 miles N. by W. of Augusta. 
The city is not only the largest in the 
State, but, commercially and histor¬ 
ically, is one of the most important in 
the South. Bank clearings total over 
$131,000,000 a year. The chief build¬ 
ing is the magnificent capitol com¬ 
pleted March, 1891. 

After being besieged by the Federal 
army, under General Sherman, and 
bombarded for 40 days, it was cap¬ 
tured Sept. 2, 1864. General Sherman, 
before starting on his march to the 
sea, burned the cffcy. After the war, 
the city recuperated more rapidly than 
any other in the South. In 1881 an 
exposition of the Cotton States and in 
1895 a great Cotton States and Inter¬ 
national Exposition were held here, the 
last in Piedmont Park, in which the 
United States add many of the North¬ 
ern States, besides European and 
South American countries, took part. 
Pop. (1890) 65,533; (1900) 89,872. 

Atlantes, in architecture, male fig¬ 
ures used in place of columns or pilas¬ 
ters for the support of an entablature. 

Atlantic Ocean, the name given 
to the vast expanse of sea lying be¬ 
tween the W. coasts of Europe and 
Africa, and the E. coasts of North 
and South America, and extending 
from the Arctic to the Antarctic Seas. 
Its greatest breadth is between the W. 
coast of Northern Africa and the E. 
coast of Florida in North America, 
the distance here being 4,150 miles. 
If the Gulf of Mexico, in reality one 
Of its bays, be included, it will extend 
to 5,000 miles. Its least breadth, 
which is between Norway and Green¬ 
land, is about 930 miles. Between 
Cape St. Roque, Brazil, and Sierra 
Leone, the breadth is 1,730 miles. Its 
superficial extent has been estimated 
at 25,000,000 square miles. 

The great currents of the Atlantic 
are the Gulf Stream, the equatorial 
current — which may be divided into 
the main equatorial current, the N. 
equatorial current, and the S. equa¬ 
torial currents, the North African and 
Guinea current, the South connecting 
current, the Southern Atlantic cur¬ 
rent, Cape Horn current, Rennel 
current, and the Arctic current. 

The Gulf Stream is a continuation 
of the main equatorial current, and 
partly of thei N. equatorial current, 




Atlantic Telegraph 


Atlee 


both W. drift currents produced by the 
trade winds. The former passes across 
the Atlantic to the American coast, 
upon which it strikes from Cape St. 
Roque to the Antilles. On being 
turned by the coast it runs along it at 
a rate of 30 to 50 miles per day, and 
sometimes at a higher speed, till it 
enters the Gulf of Mexico, from which 
having previously received part of the 
waters of the N. equatorial current, 
it issues between Florida and Cuba 
under the name of the Gulf stream. 
It afterward flows nearly parallel to 
the coast of the United States, sepa¬ 
rated from it by a belt of cold water. 
Off Cape Hatteras it spreads into an 
expanding channel, reaching a breadth 
of 167 miles, and consisting of three 
warm sections with two cold belts in¬ 
terposed. On passing Sandy Hook 
it turns E. and continues to be recog¬ 
nizable, partly by a blue color derived 
from the silt of the Mississippi, till 
about Ion. 30° W., where, with a 
greatly diminished temperature, it is 
found flowing nearly due E. 

Atlantic Telegraph, lines laid on 
the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. The 
union of the Old and New Worlds by 
means of the electric telegraph, prob¬ 
ably the boldest feat of electric engi¬ 
neering ever projected, was first sug¬ 
gested by Prof. Morse in 1843. When 
Lieut. Maury of the United States 
navy discovered that between Ireland 
and Newfoundland the bed of the ocean 
was nearly level and covered with 
soft ooze, and Cyrus W. Field and 
others had thoroughly discussed the 
practical methods, a company was 
formed for the purpose, in 1856, to 
which the Governments of Great Brit¬ 
ain and the United States gave liberal 
guarantees. This company, after, a 
fruitless attempt to lay an electric ca¬ 
ble in 1857, finally succeeded in 1858. 

The result was not encouraging. 
The current obtained through the wire 
was so weak that a congratulatory 
message from the Queen to the Presi- 
rent, consisting of 90 words, took 67 
minutes to transmit. After a few 
more messages, the cable became use¬ 
less. In consequence of this failure, it 
was not until 1865 that capital was 
found to make another attempt. 
The paying-out journey was com¬ 
menced at Valentia, but when the ves¬ 
sel was 1,064 miles from that port, 


the cable broke from an accidental 
strain. After a fruitless effort to fish 
up the broken cable from the bottom, 
it was abandoned for the season. In 
1866 another line, so modified in con¬ 
struction as to be both lighter and 
stronger than the previous one, was 
successfully laid by the “ Great East¬ 
ern.” The 1865 cable was then, by 
means of the same vessel, grappled for, 
and brought up from a depth of two 
miles, spliced, and completed to Trin¬ 
ity Bay. 

The practicability of laying an elec¬ 
tric wire across the Atlantic being 
thus demonstrated, many lines have 
been projected, and several of them 
carried out. Marconi’s wireless tele¬ 
graph system has introduced a new 
era in transatlantic telegraphy, but 
has not, so far, been developed suffi¬ 
ciently to interfere with the business 
of the cable companies. 

Atlantides, a name given to the 
Pleiades, which were fabled t© be the 
seven daughters of Atlas or of his 
brother Hesperus. 

Atlantis, or Atlantica, an island, 

said by Plato and others to have once 
existed in the ocean immediately be¬ 
yond the Straits of Gades; that is, 
in what is now called the Atlantic 
Ocean, a short distance W. of the 
Straits of Gibraltar. Atlantis is rep¬ 
resented as having ultimately sunk 
beneath the waves, leaving only iso¬ 
lated rocks and shoals in its place. 
Geologists have discovered that the 
coast-line of Western Europe did once 
run farther in the direction of Amer¬ 
ica than now; but its submergence 
seems to have taken place long before 
historic times. 

Atlas, in Greek mythology, the 
name of a Titan whom Zeus con¬ 
demned to bear the vault of heaven. 
The same name is given to a collection 
of maps and charts, and was first used 
by Gerard Mercator in the 16th cen¬ 
tury, the figure of Atlas bearing the 
globe being given on the title-pages 
of such works. 

Atlee, Washington Lemuel, an 

American surgeon, born in Lancaster, 
Pa., Feb. 22, 1808; became noted as a 
pioneer in ovariotomy and the removal 
of uterine fibroid tumors. He died 
Sept. 6, 1878. 




Atmometer 


Atrato 


Atmometer, an instrument invent¬ 
ed by Sir John Leslie for measuring 
the quantity of moisture exhaled in 
a given time from any humid sur¬ 
face. 

Atmosphere, literally, the air sur¬ 
rounding our planet, and which, as the 
etymology implies, is, speaking broad¬ 
ly, a “ sphere ” (not, of course, a 
solid, but a hollow one). With strict 
accuracy, it is a hollow spheroid. Its 
exact height is unknown. At 2.7 miles 
above the surface of the earth, half 
its density is gone, and the remainder 
is again halved for every further rise 
of 2.7 miles. Some small density 
would remain at 45 miles high. At 80 
miles, this would have all but disap¬ 
peared. But from sundry observa¬ 
tions, made at Rio Janeiro and else¬ 
where, on the twilight arc, M. Liais 
infers that the extreme limit of the 
atmosphere is between 198 and 212 
miles. In the lower strata of the at¬ 
mosphere, the temperature falls at 
least a degree for every 352 feet of 
ascent; hence, even in the tropics, 
mountains of any considerable eleva¬ 
tion are snow-capped. The atmosphere 
appears to us blue, because, absorbing 
the red and yellow solar rays, it re¬ 
flects the blue ones. It revolves with 
the earth, but being extremely mobile, 
winds are generated in it, so that it is 
rarely long at rest. Evaporation, con¬ 
tinually at work, sends into it quanti¬ 
ties of water m a ~aseous state; clouds 
are formed, and in due time descend in 
rain. The atmosphere always con¬ 
tains free electricity, sometimes posi¬ 
tive and sometimes negative. There 
appears to be no atmosphere around 
the moon; but the case seems different 
with the sun, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, 
and Saturn. 

Atmospheric Pressure, the pres¬ 
sure exerted by the atmosphere, not 
merely downward, but in every direc¬ 
tion. * It amounts to 14.7 pounds of 
weight on each square inch, which is 
often called in round numbers 15. On 
a square foot it is =2,160 pounds, or 
nearly a ton. It would act upon our 
bodies with crushing effect were it not 
that the pressure, operating in all di¬ 
rections, produces an equilibrium. If 
any gas or liquid press upon a surface 
'with a force of 15 pounds on a square 
inch, it is generally described as hay¬ 
ing a pressure of one atmosphere; if 


60 pounds, of four atmospheres; if 120 
pounds, of eight atmospheres, and 
so on. 

Atmospheric Railway. (See 
Pneumatic Dispatch). 

Atomic Theory, a theory as to the 
existence and properties of atoms; es¬ 
pecially, in chemistry, the theory ac¬ 
counting for the fact that in compound 
bodies the elements combine in certain 
constant proportions, by assuming that 
all bodies are composed of ultimate 
atoms, the weight of which is different 
in different kinds of matter. It is as¬ 
sociated with the name of Dalton, who 
systematized and extended the imper¬ 
fect results of his predecessors. On 
its practical side the atomic theory 
asserts three Laws of Combining Pro¬ 
portions : (1) The Law of Constant 

or Definite Proportions, teaching that 
in every chemical compound the na¬ 
ture and proportion of the constituent 
elements are definite and invariable; 
(2) The Law of Combination in Mul¬ 
tiple Proportions, according to which 
the several proportions in which one 
element unites with another, invariably 
bear towards each other a simple rela¬ 
tion; (3) The Law of Combination in 
Reciprocal Proportions, that the pro¬ 
portions in which two elements com¬ 
bine with a third also represent the 
proportions in which, or in some sim¬ 
ple multiple of which, they will them¬ 
selves combine. Without expressly 
adopting the atomic theory, chemists 
have followed Dalton in the use of the 
terms atom and atomic weight, yet in 
using the word atom it should be held 
in mind that it merely denotes the pro¬ 
portions in which elements unite. 

Atonement, in theology, the sac¬ 
rificial offering made by Christ in ex¬ 
piation of the sins, according to the 
Calvinists, of the elect only; according 
to the Arminians, of the whole human 
race. 

Atrato, a river of Colombia, inter¬ 
esting because it has repeatedly been 
made to bear a part in schemes for a 
ship-canal across the Isthmus of Pana¬ 
ma. Rising on the Western Cordillera 
at an altitude of 10,560 feet, above 
sea-level, it runs 305 miles northward 
through low, swampy country, and 
falls by several mouths, interrupted 
by bars, into the Gfulf of Darien. It 
is navigable by steamers for fully 250 





Atrium 


Attock 


miles, being 750 to 1,000 feet wide, 
and 8 to 70 feet deep. A route, sur¬ 
veyed by the United States Govern¬ 
ment in 1871, proposed to connect the 
Atrato and the Jurador, flowing into 
the Pacific, by a canal 48 miles long. 
At the Paris International Congress 
(1879), for deciding the best route for 
the interoceanic canal, that route was, 
with various others, discussed and re¬ 
jected in favor of De Lesseps’ line 
from Limon to Panama. Gold-dust is 
found in and about the Atrato. 

Atrium, in ancient times, the hall 
or principal room in an ancient Ro¬ 
man house. In a large house the 
rooms opened into it from all sides, 
and were lighted from it. 

Atrophy, a wasting of the flesh 
due to some interference with the nu¬ 
tritive processes. It may arise from 
a variety of causes, such as perma¬ 
nent, oppressive and exhausting pas¬ 
sions, organic disease, a want of prop¬ 
er food or of pure air, suppurations in 
important organs, copious, evacuations 
of blood, saliva, semen, etc., and it is 
also sometimes produced by poisons, 
for example, arsenic, mercury, lead, in 
miners, painters, gilders, etc. 

Atropin, or Atropine, a crystal¬ 
line alkaloid obtained from the deadly 
nightshade (atropa belladonna). It is 
very poisonous and produces persist¬ 
ent dilation of the pupil. 

Attache, a military, naval or sub¬ 
ordinate member of the diplomatic ser¬ 
vice attached to an embassy or lega¬ 
tion. 

Attachment, in law, the taking 
into the custody of the law the person 
or property of one already before the 
court, or of one whom it is sought to 
bring before it. 

Attack, the opening act of hostil¬ 
ity by a force seeking to dislodge an 
enemy from its position. 

Attainder, the legal consequences 
of a sentence of death or outlawry 
pronounced against a person for trea¬ 
son or felony, the person being said 
to be attainted. 

In the United States, the Federal 
Constitution declares that “ No bill of 
attainder shall be passed, and no at¬ 
tainder of treason, in consequence of a 
judicial sentence, shall work corrup¬ 
tion of blood or forfeiture except dur¬ 
ing the life of the person attainted.” 


Attar, Ferid eddin, a celebrated 
Persian poet, born near Nisliapur in 
1119; died about 1229 (?). 

Attar, or Otto, of Roses (oil of 

roses), an essential oil obtained from 
the petals of three species of roses, 
viz.: rosa centifolia, moschata and 
damascena. 

Atterbury, Francis, an English 

prelate, born March 6, 1662, and ed¬ 
ucated at Westminster and Oxford. 
He died Feb. 15, 1732, and his body 
was interred in Westminster Abbey. 

Attic, pertaining to Attica or to 
Athens. Pure; elegant; classical; 
poignant; characterized by keenness 
of intellect, delicacy of wit, purity of 
elegance, soundness of judgment and 
most expressive brevity; as, the Attic 
Muse. Attic dialect is that dialect of 
the Greek language which was spoken 
in Attica. It was the most refined 
and polished of all the dialects of an¬ 
cient Greece. 

Attica, a State of ancient Greece, 
the capital of which, Athens, was 
once the first city in the world. 

Atticus, Titus Pomponius, a 
noble Roman, the contemporary of 
Cicero and Cfesar. 

Attila, the famous leader of the 
Huns, was the son of Mundzuk, and 
the successor, in conjunction with his 
brother Bleda, of his uncle Rhuas. 
The rule of the two leaders extended 
over a great part of Northern Asia 
and Europe, and they threatened the 
Eastern Empire, and twice compelled 
the weak Theodosius II. to purchase 
an inglorious peace. Attila caused his 
brother Bleda to be murdered (444), 
and in a short time extended his do¬ 
minion over all the peoples of Ger¬ 
many and exacted tribute from the 
Eastern and Western emperors. He 
invaded Italy and conquered and de¬ 
stroyed Aquileia, Padua, Vicenza, Ve¬ 
rona, and Bergamo, laid waste the 
plains of Lombardy, and was march¬ 
ing on Rome when Pope Leo I. went 
with the Roman ambassadors to his 
camp and succeeded in obtaining a 
peace. Attila went back to Hungary, 
and died on the night of his marriage 
with Hilda or Ildico (453), either 
from the bursting of a blood vessel or 
by her hand. 

Attock, a town and fort of the 
Punjab, on the left or E. bank of the 




Attorney 


Indus. The great railway bridge 
across the Indus here was opened in 
1883. It has five arches 130 feet high, 
and renders continuous the railway 
connection between Calcutta and Pesh- 
awur (1,600 miles). 

Attorney, a person appointed to 
do something for and in the stead and 
name of another. An attorney at law 
is a person qualified to appear for an¬ 
other before a court of law to prose¬ 
cute or defend any action on behalf of 
his client. 

Attorney-General. In the United 
States * the Department of Justice is 
presided over by the Attorney-General, 
whose duty it is to furnish all legal 
advice needed by Federal authorities, 
and conduct all litigation in which the 
United States is concerned. The 
States have similar officers. 

Attraction, in natural philosophy, 
a force in virtue of which the material 
particles of all bodies tend necessarily 
to approach each other. 

Capillary attraction, meaning the 
attraction excited by a hair-like tube 
on a liquid within it, is, properly 
speaking, a variety of adhesion. 

In magnetism, the power excited by 
a magnet or loadstone of drawing and 
attaching iron to itself. 

In electricity, the power possessed 
by an electrified body of drawing cer¬ 
tain other bodies to itself. 

Atwater, Lyman Hotchkiss, an 
American theologian, born in Hamp¬ 
den, Conn., Feb. 23, 1813; died in 
Princeton, N. J., Feb. 17, 1883. 

Atwater, Wilber Olin, an Amer¬ 
ican chemist, born in Johnsburg, N. 
Y., May 3, 1844; was graduated at 
Wesleyan University in 1865; made a 
special study of chemistry in the Shef¬ 
field Scientific School of Yale and the 
Universities of Leipsic and Berlin; 
became Professor of Chemistry in 
East Tennessee University in 1873; 
was director of the Connecticut Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station in 1875- 
1877, and was appointed director of 
the Storrs (Conn.) Experiment Sta¬ 
tion in 1887. He has been connected 
for several years with the. United 
States Department of Agriculture; 
has published a large numoer of pa¬ 
pers on chemical and allied' subjects; 
and, since 1894, has given much atten¬ 
tion to nutrition investigations. 


Aublet 


Atwill, Edward Robert, an 

American clergyman, born in Red 
Hook, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1840; was grad¬ 
uated at Columbia College in 1862, 
and at the General Theological Sem¬ 
inary 1864; consecrated the first Prot¬ 
estant Episcopal bishop of West Mis¬ 
souri, Oct. 14, 1890. 

Atwood, Isaac Morgan, an 
American educator, born in Pembroke, 
N. Y., March 24, 1838; was ordained 
in the Universalist Church in 1861; 
held several pastorates; edited “ The 
Christian Leader ” 1867-1873; became 
an associate editor of the “ Universal¬ 
ist Leader; ” and was chosen president 
of the Canton (N. Y.) Theological 
Seminary in 1879. 

Atwood, Melville, an Anglo- 
American geologist, born in Prescott 
Hall, England, July 31, 1812; studied 
lithology, microscopy, and geology 
early in life, and engaged in gold and 
diamond mining in Brazil. In 1843 
he made a discovery that greatly en¬ 
hanced the value of zinc ore.. After 
coming to the United States, in 1852, 
he invented the blanket system of 
amalgamation. He also established 
the value of the famous Comstock sil¬ 
ver lode, by an assay of minerals in 
that region. He died in Berkeley, 
Cal., April 25, 1898. 

Auber, Daniel Francois Es¬ 
prit, a French operatic composer, 
born Jan. 29, 1782, at Caen, in Nor¬ 
mandy ; was originally intended for a 
mercantile career, but devoted him¬ 
self to music, studying under Cheru¬ 
bini. He died in Paris, May 13, 1871. 

Auberlen, Karl August, a Ger¬ 
man Protestant theologian, born at 
Fellbach, Wurtemberg, Nov. 19, 1824; 
died at Basel, May 2, 1864. 

Aubert, Joachim Marie Jean 
Jacques Alexandre Jules, a 
French general and military writer; 
born in 1804; prominent in several 
campaigns, and was made commander 
of the Legion of Honor in 1860. He 
is best known to the public as a jour¬ 
nalist and historical writer. He died 
in 1890. 

Aubertin, Charles, a French 
scholar, born in St. Didier, Dec. 24, 
1825. 

Aublet, Albert, a French paint¬ 
er, born in Paris; studied historical 
painting under Gerome; won a first- 




Aubrey 


Auersperg 


class medal in the Paris Exposition of 
1889, and the decoration of the Legion 
of Honor in 1890. 

Aubrey, Jobn, an English anti¬ 
quary, born in Wiltshire March 12 or 
Nov. 3, 1626; died in June, 1697. 

Aubry de Montdidier, a French 
soldier, supposed to have been mur¬ 
dered by his comrade, Richard de Ma- 
caire, in 1371. He is the hero of 
many dramas, founded on the details 
of the discovery of his murderer. His 
faithful dog persisted in pursuing and 
harassing Macaire, and this coming to 
the ears of King Charles V., he or¬ 
dered a fight to be tried between them. 
The dog was victorious, and he has 
ever since been famous in story as the 
“ Dog of Montargis; ” from the place 
of the fight. 

Auburn Theological Seminary, 

a Presbyterian institution in Auburn, 
N. Y.; organized in 1820. 

Auchmuty, Richard Tylden, 

an American philanthropist, born in 
New York city in 1831; received a 
collegiate education; practiced archi¬ 
tecture for many years with James 
Renwick; served in the Union army 
through the Civil War; declined sev¬ 
eral public offices after its close, and 
with his "wife founded the New York 
Trade Schools, on a plan entirely orig¬ 
inal and which almost immediately 
became productive of large results, at 
a cost of $250,000. The success of 
this institution was made permanent 
by J. Pierpont Morgan, who, in 1892, 
gave it an endowment of $500,000. 
Auchmuty died in Lenox, Mass., July 
18, 1893. 

Auckland, a town in New Zealand, 
in the North Island, founded in 1840, 
and situated on Waitemata harbor, 
one of the finest harbors of New Zea¬ 
land, where the island is only 6 miles 
across, there being another harbor 
(Manukau) on the opposite side of 
the isthmus. It was formerly the cap¬ 
ital of the colony. Pop. (1901), in¬ 
cluding suburbs, 67,226. 

Auckland Islands, a group lying 
in the Pacific Ocean to the S. of New 
Zealand. The largest of these islands 
is about 30 miies long by 15 broad, 
and is covered with dense vegetation. 
They are almost entirely uninhabited, 
belong to the British and are a sta¬ 
tion for whaling ships. 


Auction, the public disposal of 
goods to the highest bidder. 

Audiometer, or Audimeter, an 

instrument devised by Prof. Hughes, 
the inventor of the microphone. Orig¬ 
inally its object was to measure with 
precision the sense of hearing. 

Audiphone, an invention to assist 
the hearing of deaf persons in whom 
the auditory nerve is not entirely de¬ 
stroyed. 

Audit, an examination into ac¬ 
counts or dealings with money or 
property, along with vouchers or other 
documents connected therewith, espe¬ 
cially by proper officers, or persons ap¬ 
pointed for the purpose. 

Audsley, George Ashdown, a 
Scottish-American architect, born in 
Elgin, Scotland, Sept. 6, 1838; estab¬ 
lished himself in the United States in 
1892, and subsequently became promi¬ 
nent both as an architect and author. 

Audubon, Jobn James, an 
American naturalist of French extrac¬ 
tion, born near New Orleans, May 4, 
1780; was educated in France, and 
studied painting under David. In 1798 
he settled in Pennsylvania, but, hav¬ 
ing a great love for ornithology, he 
set out in 1810 with his wife and 
child, descended the Ohio, and for 
many years roamed the forests in every 
direction, drawing the birds which he 
shot. In 1826 he went to England, 
exhibited his drawings in Liverpool, 
Manchester and Edinburgh, and final¬ 
ly published them in an unrivaled 
work of double-folio size, with 435 
colored plates of birds the size of life 
(“ The Birds of America,” 4 vols., 
1827-1839), with an accompanying 
text (“Ornithological Biography,” 5 
vols., 8 vo., partly written by Prof. 
Macgillivray). On his final return to 
the United States he labored with Dr. 
Bachman on an illustrated work en¬ 
titled “ The Quadrupeds of America ” 
(1843-1850, 3 vols.). He died in 
New York city, June 27. 1851. 

Auerbach., Berthold, a German 
novelist, born at Nordstetten, Wiir- 
temberg, Feb. 28, 1812. He died at 
Cannes, France, Feb. 8, 1882. 

Auersperg, Autou Alexander, 
Graf von, a German poet, born at 
Laibach, April 11, 1806. He died at 
Gratz, Sept. 12, 1876. His poems are 
very popular in Germany. 




Auerstadt 


August 


Auerstadt, a village in the Prus¬ 
sian Province of Saxony, 10 miles W. 
of Naumburg. It is famous for the 
great battle which took place there 
Oct. 14, 1806, between the French un¬ 
der Davoust, and the Prussian army 
under Duke Charles of Brunswick, 
which ended in a great victory for the 
former. The Prussians, who num¬ 
bered fully 48,000, left nearly half of 
their men dead or wounded on the 
ground, while the French (30,000) es¬ 
caped with a loss of only 7,000. Na¬ 
poleon, who had, on the same day, 
defeated the main army of Frederick 
William III. at Jena, made Davoust 
Duke of Auerstadt. 

Augeas, a fabulous king of Elia, 
in Greece, whose stable contained 
3,000 oxen, and had not been cleaned 
for 30 years. Hercules undertook to 
clear away the filth in one day in re¬ 
turn for a 10th part of the cattle, and 
executed the task by turning the river 
Alpheus through it. Augeas, having 
broken the bargain, was deposed and 
slain by Hercules. 

Augsburg, Confession of, name 
given to the celebrated declaration of 
faith, compiled by Melanchthon, re¬ 
vised by Luther and other reformers, 
and read before the Diet of Augsburg, 
June 25, 1530. It consisted of 28 arti¬ 
cles, seven of which refuted Roman 
Catholic errors, and the remaining 21 
set forth the Lutheran creed. Soon 
after its promulgation, the last hope 
of reforming the Roman Catholic 
Church was abandoned, and complete 
severance followed. An answer by the 
Roman Catholics was read Aug. 3, 
1530; when the Diet declared that it 
had been refuted. Melanchthon then 
drew up another confession. The first 
is called the unaltered, and the sec¬ 
ond, the altered form. 

Augsburg, Diet of, the most cel¬ 
ebrated of the numerous diets held at 
Augsburg. Pope Clement VII. refus¬ 
ing to call a general council for the 
settlement of all religious disputes, 
the Emperor Charles V. summoned 
one to meet at Augsburg, June 20, 
1530. On the 25th the famous “ Con¬ 
fession ” was read; later an answer 
was made by the Catholics, whereupon 
the Protestants were ordered to con¬ 
form in all points to the Church of 
Rome, Charles V. giving them till 


April 15, 1531, to reunite with the 
Mother Church. On Nov. 22, the em¬ 
peror announced his intention to ex¬ 
ecute the edict of Worms, made severe 
enactments against the Protestants, 
and reconstituted the Imperial Cham¬ 
ber. The Protestants put in a counter 
declaration, and the Diet closed. 

Augsburg, League of, a league 
concluded at Augsburg, July 9, 1686, 
for the maintenance of the treaties of 
Munster and Nimeguen, and the truce 
of Ratisbon, and to resist the en¬ 
croachments of France. The contract¬ 
ing parties were the Emperor Leopold 
I., the Kings of Spain and Sweden, 
the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria, 
and the circles of Suabia, Franconia, 
Upper Saxony and Bavaria. 

Augur, Christopher Colon, an 
American military officer; born in 
New York, July 10, 1821; was gradu¬ 
ated at the United States Military 
Academy in 1843; became Major of 
the 13th United States Infantry in 
1861; Colonel of the 12th Infantry 
in 1866; Brigadier-General, United 
States army, March 4, 1869; Major- 
General in the volunteer service in 
1862; mustered out of that service in 
1866; and was retired in the regular 
army, July 16, 1885. He commanded 
a division in the battle of Cedar 
Mountain, being severely wounded. 
He died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 
16, 1898. 

Augurs, a college of diviners in 
ancient Rome, who predicted future 
events and read the will of the gods 
from the occurrence of certain signs, 
connected with thunder and light¬ 
ning ; the flight and cries of birds; the 
feeding of the sacred chickens; the ac¬ 
tion of certain quadrupeds or serpents; 
accidents, such as spilling the salt, etc. 
The answers of the augurs and the 
signs were called auguries; bird-pre¬ 
dictions were auspices. Nothing was 
undertaken without the augurs, and 
by the words “alio die” (“meet on 
another day ”), they could dissolve the 
assembly of the people and annul de¬ 
crees passed at the meeting. 

August, the eighth month of our 
year, named by the Roman Emperor 
Augustus, after himself, being asso¬ 
ciated with several of his victories and 
other fortunate events. Before this it 
was called Sextilis or the sixth month 






Augusta Victoria 


Aurifaber 


(counting from March). July had 
been named for Julius Caesar and the 
Senate to please Augustus decreed that 
August should have equal length, tak¬ 
ing a day from February. 

Augusta Victoria, Duchess of 
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augus- 
tenburg, born Oct. 22, 1858; daugh¬ 
ter of the late Duke Friedrich; mar¬ 
ried Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, after¬ 
ward Wilhelm II., Feb. 27, 1881; be¬ 
came Empress of Germany and Queen 
of Prussia on the accession of her hus¬ 
band to the thrones in June, 1888. In 
1900 she had borne the Emperor-King 
seven children, the Crown Prince, 
Friedrich Wilhelm, being born May 
6, 1882. 

Augustine, Aurelius Augus¬ 
tinus, St., was born at Tagaste, in 
Africa, in 354, his mother, Monica, 
being a Christian, his father, Pa- 
tricius, a pagan. He was one of the 
most distinguished fathers of the early 
church. He died Aug. 28, 430, while 
Hippo was besieged by the Vandals. 

Augustine, or Austin, St., the 
Apostle of the English, flourished at 
the close of the 6th century, was sent 
with 40 monks by Pope Gregory I. to 
introduce Christianity into Saxon 
England, and was kindly received by 
Ethelbert, King of Kent, whom he 
converted, baptizing 10,000 of his sub¬ 
jects in one day. He died in 604 or 
605. 

Augustulus, Romulus, the last 
of the Western Roman emperors; 
reigned for one year (475-476), when 
he was overthrown by Odoacer and 
banished. 

Augustus, Caius Julius Caesar 
Octaviauus, originally called Caius 
Octavius, the celebrated Roman em¬ 
peror, was the son of Caius Octavius 
and Atia, a daughter of Julia, the sis¬ 
ter of Julius Caesar. He was born 
63 B. c., and died a. d. 14. He was 
the first emperor of Rome in the full 
sense of exercising imperial power as 
a recognized monarch, and he was 
also one of the greatest, if not the 
greatest of the emperors, a liberal pa¬ 
tron of art, and broad and sagacious 
in the exercise of his authority. He 
is said to have “ found Rome of brick 
and left it of marble.” 

Auk, the name given to several sea 
birds, especially the great and the lit¬ 


tle auk. The great auk is from two 
to two and a half feet high, with 
short wings almost useless for flight. 
In the water, however, it makes way 
with astonishing rapidity. It is es¬ 
sentially a northern bird. It seems to 
be rapidly verging to extinction. 

Aulic, an epithet given to a coun¬ 
cil (the Reichshofrath) in the old 
German Empire, one of the two su¬ 
preme courts of the German Empire, 
the other being the court of the im¬ 
perial chamber (Reichskammerge- 
richt). It had not only concurrent 
jurisdiction with the latter court, but 
in many cases exclusive jurisdiction, 
in all feudal processes, and in crim¬ 
inal affairs, over the immediate feuda¬ 
tories of the emperor and in affairs 
which concerned the Imperial Govern¬ 
ment. The title is now applied in 
Germany in a general sense to the 
chief council of any department, po¬ 
litical, administrative, judicial or mili¬ 
tary. 

Aurelian, Lucius Domitius 
Aureliauus, an Emperor of Rome, 
distinguished for his military abilities 
and stern severity of character; was 
the son of a peasant of Illyricum. He 
was born about 212 A. D., and lost his 
life, a. d. 275, by assassination, the 
result of a conspiracy excited by a 
secretary whom he intended to call to 
account for peculation. 

Aureola, or Aureole, in paint¬ 
ings, an illumination surrounding a 
holy person, as Christ, a saint, or a 
martyr, intended to represent a lu¬ 
minous cloud or haze emanating from 
him. 

Aureus, the first gold coin which 
was coined at Rome,, 207 b. c. Its 
value varied at different times, from 
about $3 to $6. 

Auricles of tke Heart, those two 
of the four cavities of the heart which 
are much smaller than the others, and 
each of which, moreover, has falling 
down upon its external face a flattened 
appendage, like the ear of a dog, from 
which the name of the whole struc¬ 
ture is derived. 

Auricula, a beautiful garden flow¬ 
er. It is a native of the Alpine dis¬ 
tricts of Italy, Switzerland, and Ger¬ 
many, and occurs also in Astrakhan. 

Aurifaber, the Latinized name of 
Johann Goldschmidt, one of Lu- 




Baltimore Bird 


Balzac 


by the Confederates; and in the latter 
year the National Republican Conven¬ 
tion, which . renominated President 
Lincoln, met in the city. On Sunday, 
Feb. 7, 1904, a fire broke out in the 
centre of the city, and raged for two 
days, destroying property of the value 
of $50,000,000. It necessitated the re¬ 
construction of that portion of the 
city, and enabled other important im¬ 
provements, wider streets, new build¬ 
ings, electric lighting and transit, 
improved harbor accommodation, etc., 
to be effectively accomplished in the 
* Monumental City.’ 

Baltimore Bird, Baltimore 
Oriole, Baltimore Hang-nest, or 
Baltimore, a bird of the family 
sturnidse . (starlings), and the sub¬ 
family oriolinae (orioles). The name 
Baltimore was applied or attached to 
this bird not merely because it occurs 
at the place so called, but, according 
to Catesby, because its colors, which 
are black and orange, were the same 
as those on the coat of arms or livery 
of the Lord Baltimore who was for¬ 
merly proprietor of Maryland. It ex¬ 
tends from Canada to Mexico, or even 
to Brazil, migrating to the N. part of 
this area about May. 

Baltimore, George Calvert, 
Lord, an English colonist, born in 
Yorkshire about 1580; was for some 
time Secretary of State to James I., 
but this post he resigned in 1624 in 
consequence of having become a Ro¬ 
man Catholic. Notwithstanding this 
he retained the confidence of the King, 
who, in 1625, raised'him to the Irish 
peerage, his title being from Balti¬ 
more, a fishing village of Cork. He 
had previously obtained a grant of 
land in Newfoundland, but, as this 
colony was much exposed to the at¬ 
tacks of the French, he left it, and ob¬ 
tained another patent for Maryland. 
He died (1632) before the charter was 
completed, and it was granted to his 
son, Cecil, who deputed the governor¬ 
ship to his brother, Leonard. 

Baluchistan, a country in Asia, 
the coast of which is continuous with 
the N. W. seaboard of India, bounded 
on the N. by Afghanistan, on the W. 
by Persia, on the S. by the Arabian 
Sea, and on the E. by Sind. It has 
an area of about 160,000 square miles, 
and a population estimated at 500,000. 


A treaty places the whole country at 
the disposal of the British Government 
for all military and strategical pur¬ 
poses. _ Quetta, a town in the N. E., 
occupying an important position, has 
been absolutely annexed. 

Balucki, Michael, a Polist dram¬ 
atist and novelist, born in Cracow, 
Sept 29, 1837. 

Balustrade, a range of balusters, 
together with the cornice or coping 
which they support, used as a parapet 
for bridges or the roofs of buildings, 
or as a mere termination to a struc- 



BALUSTRADE. 

ture; also serving as a fence or in¬ 
closure for altars, balconies, terraces, 
staircases, etc. 

Balzac, Honore de, a French au¬ 
thor, born at Tours, May 20, 1799; 
died in Paris, August, 1850. From 
1819 to 1830 he led a life of frequent 
privation and incessant industry, pro¬ 
ducing stories which neither found nor 
deserved to find readers, and incurring 
— mainly through unlucky business 
speculations — a heavy burden of debt, 
which harassed him to the end of his 
career. He first tasted success in his 
30th year on the publication of “ The 
Last of the Chouans,” which was soon 
afterward followed by “ The Magic 
Skin,” a marvellous interweaving of 
the supernatural into modern life, and 
the earliest of his great works. After 
writing several other novels, he formed 
the design of presenting in the “ Hu¬ 
man Comedy ” a complete picture of 
modern civilization. All ranks, pro¬ 
fessions, arts, trades, all phases of 
manners in town and country, were to 






Bambarra 


Bancroft 


be represented in his imaginary sys¬ 
tem of things. In attempting to carry 
out this impossible design, he produced 
what is almost in itself a literature. 
His work did not bring him wealth; 
his yearly income, even when he was 
at the height of his fame, is said to 
have rarely exceeded 12,000 francs. 
In 1849, when his health had brok¬ 
en . down, he traveled to Poland to 
visit Madame Hanska, a rich Polish 
lady, with whom he had corresponded 
for more than 15 years. In 1850 she 
became his wife, and three months 
after the marriage, in August of the 
same year, Balzac died at Paris. 

Bambarra, one of the Sudan 
States of Western Africa. The in¬ 
habitants, a branch of the Mandigoes, 
number about 2,000,000, and are su¬ 
perior to their neighbors in intelli¬ 
gence. The country is within the 
French sphere. 

Bamberger, Heinricb von, an 

Austrian pathologist, born in Prague 
in 1822; was graduated in medicine in 
1847; became Professor of Special 
Pathology and Therapeutics, first in 
the University of Wurzburg, and, in 
1872, in the University of Vienna. He 
died in 1888. 

Bambino, the figure of our Sa¬ 
viour represented as an infant in 
swaddling clothes. The “ Santissimo 
Bambino ” in the Church of Ara Coeli 
at Rome, a richly decorated figure 
carved in wood, is believed to have a 
miraculous virtue in curing diseases. 

Bamboo, a giant grass some¬ 
times reaching the height of 40 or 
more feet, which is found everywhere 
in the tropics of the Eastern Hemi¬ 
sphere, and has been introduced into 
the West Indies, the Southern States 
of America, and various other regions 
of the Western world. Bamboo is put 
to all sorts of uses. Bows, arrows, 
quivers, the shafts of lances, and 
other warlike weapons can be made 
from the stems of bamboo, as can 
ladders, rustic bridges, the masts of 
vessels, walking sticks, water pipes, 
flutes, and many other objects. The 
leaves are everywhere used for weav¬ 
ing and for packing purposes. Finally, 
the seeds are eaten by the poorer class¬ 
es in parts of India; and in the West 
Indies the tops of the tender shoots 
are pickled. 


Ban, Bann, Banne, Bain, or 
Bane, a proclamation, public notice, 
or edict respecting a person or thing. 

I. Military and feudal: A procla¬ 
mation in time of war. 

II. Historical. The ban of the em¬ 
pire: A penalty occasionally put in 
force under the old • German Empire 
against a prince who had given some 
cause of offense to the supreme au¬ 
thority. 

III. Law, etc. Banns (plural) : 
The publication of intended marriages, 
proclamation that certain parties 
named intend to proceed to marriage, 
unless any impediment to their union 
be proved to exist. 

Ban, in Austro-Hungary: (1) 

Formerly: A title belonging to the 
warden of the Eastern Marshes of 
Hungary. (2) Now: The Viceroy of 
Temesvar, generally called the Ban of 
Croatia. The territory he rules over 
is called a banat or banate. 

Banana, a fruit originally East 
Indian, but much cultivated in warm 
countries over the whole globe. 

Banana, an island in West Afri¬ 
ca, N. of the mouth of the Kongo; 
also a seaport of the Kongo Free 
State on the island. It has lost com¬ 
mercial importance in recent years. 

Banana-Bird, a bird belonging to 
the family sturnidse (starlings), and 
the sub-family oriolinae, or orioles. It 
is tawny and black, with white bars 
on the wings. It occurs in the West 
Indies and the warmer parts of Con¬ 
tinental America. 

Banat, a large and fertile region 
in Hungary, consisting of the coun¬ 
ties of Temesvar, Torontal and Kris- 
so; principal town, Temesvar. The 
region originally belonged to Hun¬ 
gary; was occupied by the Turks in 
1652-1716; and was reunited to Hun¬ 
gary in 1779. The population ex¬ 
seeds 1,500,000. 

Banca, an island belonging to the 
Dutch East Indies, between Sumatra 
and Borneo, 130 miles long, with a 
width varying from 10 to 30; pop. 
80,921, a considerable proportion be¬ 
ing Chinese. It is celebrated for its 
excellent tin, of which the annual yield 
is above 4,000 tons. 

Bancroft, Aaron, a Unitarian 
clergyman, born in Reading, Mass., 
Nov. 10, 1755; graduated at Harvard, 




Bancroft 


Band Fish 


in 1TTS; became pastor in Worcester 
in 1785, where he remained nearly 50 
years. Besides a great number of ser¬ 
mons his works include a “ Life of 
George Washington” (1807). He 
was the father of the historian, George 
Bancroft. He died at Worcester, 
Mass., Aug. 19, 1839. 

Bancroft, George, an American 
historian, born near Worcester,- Mass., 
Oct. 3, 1800. He was educated at 
Harvard and in Germany, where he 
made the acquaintance of many liter¬ 
ary men of note. In 1824 he pub¬ 
lished a translation of Heeren’s “ Poli¬ 
tics of Ancient Greece,” and a small 
volume of poems, and was also em¬ 
ployed in collecting materials for a 
history of the United States. Between 
1S34 and 1840 three volumes of his 
history were published. In 1845 he 
was appointed Secretary of the Navy, 
and effected many reforms and im¬ 
provements in that department. He 
was American Minister to England 
from 1846 to 1849, when the Univer¬ 
sity of Oxford conferred on him the 
honorary degree of D. C. L. He took 
the opportunity, while in Europe, to 
perfect his collections on American 
history. He returned to New York in 
1849, and began to prepare for the 
press the fourth and fifth volumes of 
his history, which appeared in 1852. 
The sixth appeared in 1854, the sev¬ 
enth in 1858, the eighth soon after, 
but the ninth did not appear until 
1866. From 1867 to 1874 he was 
Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court 
of Berlin. The 10th and last volume 
of his great work appeared in 1874. 
An additional section appeared, first 
as a separate work, in 1882: “ His¬ 
tory of the Formation of the Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States,” and the 
whole came out in six volumes in 
1884-1885. He settled in Washing¬ 
ton on returning from Germany, in 
1S75, and died there, Jan. 17, 1891. 

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, an 
American historian, born in Granville, 
Ohio, May 5, 1832. In 1852 he went 
to California to establish a book busi¬ 
ness, and began to collect documents, 
maps, books and MSS. for a complete 
“ History of the Pacific States ” from 
Mexico to Alaska. In 1893 this li¬ 
brary numbered 60,000 volumes, to 
which many additions have since been 
made. 

E„ 13. 


Bancroft, The, a steel gunboat of 
the United States navy; built express¬ 
ly for a practice ship for the cadets of 
the United States Naval Academy; 
launched in 1892. 

Bandai-San, a volcano in Japan; 
140 miles N. of Tokio. Its summit 
consists of several peaks, the highest 
of which is 6,035 feet above the ocean 
and 4,000 feet above the surrounding 
plain. On July 15, 1888, there was a 
terrible explosion of steam which 
blew out a side of the mountain, mak¬ 
ing a crater more than a mile in width, 
and having precipitous walls on three 
sides. The debris of broken rock and 
dust poured down the slope and over 
an area of 27 square miles, killing 461 
persons and covering many villages. 

Banda Islands, a group belonging 
to Holland, Indian Archipelago, S. of 
Ceram, Great Banda, the largest, be¬ 
ing 12 miles long by 2 broad. They 
are beautiful islands, of volcanic ori¬ 
gin, yielding quantities of nutmeg. 
Goenong Api, or Fire Mountain, is a 
cone-shaped volcano which rises 2,320 
feet above the sea. Pop. about 7,000. 

Banda Oriental, a State of South 
America, now usually called Ubtj- 
GUAY. 

Bandel, Ernst von, a Bavarian 
sculptor, born in 1800, at Ansbach; 
studied art at Munich, Nuremberg, 
and Rome; and from 1834 lived chiefly 
at Hanover, engaged off and on, for 
40 years, on his great monument of 
Arminius, near Detmold, 90 feet high, 
which was unveiled by the Emperor 
Wilhelm on Aug. 16, 1875. He died 
near Donauworth, Sept. 25, 1876. 

Bandelier, Adolph Francis 
Alphonse, a Swiss-American archae¬ 
ologist, born in Berne, Aug. 6, 1840; 
settled early in the United States, 
where he has done important work un¬ 
der the direction of the Archaeological 
Institute of America. His studies 
have been chiefly among the Indians 
of New Mexico and Arizona, Central 
America and Mexico. He has publish¬ 
ed many papers on the subject. 

Band Fish. The red band fish. 
It is about 15 inches long. Its bril¬ 
liant appearance, when seen moving 
in the water, has suggested the names 
of fire-flame and red ribbon, by which 
it is also known. The home of the 
genus is in Japanese waters. 




Bandicoot 


Bangkok 


Bandicoot, the largest known spe¬ 
cies of rat, attaining the weight of 
two or three pounds, and the length, 
including the tail, of 24 to 30 inches. 
It is a native of India, and is very 
abundant in Ceylon. Its flesh is said 
to be delicate and to resemble young 
pork, and is a favorite article of diet 
with the coolies. 

Bandiera, Attilio and Emilio, 

two brothers of a Venetian family, 
lieutenants in the Austrian navy, who 
attempted a rising in favor of Italian 
independence in 1843. The attempt 
was a failure, and they fled to Corfu; 
but, misled by false information they 
ventured to land in Calabria with 20 
companions, believing that their ap¬ 
pearance would be the signal for a 
general insurrection. One of their 
accomplices had betrayed them, and 
the party was captured at once by the 
Neapolitan police. Attilio and Emilio 
were shot along with seven of their 
comrades in the public square of Co- 
senza, on July 25, 1844. 

Brandinelli, Baccio, son of a 
famous goldsmith of Florence, and one 
of the best sculptors of his time, was 
born at Florence in 1493. Among his 
best works are his colossal group of 
“ Hercules,” with Cacus at his feet, 
his “ Adam and Eve,” his copy of the 
“ Laocoon,” and the exquisite bassi- 
rilievi which adorn the choir of the 
Duomo in Florence, where he died in 
1560. 

Baner, Johan Gustafsson, a 

Swedish general in the Thirty Years’ 
War, born in 1596; made his first 
campaigns in Poland and Russia, and 
accompanied Gustavus Adolphus, who 
held him in high esteem, to Germany. 
After the death of Gustavus, in 1632, 
he had the chief command of the 
Swedish army, and, in 1634, invaded 
Bohemia, defeated the Saxons at Witt- 
stock, Sept. 24, 1636, and took Tor- 
gau. He ravaged Saxony again in 
1639, gained another victory at Chem¬ 
nitz, and, in 1640, defeated Piccolo- 
mini. In January, 1641, he very near¬ 
ly took Ratisbon by surprise. He 
died in 1641. 

Bang, Herman, a Danish novel¬ 
ist, born in 1857. He came into no¬ 
tice about 1879, since which time he 
has published a number of novels and 
some poems. 


Bangalore, a town of Hindustan, 
capital of Mysore, and giving its name 
to a considerable district in the E. of 
Mysore State. Pop. 180,366. 

Bangkok, the capital city of Siam, 
situated on both banks of the Menam, 
about 20 miles from its mouth. The 
population is about 600,000, nearly 
half of whom are Chinese, the others, 
including Burmese, Annamese, Cam¬ 
bodians, Malays, Eurasians, and Eh- 
ropeans. The foreign trade of Siam 
centers in Bangkok, and is mainly in 
the hands of the Europeans and Chi¬ 
nese. The approach to Bangkok by 
the Menam, which can be navigated 
by ships of 350 tons burden (large 
sea-going ships anchor at Paknam, be¬ 
low the bar at the mouth of the 
river), is exceedingly beautiful. The 
internal traffic of Bangkok is chiefly 
carried on by means of canals, there 
being only a few passable *streets in 
the whole city. Horses and carriages 
are rarely seen, except in the neigh¬ 
borhood of the palaces. The native 
houses on land — of bamboo or other 
wood, like the floating houses — are 
raised upon piles, six or eight feet 
from the ground, and are reached by 
ladders. The circumference of the 
walls of Bangkok, which are 15 to 30 
feet high, and 12 broad, is about 6 
miles. 

Bangkok is now the permanent res¬ 
idence of .the King. The palace is sur¬ 
rounded by high walls, and is nearly 
a mile in circumference. It includes 
temples, public offices, accommodation 
for officials and for some thousands of 
soldiers, with their necessary equip¬ 
ments, a theater, apartments for a 
crowd of female attendants, and sev¬ 
eral Buddhist temples, or chapels. 
Several of the famous white elephants 
are kept in the courtyard of the pal¬ 
ace. Throughout the interior are dis¬ 
tributed the most costly articles in 
gold, silver, and precious stones. The 
chief exports are rice, sugar, pepper, 
cardamoms, sesame, hides, fine woods, 
ivory, feathers, and edible birds’ nests. 
The imports are tea, manufactured 
silks and piece goods, opium, hard¬ 
ware, machinery, and glass wares. In 
1893, a treaty was concluded at Bang¬ 
kok, by which Siam made large ces¬ 
sions to France, two French gunboats 
having forced their way to the capital 
after an ineffective defense. 




Bangor Theological Seminary 


Bank Note 


Bangor Theological Seminary, 

an educational institution in Bangor, 
Me.; chartered by the Legislature of 
Massachusetts in 1814; opened in 
Hampden in 1816; and removed to 
Bangor in 1819; under the direction of 
the Congregational Church. 

Bangs, John Kendrick, an 
American humorist and editor, born 
in Yonkers, N. Y., May 27, 1862. He 
was one of the founders of “ Life,” 
and has long been famed for his light 
verse and humorous stories. He be¬ 
came editor of “ Harper’s Weekly ” 
in 1900, and in 1903 of the Metropoli¬ 
tan Magazine. 

Bangs, Lemuel Bolton, an 

American physician; born in New 
York, Aug. 9, 1842. He was president 
of the American Association of Gen- 
ito-Urinary Surgeons (1895) and the 
editor of the “ American Text-Book of 
Genito-Urinary Diseases,” etc. 

Bangweolo (also called Bemba), 
a great Central African lake, discover¬ 
ed by Livingstone in 1868, which is 
150 miles long by 75 in width, and 
3,700 feet above the sea. On its S. 
shore Livingstone died. 

Banian, or Banyan, an Indian 
trader, or merchant, one engaged in 
commerce generally, but more particu¬ 
larly one of the great traders of West¬ 
ern India, as in the seaports of Bom¬ 
bay, Kurrachee, etc., who carry on a 
large trade by means of caravans with 
the interior of Asia, and with Africa 
by vessels. 

Banim, John, an Irish novelist, 
dramatist, and poet, born in Kilkenny, 
April 3, 1798; died in Kilkenny, Aug. 
13, 1842. 

Banishment (the act of putting 
under ban, proclamation, as an out¬ 
law), a technical term for the punish¬ 
ment of sending out of the country 
under penalties against return. 

Banister, John, an Anglo-Amer¬ 
ican scientist, born in England; set¬ 
tled in the West Indies, and later in 
Virginia, in the vicinity of James¬ 
town, where he devoted himself to the 
study of botany. He died in 1692. 
His son, John, born in Virginia, was 
educated in England, and studied law 
there; became Colonel in the Virginia 
militia; member of the Virginia As¬ 
sembly ; and prominent in the patri¬ 


otic conventions of the Revolutionary 
period; was a Representative from 
Virginia in the Continental Congress 
in 1778-1779, and one of the signers 
of the Articles of Confederation. He 
died near Hatchers Run, Va., in 1787. 

Banjermassiu, a former Sultan¬ 
ate in the S. E. of Borneo, with an 
area of 5,928 square miles, and a pop¬ 
ulation of about 300,000, chiefly Mo¬ 
hammedans. Tributary to Holland 
since 1787, it was annexed on the 
death of the last Sultan in 1857, and 
is now governed by the Dutch Resi¬ 
dent for the S. and E. of Borneo, who 
has an assistant at Martapura, where 
the Sultans formerly lived. 

Banjo, a musical instrument with 
five strings, having a head and neck 
like a guitar, with a body or sound¬ 
ing-board hollow at the back, and 
played with the hand and fingers. It 
is the favorite instrument of the plan¬ 
tation negroes of the Southern States 
and their imitators, and seems to have 
had its origin in the bandore, a musi¬ 
cal instrument like a lute or guitar, 
invented by John Ross or Rose, a fa¬ 
mous violin-maker, about 1562. 

Bank, primarily an establishment 
for the deposit, custody and repay¬ 
ment on demand, of money; and ob¬ 
taining the bulk of its profits from the 
investment of sums thus derived and 
not in immediate demand. The term 
is a derivative of the banco or bench 
of the early Italian money dealers. 

Bankes, Henry, an English 
statesman and historian; born in Lon¬ 
don in 1757; died Dec. 17, 1834. 

Bank Holidays, days during 
which banks are legally closed. The 
term is not used in the United States, 
it being customary for banks to close 
on all legal holidays. In Great Brit¬ 
ain and Ireland the term is in general 
use as applied to what Americans 
would simply call holidays. In the 
United States, as in Great Britain, 
when a holiday falls on Sunday, it is 
observed on the following day. 

Bankiva Fowl, a fowl living wild 
in Northern India, Java, Sumatra, 
etc., believed to be the original of our 
common domestic fowls. 

Bank Note, an engraved certifi¬ 
cate representing its face value in spe¬ 
cie. In the production of bank notes, 
the principal purpose is to render their 




Bankruptcy Laws 


Banks 


forgery impossible, or at least easy of 
detection. This is sought to be effect¬ 
ed by peculiarity of paper, design, and 
printing. 

In the United States, the bank notes 
at present in circulation are manufac¬ 
tured by the Government Bureau of 
Engraving and Printing, the paper 
being made by a private concern, un¬ 
der a patented process, the chief in¬ 
gredients being a mixture of linen 
and cotton fiber, into which are in¬ 
troduced threads of silk, so arranged 
as to be perceptible after the notes 
are printed. This style of paper is 
furnished only to the government. Su¬ 
perior skill is exercised in engraving 
the plates, nearly all parts of them 
being executed ,by the geometrical 
lathe and the ruling machine the work 
of which it is impossible to imitate 
successfully by hand. The printing of 
the notes is done in colored inks of the 
best quality, sometimes as many as 
four shades being used. The great ex¬ 
pense of the machines used in the en¬ 
graving, and the superior quality ot 
the work generally, renders successful 
counterfeiting almost impossible. The 
notes, when badly worn, are returned 
to the United States Treasury, other 
notes being issued in their stead. 

Bankruptcy Laws, regulations 
passed by a competent authority with 
a view to distributing the property of 
an insolvent equitably among his cred¬ 
itors and free the debtor from further 
obligation. In England, before 1841, 
only a tradesman could be a bankrupt. 
This distinction was then abolished. 
It was abolished in the United States 
in 1869. The act “ to establish a 
uniform system' of bankruptcy 
throughout the United States,” was 
passed by both Houses of the 55th 
Congress, and by the approval of Pres¬ 
ident McKinley, became a law on July 
1, 1898. 

The provisions under which a man 
can be thrown into bankruptcy against 
his will are as follows: (1) Where a 
man has disposed of his property with 
intent to defraud. (2) Where he has 
disposed of his property to one or 
more creditors to give a preference to 
them. (8) Where he has given a 
preference through legal proceedings. 
(4) Where a man has made a volun¬ 
tary assignment for the benefit of his 
creditors generally. (5) Where a 


man admits in writing that he is bank¬ 
rupt. The last two provisions are 
practically voluntary proceedings. Un¬ 
der the common law, a man is consid¬ 
ered insolvent when he cannot pay his 
debts when they are due; under the 
new law, he is deemed insolvent only 
when his property, fairly valued, is in¬ 
sufficient to pay his debts. Only two 
offenses are cited under the new law: 
one when property is hidden away 
after proceedings in bankruptcy have 
been begun, and the other when per¬ 
jury is discovered. Discharges are to 
be denied in only two cases; one, in 
which either of the offenses detailed 
has been committed, and the other, 
when it is shown that fraudulent 
books have been kept. The term of 
imprisonment for either of these of¬ 
fenses is not to exceed two years. 

The law provides a complete sys¬ 
tem throughout the United States, and 
for its administration by the United 
States courts in place of the different 
systems formerly in existence in the 
various States administered by State 
courts. In bankruptcy proceedings, a 
bankrupt debtor may turn over all his 
property to the court, to be adminis¬ 
tered for the benefit of his creditors, 
and then get a complete discharge 
from his debts. A bankrupt may of 
his own motion offer to surrender his 
property to the administration of the 
United States court and ask for his 
discharge in voluntary bankruptcy, or 
creditors may apply to the court to 
compel a bankrupt to turn over his 
property to be administered under the 
act for the benefit of the creditors in 
voluntary bankruptcy. The bankrupt 
who has turned over all his property 
and conformed to the provisions of the 
act, is entitled to a judgment of court 
discharging him from any future lia¬ 
bility to his creditors. 

Banks, Sir Josepk, an English 
naturalist, born in London in 1743. 
He died in 1820, and bequeathed his 
collections to the British Museum. 

Banks, Natlianiel Prentiss, an 
American legislator and soldier, born 
in Waltham, Mass., Jan. 30, 1816. At 
first a factory worker, he studied law, 
and became successively a member of 
the State and National Legislatures. 
He was Speaker of Congress in 1856, 
and in 1858, and in 1859 he was elect¬ 
ed Governor of his native State. On 




Banks 


Banks 


the outbreak of the Civil War, he took 
a command in the army, at first on 
the Potomac, then at New Orleans, 
and finally on the Red river. Relieved 
of his command in 1804, he re-entered 
Congress, voting mainly with the Re¬ 
publican party. He died in Waltham, 
Sept. 1, 1894. 

Banks, Tkomas, an English 
sculptor, born in 1735. He died in 
1805. 

Banks in tke United States, 

financial institutions comprising (1) 
National banks; (2) State banks; 

and (3) savings banks, consisting of 
(a) mutual savings banks; and (b) 
stock savings banks. These are gen¬ 
eral throughout the entire country. 
In addition to these, are (1) co-opera¬ 
tive banks, common to New England, 
especially Massachusetts; (2) loan and 
trust companies, established in nearly 
all the large cities; and (3) building 
and loan associations, now represented 
in most of the States and Territories. 
The last three classes partake of some 
of the features of regular banking, es¬ 
pecially in the reception of money on 
deposit, subject to call, and the pay¬ 
ment of interest thereon. The first 
three kinds of banks only are here 
considered. 

The first bank in the United States 
was organized in Philadelphia in 1780, 
and a Bank of North America was 
planned in 1781 and opened in 1782. 
The Massachusetts Bank was incor¬ 
porated in 1784; that of New York 
was chartered in 1791, although, since 
1784, under Alexander Hamilton’s 
“ Articles of Association,” it had 
been doing business. Alexander Ham¬ 
ilton also originated a plan for a 
United States bank, with a capital of 
$10,000,000, three-fourths to be paid 
in United States stock, at 6 per cent., 
which plan was adopted and approved 
by Washington in 1791. The bank 
was reorganized in 1816 wuth a capital 
of $35,000,000, the United States sub¬ 
scribing $7,000,000, with interest at 6 
per cent., but in consequence of a gen¬ 
eral financial depression, was, the 
next year, in great danger of failure. 
Congress refusing to renew the char¬ 
ter, a State bank, called the United 
States bank, was chartered in Penn¬ 
sylvania, and eventually failing, the 
whole account was settled in 1856. 


The $28,000,000 deposited by share¬ 
holders was totally lost, while the Gov¬ 
ernment realized $6,093,167 upon its 
investments of stock. State banks 
were afterward chartered in the inter¬ 
ests of individual and dominant polit¬ 
ical parties. The charters were some¬ 
times fraudulently obtained and cur¬ 
rency issued to three times the amount 
of their capital, and, in 1814, 1837, 
and 1857, many of them suspended 
payment. A reform movement in 
bank currency was inaugurated in 
Massachusetts in 1825, and a “ safety- 
fund ” system, recommended by Mr. 
Van Buren, adopted in 1829. In 1838 
the Free Bank Act passed the New 
York Legislature, which authorized 
any number of persons to form a bank¬ 
ing association, subject to certain 
specified conditions and liabilities. 

On Feb. 25, 1863, the National 
banking system was organized, but the 
act establishing it was modified by 
that of June 3, 1864. This provided 
for a National Bank Bureau in the 
Treasury Department, whose chief 
officer is the Comptroller of the Cur¬ 
rency. Under it National banks could 
be organized by any number of indi¬ 
viduals, not less than five, the capital 
to be not less than $100,000 except in 
cities of a population not exceeding 
6,000; in these banks could be estab¬ 
lished with a capital of not less than 
$50,000. In cities having a popula¬ 
tion of 50,000 the capital stock could 
not be less than $200,000. One third 
of the capital was required to be in¬ 
vested in United States bonds, which 
were deposited in the Treasury for se¬ 
curity, upon which notes were issued 
equal in amount to 90 per cent, of the 
current market value, but not exceed¬ 
ing 90 per cent, of the par value; and 
these notes were receivable at par in 
the United States for all payments to 
and from the Government, except for 
duties on imports, interest on the pub¬ 
lic debt, and in redemption of the na¬ 
tional currency. On March 3, 1865, 
an act was passed by which the cir¬ 
culation of the State banks was taxed 
10 per cent., which drove their notes 
out of existence. 

Various laws have since been passed 
in relation to National banks. On 
March 14, 1900, President McKin¬ 
ley approved a new currency act, 
which, among other things, established 





Banks Land 


Bantry Bay 


the gold dollar as the standard unit of 
value, and placed at a parity with 
that standard all forms of money is¬ 
sued or coined by the United States. 
The bill also made a number of im¬ 
portant changes in the regulations 
governing National banks. The new 
law permits National banks, with 
$25,000 capital, to be organized in 
places of 3,000 inhabitants or less, 
whereas the minimum capital previ¬ 
ously was $50,000. It also permits 
banks to issue circulation on all 
classes of bonds deposited up to the 
par value of the bonds, instead of 90 
per cent, of their face, as before. 

Banks Land, an island in the W. 
of Arctic America, discovered by Par¬ 
ry in 1819, explored by Maclure in 
1850, and named by him Baring Is¬ 
land. It is separated by Banks 
Strait from Melville Island, lying to 
the N. W., and by Prince of Wales 
Strait from Prince Albert Land, ly¬ 
ing eastward. 

Banneker, Benjamin, an Ameri¬ 
can negro mathematician, born in 
1731. At the age of 50 he began the 
study of mathematics for astronomical 
purposes. He published annually af¬ 
ter 1792 an almanac devised by him¬ 
self. He died in 1806. 

Banner, a flag or standard carried 
at the head of a band marshaled for 
military purposes. 

Banneret, an abbreviation for 
knight banneret; a member of an an¬ 
cient order of knighthood which, had 
the privilege of leading their retainers 
to battle under their own flag. 

Bannock, a tribe of North Amer¬ 
ican Indians belonging to the Shoshoni 
stock. They are divided into two sec¬ 
tions, one inhabiting part of Nevada, 
and the other part of Montana. Their 
language is entirely distinct from that 
of the other Shoshoni, and they are 
probably of a different race, affiliated 
by intermarriage. The survivors num¬ 
ber less than a thousand. 

Bannockburn, a village of Stir» 
lingshire, Scotland, 3 miles S. S. E. of 
Stirling, on the Bannock Burn, a lit¬ 
tle affluent of the Forth. In the great 
battle of Bannockburn, fought on June 
24, 1314, Robert Bruce, with 30,000 
Scotch, gained a signal victory over 
Edward II., with 100,000 English, and 
secured his throne and the independ¬ 


ence of Scotland. The English are 
said to have lost 30,000, and the 
Scotch 8,000 men. Not far off was 
fought the battle of Sauchieburn. In 
September, 1903, it was reported that 
Andrew Carnegie was negotiating to 
acquire ownership of the battlefield in 
order to preserve it as a national 
memorial. 

Bauquo, a famous Scottish thane 
of the 11th century. In conjunction 
with Macbeth, cousin of Duncan, the 
King, he obtained a victory over the 
Danes, who had landed on the Scot¬ 
tish coast. Macbeth, shortly after¬ 
ward, violently dethroned Duncan, 
and caused him to be secretly assass¬ 
inated. Banquo, though not an ac¬ 
complice, was a witness of the crime; 
and being subsequently regarded by 
Macbeth with fear and suspicion, the 
latter invited him and his son to sup¬ 
per, and hired assassins to attack 
them on their return home during the 
darkness of night. Banquo was slain, 
but the youth made his escape. 
Shakespeare has interwoven this oc¬ 
currence with the theme of his tragedy 
of “ Macbeth.” 

Banshee, a fay, elf, or other su¬ 
pernatural being, supposed by some of 
the peasantry in Ireland and the Scot¬ 
tish Highlands to sing a mournful dit¬ 
ty under the windows of the house 
when one of the inmates is about to 
die. 

Bantam, a variety of the common 
domestic fowl, originally brought from 
the East Indies, and supposed to de¬ 
rive its name from the above town. It 
is remarkable for its small size, being 
only about one pound in weight, and 
for a disposition more courageous and 
pugnacious than even that of a game¬ 
cock. 

Banting, William, an English¬ 
man of notable corpulence, born in 
1797, who, by adopting a simple diet 
was able to relieve himself of his su¬ 
perfluous flesh. The dietary recom¬ 
mended was the use of butcher’s meat 
principally, and abstinence from beer, 
farinaceous foocj, and vegetables. He 
died in 1878. 

Bantry Bay, a deep inlet in the 
S. W. extremity of Ireland, in County 
Cork. Here a French force attempted 
to land in 1796. The coast around is 
I rocky and high. 





Banin 


Baptists 


Bantu, the ethnological najne of 
a group of African races dwelling be¬ 
low about 6° N. lat., and including the 
Kaffirs, Zulus, Bechuanas, the tribes 
of the Loango, Kongo, etc., but not 
the Hottentots. 

Banvard, John, an American 
artist, poet, and dramatist, born in 
New York about 1820; died in 1891. 

Banvard, Joseph, an American 
Baptist clergyman and historical 
writer, brother of the preceding, born 
in New York in 1810. 

Banyan Tree, a species of the 
genus ficus. It is regarded as a sa¬ 
cred tree by the Hindus. Its branches 



BANYAN TREE. 

produce long shoots, or aerial roots, 
which descend to the ground and pene¬ 
trate the soil; so that, in course of 
time, a single tree becomes a vast um¬ 
brageous tent, supported by numerous 
columns. 

Baobab, a tree also styled the mon¬ 
key-bread, African calabash, or Ethi¬ 
opian sourgourd tree. The fruit is or 
slightly acid taste. The juice mixed 
with sugar is serviceable in putrid 
and pestilential fevers. 

Baptism (from the Greek baptizo, 
from bap to, to immerse or dip), a rite 
which is generally thought to have 
been usual with the Jews even before 
Christ, being administered to prose¬ 
lytes. From this baptism, however, 
that of St. John the Baptist differed 


because he baptized Jews also as a 
symbol of the necessity of perfect 
purification from sin. Christ himself 
never baptized, but directed his disci¬ 
ples to administer this rite to converts 
(Matt, xxviii: 19); and baptism, 
therefore, became a religious ceremony 
among Christians, taking rank as a 
sacrament with all sects which ac¬ 
knowledge sacraments. _ Three modes 
of administering the rite have been 
adopted — immersion, pouring and 
sprinkling. The question, on which 
there have been innumerable disputes, 
turns upon the meaning of the Greek 
preposition following the verb. The 
advocates of baptism by immersion, as 
the only valid form, claim that the 
preposition is “in;” the advocates of 
sprinkling contend that the preposi¬ 
tion is, “with.” The Greek Church 
adopted the custom of immersion; but 
the Western Church adopted or al¬ 
lowed the mode of baptism by pouring 
or sprinkling, since continued by most 
Protestants. 

Baptists, a Protestant denomina¬ 
tion based on the belief that immer¬ 
sion is the only Scriptural mode of 
baptism, and that those only are proper 
subjects for this ceremony who are 
converted and profess personal faith 
In Christ. They thus reject both in¬ 
fant baptism and baptism by sprink¬ 
ling or pouring of water as invalid. 
There are, however, other sects, in¬ 
cluding the Mennonites, the Chris¬ 
tians, the Disciples of Christ, etc., who 
accept the prominent principles of the 
Baptists in whole or in part, and yet 
are not classified with them, owing to 
some minor differences. The Baptists 
reject the name of Anabaptists as a 
term of reproach, holding that it is in¬ 
correct, because their members gener¬ 
ally receive the rite on their admis¬ 
sion to the church, and because they 
were not identified with the Baptists 
of Munster. The Baptists first ap¬ 
peared in Switzerland, in 1523, and 
soon spread to Germany, Holland, and 
other continental countries, whence 
they were driven to England by perse¬ 
cution on account of their rejection of 
infant baptism. The history of the 
Baptists in England prior to the 16th 
century is still a matter of contro¬ 
versy. The first regularly organized 
church was Arminian, and was estab¬ 
lished in 1610 or 1611. A Calvinistio 









Baptist 


Baptist 


Baptist Church was founded about 
1633. Those holding Arminian views 
received the name of General Bap¬ 
tists, and those holding Calvinistic 
views the name of Particular Baptists. 
In 1640 there were seven Baptist con¬ 
gregations in London. 

The Baptists in the United States 
spring historically from the English 
and Welsh Baptists; but the first Bap¬ 
tist church was organized by Roger 
Williams, who was a minister in the 
Massachusetts Colony previous to his 
immersion. He was persecuted for 
holding principles which inclined to 
Anabaptism, and for antagonizing the 
authorities of the colony in ecclesiasti¬ 
cal matters. After being immersed, 
in 1639, by Ezekiel Holliman, whom 
he in turn immersed with 10 others, 
he organized a Baptist Church in 
Providence, R. I. In 1644 he obtained 
a charter which granted to the people 
of Rhode Island entire freedom of 
conscience. There were other Bap¬ 
tists, however, who emigrated from 
England in the 17th century, and, be¬ 
fore the end of the 18th century, be¬ 
came numerous in New England, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Geor¬ 
gia, and other States. In all the 
British colonies, excepting Rhode Is¬ 
land, the Baptists were persecuted for 
a long time. In Massachusetts laws 
were issued against them in 1644; sev¬ 
eral of them were imprisoned in 1651; 
others exiled in 1669; and a Baptist 
meeting-house was closed in 1680. 
New York issued laws against them in 
1662, and Virginia in 1664. This per¬ 
secution had greatly abate'd at the be¬ 
ginning of the 18th century. After 
the Revolutionary War the Baptists 
increased with great rapidity, especial¬ 
ly in the South and Southwestern 
States, and have steadily increased 
ever since. 

There are at present three bodies of 
Regular Baptists, the Northern, the 
Southern, and the Colored, all of 
whom agree in doctrinal and ecclesias¬ 
tical principles, but each has its own 
associations, State Conventions, and 
general missionary and other associa¬ 
tions. In 1845 a controversy concern¬ 
ing slavery, which had been going on 
for some time, caused a division be¬ 
tween the Baptists in the Northern 
and those in the Southern States, af¬ 
ter which the Northern Baptists con¬ 


tinued to support the Home Mission 
Society and the American Baptist 
Missionary Union, on an anti-slavery 
basis. In 1879 the question of re¬ 
uniting the divisions was agitated, but 
nothing was accomplished. The 
Southern Division is the largest branch 
of white Baptists. After the division 
of 1845 the Southern churches estab¬ 
lished the Southern Baptist Conven¬ 
tion, which holds annual meetings, 
where the promotion and direction of 
the denominational interests are con¬ 
sidered, such as Sunday-schools, and 
home and foreign missions. It is com¬ 
posed of representatives from associa¬ 
tions, other organizations, and from 
the churches. The Colored Baptists 
compose the largest body of Regular 
Baptists, although many Colored Bap¬ 
tists are not members of this division; 
those only being included who have 
separate churches, State Conventions, 
and associations. The Colored Bap¬ 
tists of the North are generally mem¬ 
bers of churches belonging to white as¬ 
sociations. In 1866 the first State 
Convention of Colored Baptists was 
organized in North Carolina, the sec¬ 
ond in Alabama, and the third in Vir¬ 
ginia, both in 1867, and the fourth in 
Arkansas in 1868. There are (1900) 
Colored conventions in 15 States and 
the District of Columbia. Besides 
these associations there are the Amer¬ 
ican National Convention, which delib¬ 
erates upon questions of general con¬ 
cern ; the Consolidated American Mis¬ 
sionary Convention, the General As¬ 
sociation of the Western States and 
Territories, the New England Mission¬ 
ary Convention, and the Foreign Mis¬ 
sionary Convention of the United 
States. 

Besides the three large divisions of 
Baptists, there are 10 smaller ones. 
(1) Six Principle Baptists date back 
to Roger Williams and the year 1639 
for their origin. They differ from the 
Regular Baptists in holding the Ar¬ 
minian instead of the Calvinistic 
creed, and in the practice of the laying 
on of hands in the reception of mem¬ 
bers. (2) Seventh Day Baptists, in 
the United States, date their origin 
back to 1671, when Stephen Mumford, 
from England, organized the first 
church in Newport, R. I. Their only 
difference from other Baptists is found 
in their keeping the seventh day as 




Baptist 


Barataria Bay 


“ the Sabbath of the Lord.” (3) 
Freewill Baptists. The first church 
of this sect was founded by Benjamin 
Randall in New Durham, N. H., in 
1780. At first their organizations 
were called simply Baptist churches, 
but later the word “ Freewill ” was 
applied to them, in allusion to their 
doctrine concerning the freedom of the 
will. (4) Original Freewill Baptists 
date back to 1729, when a number of 
General Baptist churches were found¬ 
ed in North Carolina. In 1759 many 
of these general churches became Cal- 
vinistic. Those which did not join the 
Calvinistic association were called 
“ Freewillers,” because they held the 
doctrine of the freedom of will. (5) 
General Baptists are thus named, be¬ 
cause they originally differed from the 
Regular Baptists in holding that the 
atonement was for the whole race and 
not merely for those effectually called. 
They date back to the beginning of the 
18th century. (6) Separate Baptists 
originated in the. great Whitefield revi¬ 
val. In doctrine they generally agree 
with the Freewill Baptists. (7) Unit¬ 
ed Baptists. A sect which sprang 
from the opposition to the great revi¬ 
val of George Whitefield. They hold 
moderate Calvinistic views. (8) Bap¬ 
tist Church of Christ. A sect organ¬ 
ized in 1808 in Tennessee, where half 
their number is found. They have a 
mild form of Calvinism with a general 
atonement. (9) Primitive Baptists 
are variously known as Primitive, Old 
School, Regular, and Antimission 
Baptists. Their organization occurred 
about 1835. They do not believe in 
the establishment of Sunday-schools, 
mission, Bible, and other societies, 
which they hold are unscriptural be¬ 
cause they are human institutions. 
(10) Old Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit-Pre- 
destinarian Baptists. A conservative 
body of Baptists who are strongly Cal¬ 
vinistic, believing firmly in predestina¬ 
tion. The phrase “Two-Seed” is un¬ 
derstood to mean their belief that 
there are two seeds, one of the good 
and one of the evil. The doctrine is 
supposed to have been originated by 
Elder Daniel Parker, who preached in 
Tennessee in 1806-1817, in Illinois till 
1836, and later in Texas, where he 
died. 

All Baptist denominations are con¬ 
gregational in polity, with the possible 


exception of the Original Freewill 
Baptists. Each church, under its of¬ 
ficers of pastor and deacons, manages 
its own affairs. There * are Associa¬ 
tions and State Conventions, composed 
of pastors and delegates from the 
churches, but none of these bodies 
have any ecclesiastical authority. 
Councils, consisting of ministers and 
laymen, may be called to advise 
churches, to ordain ministers, or to 
recognize new churches at the invita¬ 
tion of individual churches. 

Baptist Young People’s Union 
of America, an association repre¬ 
senting numerous young people’s so¬ 
cieties connected with the Baptist 
Churches in all the States and in 
Canada. Organized in June, 1891, in 
Chicago, Ill., which place has since 
been its headquarters. 

Bar, in hydrography, a bank of 
sand, silt, etc., opposite the mouth of a 
river, which obstructs or bars the en¬ 
trance of vessels. The bar is formed 
where the rush of the stream is ar¬ 
rested by the water of the sea, as the 
mud and sand suspended in the river 
water are thus allowed to be deposited. 
It is in this way that deltas are form¬ 
ed at the mouths of rivers. The navi¬ 
gation of many streams is kept open 
only by constant dredging or other ar¬ 
tificial means. 

Bar, in law, a word having several 
meanings; thus, it is the term used to 
signify an inclosure or fixed place in a 
court of justice where lawyers may 
plead. 

Barabbas, a noted robber in 
Christ’s time, who was imprisoned and 
awaiting death for the crimes of sedi¬ 
tion and murder. It was a custom of 
the Roman government, for the sake 
of conciliating the Jews, to release one 
Jewish prisoner, whom they might 
choose, at the yearly Passover. Pilate 
desired thus to release Jesus, but the 
Jews demanded Barabbas (Matt, xvii: 
16-26). 

Baranoff Island, one of the Alex¬ 
ander Islands, Alaska. _ It is about 
75 miles long. On its coast is the 
town of Sitka. The island derives its 
name from the Russian trader, Bar¬ 
anoff, who, in 1799, took possession 
of it. 

Barataria Bay, in the S. E. part 
of Louisiana, extending N. from the 




Baratier 


Barbecue 


Gulf of Mexico, between the parishes 
of Jefferson and Plaquemine. This 
bay is about 15 miles long by 6 wide. 
It, and the lagoons branching out of 
it, were rendered notorious about the 
years 1810-1812 as being both the 
headquarters and rendezvous of the 
celebrated Lafitte and his buccaneers. 

Baratier, Johann Philipp, a 
German litterateur, remarkable for 
the precocity of his intellect, was born 
in 1721. At the age of 7 he under¬ 
stood Greek and Hebrew, and two 
years later he compiled a Hebrew dic¬ 
tionary. He was 13 when he trans¬ 
lated the “ Itinerary of Benjamin of 
Tudela.” Excess of work and, per¬ 
haps, a too rapid development of his 
intellectual faculties brought about a 
languid malady, and, at the age of 19 
years he died. 

Barbacan, a projecting watch 
tower, or other advanced work, be¬ 
fore the gate of a castle or forti¬ 
fied town. The term barbacan was 
more especially applied to the out¬ 
work intended to defend the draw¬ 
bridge, which in modern fortifications 
is called the tete du pont. 

Barbadoes, or Barbados, the 
most eastern of the West India Is¬ 
lands, first mentioned in 1518, and 
occupied by the British in 1625; 
length 21 miles, breadth, 13; area, 
106,470 acres, or 166 square miles; 
mostly under cultivation. Capital, 
Bridgetown. It is more densely peo¬ 
pled than almost any spot in the 
world, the population in 1901 being 
195,000,'or about 1,174 to the square 
mile. The climate is very hot, though 
moderated by the constant trade 
winds; and the island is subject to 
dreadful hurricanes. 

Barbaro, Francesco, one of the 
most distinguished Italian authors of 
the 15th century, born at Venice, in 
1398; died in 1454. 

Barbaroux, Charles Jean Ma¬ 
rie, one of the greatest of the Giron¬ 
dists, was born at Marseilles, March 
6, 1767. He opposed the party of 
Marat and Robespierre, and even di¬ 
rectly accused the latt.er of aiming at 
the dictatorship; consequently, he 
was, in May, 1793, proscribed as a 
royalist and an enemy of the Repub¬ 
lic. He fled to Calvados, and thence 
with a few friends to the Gironde, 


where he wandered about the coun¬ 
try, hiding himself as he best could 
for about 13 months. At last, on the 
point of being taken, he tried to shoot 
himself; but the shot miscarried, and 
he was guillotined at Bordeaux, June 
25, 1794. 

Barbary, a general name for the 
most northerly portion of Africa, ex¬ 
tending about 2,600 miles from 
Egypt to the Atlantic, with a breadth 
varying from about 140 to 1,550 
miles; comprising Morocco, Fez, Al¬ 
geria, Tunis and Tripoli (including 
Barca and Fezzan). The principal 
races are the Berbers, the original 
inhabitants, from whom the country 
takes its name; the Arabs, who con¬ 
quered an extensive portion of it dur¬ 
ing the times of the caliphs; the Bed¬ 
ouins, Jews, Turks, and the French 
colonists of Algeria, etc. The coun¬ 
try, which was prosperous under the 
Carthaginians, was, next to Egypt, 
the richest of the Roman provinces, 
and the Italian States enriched them¬ 
selves by their intercourse with it. 
In the 15th century, however, it be¬ 
came infested with adventurers who 
made the name of Barbary corsair a 
terror to commerce, a condition of 
things finally removed by the French 
occupation of Algeria. 

Barbary Ape, or Magot, a mon¬ 
key — the macacus inuus, found in 
the N. of Africa, and of which a col¬ 
ony exists on the Rock of Gibral¬ 
tar. It is the only recent European 
quadrumanous animal. It is some¬ 
times called the magot, and is the spe¬ 
cies occasionally exhibited, when 
young, by showmen in the streets. 

Barbazan, Arnauld Guilhem, 
Sire de, a French captain, who was 
distinguished by Charles VI. with the 
title of “ Chevalier Sans Reproche,” 
and by Charles VIII. with that of 
“ Restaurateur du Royaume et de la 
Couronne de France,” born about the 
end of the 14th century. He was kill¬ 
ed at Bullegneville, in 1432. 

Barbecue. 1. A beef dressed 
whole, as is done in an election cam¬ 
paign. To do this, the carcass of the 
animal, split to the backbone, is laid 
upon a large gridiron, under and 
around which is placed a charcoal fire. 

2. A large gathering of people, gen¬ 
erally in the open air, for a social en- 






Barbel 


Barbieri 


tertainment or a political rally, one 
leading feature of which is the roast¬ 
ing of animals whole to furnish the 
numerous members of the party with 
needful food. 

Barbel. 1. A small fleshy thread 
or cord, of which several hang from 
the mouth of certain fishes. 

2. A knot of superfluous flesh grow¬ 
ing in the channels of a horse’s mouth. 

Barber, one who shaves beards and 
dresses hair. In early times the op¬ 
erations of the barber were not 
confined, as now to shaving, hair¬ 
dressing, and the making of wigs; 
but included the dressing of wounds, 
blood-letting, and other surgical op¬ 
erations. It seems that in all coun¬ 
tries the art of surgery and the art 
of shaving went hand in hand. The 
title of barber-chirurgeon, or barber- 
surgeon, was generally applied to bar¬ 
bers. The State of New York in 1903 
adopted a law regulating the business 
of barbers, enforcing stringent sani¬ 
tary rules in their shops, and appoint¬ 
ing a commission to enforce the law. 

Barber, Edward Atlee, an 
American archaeologist, born in Balti¬ 
more, Md., Aug. 13, 1851; was grad¬ 
uated at Williston Seminary in 1869, 
and was assistant naturalist in the 
United States Geological Survey in 
1874-1875. Subsequently he was en¬ 
gaged in gold dredging. His writ¬ 
ings include a history of the ancient 
Pueblos and a large number of mag¬ 
azine articles on ceramics. 

Barber, Francis, an American 
general, born at Princeton, N. J., 
1751 ; died 1783. He graduated at 
what is now Princeton University in 
1767, entered the Revolutionary Army 
as a major in 1776, and rose steadily 
through meritorious service to the rank 
of Adjutant-General. He was acci¬ 
dently killed by a falling tree, after re¬ 
covering from severe wounds received 
at the battles of Monmouth, Newton, 
and at Yorktown. 

Barber, John Warner, an Amer¬ 
ican author, born in Windsor, Conn., 
in 1798; died in 1885. His writings 
were mainly historical and include: 
State Annals; “ Historical Scenes in 
the United States,” “ Religious 
Events,” “ Elements of General His¬ 
tory,” “ Our Whole Country, Histori¬ 
cal and Descriptive.” 


Barberini, a celebrated Floren¬ 
tine family, which since the pontifi¬ 
cate of Maffeo Barberini (Urban 
VIII., 1623 to 1644), has occupied a 
distinguished place among the nobil¬ 
ity of Rome. 

Barberry, or Berberry, the Eng¬ 
lish name of the berberis. The com¬ 
mon barberry is planted in gardens 
or in hedges, being an ornamental 
shrub, especially when covered with 
a profusion of flowers or loaded with 
fruit. It has yellow flowers with an 
unpleasant smell, which, however, are 
much frequented by bees. Their juice 
is acid, hence they are used for pre¬ 
serves and confectionery. 

Barber’s Itcb, a disease of the 
skin of the face caused by the en¬ 
trance of a fungus into the hair folli¬ 
cles of the beard. 

Barbet. Birds having short, 
conical bills, with stiff bristles at the 
base, short wings, and broad and 
rounded tails. It is from the bristles, 
which have an analogy to a beard, 
that the name is derived. These birds 
are found in the warmer parts of both 
hemispheres, the most typical coming 
from South America. 

Barbette, a mound of earth on 
which guns are mounted to be fired 
over the parapet. 

In fortification. En barbette: 
Placed so as to be fired over the top 
of a parapet, and not through em¬ 
brasures. . 

Barbiano, Abrecht da, an Ital¬ 
ian military officer; formed the first 
regular company of Italian troops or¬ 
ganized to resist foreign mercenaries, 
about 1379. This organization, named 
the “ Company of St. George,” proved 
to be an admirable school, as from its 
ranks sprang many future officers of 
renown. He became Grand Consta¬ 
ble of Naples in 1384, and died in 
1409. 

Barbier, Henri Auguste, a 

French poet, born in Paris, April 29, 
1805; died in Nice, Feb. 13, 1882. 

Barbier, Jules, a French drama¬ 
tist, born in Paris, March 8, 1825. 

Barbieri, Giovanni Francesco, 
otherwise known as Guebcino (the 
squinter) da Cento, an eminent and 
prolific historical painter, born near 
Bologna in 1590. He died in 1666. 




Barbour 


Barclay de Tolly 


Paolo Antonio Barbieri, a cele¬ 
brated still-life and animal painter, 
was a brother of Guercino; born 
1596, died 1640. 

Barbour, Erwin Hinckley, an 

American geologist, born near Ox¬ 
ford, O.; was graduated at Yale Col¬ 
lege in 1882; was assistant paleontol¬ 
ogist in the United States Geolog¬ 
ical Survey in 1882-1888; Stone Pro¬ 
fessor of Natural History and Geol¬ 
ogy in Iowa College in 1889-1891; 
became Professor of Geology in the 
University of Nebraska, and acting 
State Geologist in 1891; and curator 
of the Nebraska State Museum in 
1892. In 1893 he took charge of the 
annual Morrill geological expeditions, 
and since then he has also been en¬ 
gaged in the United States Geologi¬ 
cal and Hydrographic Surveys. 

Barbour, John, a Scottish poet, 
born about 1816. His great epic, 
“ The Bruce,” tells the story of Rob¬ 
ert Bruce and the battle of Ban¬ 
nockburn. It was written in 1375 
and brought him favor from the King. 
He died in Aberdeen, March 13, 1395. 

Barbour, John Humphrey, an 
American educator, born in Torring- 
ton, Conn., May 29, 1854. He was 
rector of Grace Church, Hartford, till 
1889, and then became Professor of 
New Testament Literature and In¬ 
terpretation at the Berkeley Divinity 
School. He died in Middletown, 
Conn., April 29, 1900. 

Barbour, William McLeod, a 
Congregational clergyman, born in 
Fochabers, Scotland, May 29, 1827; 
professor in Bangor Theological Sem¬ 
inary in 1868-1877; Professor of Di¬ 
vinity and college pastor in Yale, 
1877-1887; became principal and Pro¬ 
fessor of Theology in the Congrega¬ 
tional College in Montreal, Canada, 
in 1887. He died in 1892. 

Barca, a country extending along 
the N. coast of Africa, between the 
Great Syrtis (now called the Gulf 
of Sidra) and Egypt. Bounded on 
the W. by Tripoli, and on the S. by 
the Libyan Desert, it is separated 
from Egypt on the E. by no definite 
line. Barca is sometimes regarded as a 
department of Tripoli, sometimes as 
an independent province, governed di¬ 
rectly from Constantinople. Its area 
is about 70,000 square miles; and the 


population is estimated at 500,000. 
The capital is Bengazi. 

Barcelona, the most important 
manufacturing city in Spain, in the 
province of the same name; pop. 509,- 
589. The province of Barcelona has 
an area of 2,985 square miles, and 
pop. 1,034,538. Barcelona manufac¬ 
tures silk, woolens, cottons, lace, hats, 
firearms, etc., which form its princi¬ 
pal exports. It imports raw cotton, 
coffee, cocoa, sugar, and other colo¬ 
nial produce; also Baltic timber, salt 
fish, hides, iron, wax, etc. Next to 
Cadifc it is the most important port 
in Spain. The harbor was extended 
and its entrance improved in 1875. 
Barcelona is noted for labor disturb¬ 
ances. 

Barclay, Robert, the apologist of 
the Quakers, born in 1648, at Gor- 
donstown, Moray, and educated at 
Paris, where he became a Roman 
Catholic. Recalled home by his fa¬ 
ther, he followed the example of the 
latter and became a Quaker. His first 
treatise in support of his adopted 
principles, published at Aberdeen in 
the year 1670, under the title of 
“ Truth Cleared of Calumnies,” to¬ 
gether with his subsequent writings, 
did much to rectify public sentiment 
in regard to the Quakers. He died 
in 1690. He was a friend of and 
had influence with James II. 

Barclay de Tolly, Micbael, 
Prince, a Russian military comman¬ 
der, of Scottish descent, born in Li¬ 
vonia in 1755. He began his military 
career in the campaigns against the 
Turks, the Swedes, and the Poles. 
He was wounded at Eylau, when he 
was made lieutenant-general. In 
March, 1808, he surprised the Swedes 
at Umea, by a march of two days 
over the ice which covered the Gulf 
of Bothnia. He was made governor- 
general of Finland, and, in 1809, ap¬ 
pointed Minister of War. He was 
author of the plan of operations which 
was followed with signal advantage 
by tbe Russian army in the campaign 
of 1812. After the battle of Baut¬ 
zen, May 26, 1813, he was appointed 
commander-in-chief of the Prusso- 
Russian army; and under him Witt¬ 
genstein commanded the Russians; 
Bliicher the Prussians; and the 
Grand Duke Constantine the Impe¬ 
rial Guard. On the day the allies ett- 




Barclay-Allardice 


Bariatinski 


tered Paris he was created General 
Field-Marshal. He died in 1818. 

Barclay-Allardice, Robert, 
known as Captain Barclay, the pe¬ 
destrian, was born in 1779, and suc¬ 
ceeded to the estate of Urie, near 
Stonehaven, in 1797. He died May 
8, 1854. His feat of walking 1,000 
miles in 1,000 consecutive hours took 
place at Newmarket, in June to July, 
1809. 

Barcochba, or Barcokecas 

(“son of a star”), a famous Jewish 
impostor, whose real name was Sim¬ 
eon, and who lived in the 2d cen¬ 
tury a. d. After the destruction of 
Jerusalem by Titus, the Jews, at dif¬ 
ferent periods, sought to regain their 
independence; and Barcochba, seeing 
his countrymen still impatient of the 
Roman yoke, resolved to attempt their 
emancipation. With this view he 
sought to sound the dispositions of 
his co-religionists of Egypt, Mesopo¬ 
tamia, Greece, Italy and Gaul, and 
sent forth emissaries, who traveled 
over all the provinces of the Roman 
Empire. When all was ready Bar¬ 
cochba, solemnly announced himself 
as King and Messiah, and seized by 
surprise on many fortified places. All 
who refused to submit to him, par¬ 
ticularly the Christians, were put to 
death. The revolt was crushed by 
the Romans after a five years’ conflict 
in which Barcochba perished miser¬ 
ably. 

Bard, a poet by profession, espe¬ 
cially one whose calling it was to 
celebrate in verse, song, and play the 
exploits of the chiefs or others who 
patronized him, or those of contem¬ 
porary heroes in general. Bards of 
this character flourished from the 
earliest period among the Greeks, and 
to a lesser extent among the Ro¬ 
mans. Tacitus seems to hint at their 
existence among the Germanic tribes. 
It was, however, above all, among the 
Gauls and other Celtic nations that 
they flourished most. 

Bard, Samuel, an American phy¬ 
sician, born in Philadelphia, April 1, 
1742; practiced in Philadelphia and 
New York; was the principal mover 
in the establishment of the medical 
school of Kings (Columbia) College; 
president of the New York College of 
Physicians and Surgeons that suc¬ 


ceeded the medical school. He died 
in Hyde Park, N. Y., May 24, 1821. 

Barebone, or Barbone, Praise- 
God, a member of the legislative body 
assembled by Cromwell in 1653, after 
the dissolution of the Long Parlia¬ 
ment. The royalists facetiously dis¬ 
tinguished him by calling the con¬ 
vention “Barebone’s Parliament.” 

Barefooted Friars, monks who 
use sandals, or go barefoot. They are 
not a distinct body, but may be found 
in several orders of mendicant friars 
7—for example, among the Carmel¬ 
ites, Franciscans, Augustinians. There 
were also barefooted nuns. 

Barentz, Willem, a Dutch navi¬ 
gator. He was one of the early Arc¬ 
tic explorers; his attempt being to 
find a northeast passage to China. In 
his first voyage he reached lat. 77°- 
78', and in his last, 80° 11'. He com¬ 
manded several exploring expeditions 
around Nova Zembla and Spitzber- 
gen, on one of which he had seven 
vessels loaded with rich goods for 
Eastern trade. In the summer of 
1596, he set out with two ships, which 
were frozen in at Ice Haven in Sep¬ 
tember. The following June they at¬ 
tempted to reach the mainland in 
boats, but most of them were lost. 

Barham, Rev. Richard Harris, 
a humorous writer, born in 1788 at 
Canterbury ; educated at Paul’s School, 
London, and at Brasenose, Oxford. He 
published an unsuccessful novel, Bald¬ 
win, wrote nearly a third of the arti¬ 
cles in Gorton’s Biographical Diction¬ 
ary, and contributed to Blackwood’s 
Magazine. In 1824 he was appointed 
priest in ordinary of the chapel-royal, 
and afterwards rector of St. Mary 
Magdalene and St. Greorgy-by-St.- 
Paul, London. In 1837, on the start¬ 
ing of Bentley’s Miscellany, he laid 
the main foundation of his literary 
fame by the publication in that period¬ 
ical of the Ingoldsby Legends. He 
died in 1845. 

Bariatinski, Alexander Ivano¬ 
vich, Prince, a Russian field-mar¬ 
shal, born in 1814, and educated with 
the future Czar, Alexander II. While 
a young officer in the hussars, some 
love passages with a Grand Duchess 
caused his transfer to the Caucasus, 
where his success against the famous 
Shamyl secured him, in 1852, the rank 




Baring 


Barker 


of lieutenant-general. He died in Ge¬ 
neva, March 9, 1879. 

Baring, family name of the found¬ 
ers of one of the greatest financial 
and commercial houses in the world; 
now known as Baring Brothers & Co. 
The father of the founders was John 
Baring, a German cloth manufac¬ 
turer, who started a small business 
at Larkbear, near Exeter, England, 
in the first half of the 18th century. 
Two of his sons, Francis and John 
(1730-181G), established in London 
in 1770 the now existing house. 

In 1885, the then head of the firm, 
Edward Charles Baring, was raised to 
the peerage, as Baron Revelstoke. 

Barite, or Baryta, a mineral 
called also baroselenite, sulphate of 
baryta and heavy spar. It is found 
in the United States and on the conti¬ 
nent of Europe. It is sometimes trans¬ 
parent, sometimes opaque. 

Baritone, or Barytone, a male 
voice, the compass of which partakes 
of those of the common bass and 
the tenor, but does not extend so far 
downward as the one, nor to an equal 
height with the other. 

Barium, the metallic basis of bary¬ 
ta, which is an oxide of barium ; spe¬ 
cific gravity 4; symbol Ba. It is only 
found in compounds, such as the com¬ 
mon sulphate and carbonate, and was 
isolated by Davy for the first time in 
1808. It is a yellow, malleable metal, 
which readily oxidizes, decomposes wa¬ 
ter, and fuses at a low temperature. 

Bark, the exterior covering of the 
stems of exogenous plants. It is 
composed of cellular and vascular tis¬ 
sue, is separable from the wood, and 
is often regarded as consisting of four 
layers. Bark contains many valua¬ 
ble products, as gum, tannin, etc.; 
cork is a highly useful substance ob¬ 
tained from the epiphloeum; and the 
strength and flexibility of bast make 
it of considerable value. Bark used 
for tanning is obtained from oak, 
hemlock-spruce, species of acacia, 
growing in Australia, etc. Angos¬ 
tura bark, Peruvian, or cinchona bark, 
cinnamon, cascarilla, etc., are useful 
barks. 

Bark, or Barque, a three-masted 
vessel of which the foremast and 
mainmast are square-rigged, but the 
mizzenmast has fore-and-aft sails only. 


Bark, Peruvian, is the bark of 

various species of trees of the genus 
cinchona, found in many parts of 
South America, but more particularly 
in Peru, and having medicinal proper¬ 
ties. Its medicinal properties depend 
upon the presence of quinine, which 
is now extracted from the bark, im¬ 
ported, and prescribed in place of 
nauseous mouthfuls of bark. 

Barker, Albert S., an American 
naval officer, born in Massachusetts, 
March 31, 1843; was graduated at the 
United States Naval Academy in 
1859; served on the frigate “ Missis¬ 
sippi ” in the operations to open the 
Mississippi river in 1861-1863, taking 
part in the bombardment and passage 
of Forts Jackson and St. Philip and 
the Chalmette batteries, the capture of 
New Orleans, and the attempted pas¬ 
sage of Port Hudson, where his vessel 
was destroyed. He became Captain 
May 5, 1892; commanded the cruiser 
“ Newark ” during the war with 
Spain; subsequently succeeded to the 
command of the battleship “ Oregon,” 
which he took to Manila; became a 
Rear-Admiral, and was placed in com¬ 
mand of the Norfolk Navy Yard in 
1899; and in July, 1900, succeeded the 
late Rear-Admiral Philip as command¬ 
ant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. 

Barker, Fordyce, an American 
physician, born in Wilton, Franklin 
co., Me., May 2, 1819; died in New 
York city. May 30, 1891. 



bark. 

Barker, Mattkew Henry, aD 

English novelist; born at Deptford in 
1790. Died in London, June 29, 1846. 





Bark Louse 


Barnacle 


Bark Louse, or Scale Insect. 

The bark lice are very small insects, 
whose females are wingless, their bod¬ 
ies resembling scales. They sting the 
bark of trees with their long, slender 
beak, drawing in the sap, and, when 
very numerous, injure or kill the tree. 
On the other hand, the males have two 
wings, but no beak, and take no food. 

Barksdale, William, an Ameri¬ 
can statesman and military officer, 
born in Rutherford county, Tenn., 
Aug. 21, 1821. He entered Congress 
in 1853, but gave up his seat when his 
State seceded, and took command of a 
regiment of Mississippi volunteers. He 
was made a Brigadier-General after a 
campaign in Virginia, and was killed 
at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Barley. Barley is the hardiest of 
all the cereals, and was originally a 
native of Asia, but it is now cultivated 
all over the world, even as far N. as 
Lapland. In former times, it was 
largely used as an article of food, but 
the greater proportion of the barley 
now grown is used in the preparation 
of malt and spirits. 

Barleycorn, John, a personifica¬ 
tion of the spirit of barley, or malt 
liquor, often used jocularly, and in 
humorous verse. 

Barlow, Francis Channing, an 

American military officer, born in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1834; was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1855; 
studied law in New York, and prac¬ 
ticed there. In 1861 he enlisted as a 
private in the 12th Regiment, New 
York State National Guard, which 
was among the first troops at the 
front. He was promoted Lieutenant 
after three months’ of service; Colo¬ 
nel during the siege of Yorktown; dis¬ 
tinguished himself in the battle of 
Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines, for which 
he was promoted Brigadier-General; 
fought in almost every subsequent bat¬ 
tle of the Army of the Potomac. He 
was severely wounded at Chancellors- 
ville, May 2, 1863, and at Gettysburg, 
July 1, 1863. He was mustered out 
of the service with the rank of Major- 
General of volunteers. In 1866-1868, 
he was Secretary of State of New 
York; in 1871 became Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral ; and in 1873 resumed law prac¬ 
tice in New York. He died in New 
York ciiy, Jan. 11, 1896. 


Barlow, Joel, an American poet 
and diplomatist; born in Reading, 
Conn., March 24, 1754. In the course 
of his adventurous career he fell 
in with the French army and was a 
sharer in its memorable retreat from 
Russia. Being overcome by cold and 
privation, he died near Cracow, Dec. 
22, 1812. 

Barmecides, an illustrious family 
of Khorassan, the romance of whose 
history is equally familiar to Eu¬ 
ropeans and Americans in the “ Thou¬ 
sand and One Nights ” (Arabian 
Nights’ Entertainments), and to Ori¬ 
entals in the pages of their historians 
and poets; and who flourished at the 
Court of the early Abbasside Caliphs. 
Barmec, or Barmek, the founder of 
the family, transmitted the honors con¬ 
ferred on him by the Caliph Abd-al- 
Malik to his son, Khalid, and from 
him they passed to his son, Yahia, 
who, becoming tutor to the famous 
Haroun-al-Raschid, acquired an influ¬ 
ence over that Prince; which, with 
Haroun’s personal affection for the 
family, carried his sons, Fadl, or Fazl, 
Giaffar, Mohammed, and Mousa, to 
the highest dignities of the Court. The 
virtues and munificence of the Bar¬ 
mecides were, for a long period, dis¬ 
played under favor of Haroun, as well 
as to the admiration of his subjects; 
but one of the brothers, Giaffar, hav¬ 
ing at last become an object of suspi¬ 
cion to the cruel and treacherous ca¬ 
liph, Yahia and his sons were sudden¬ 
ly seized, Giaffar beheaded, and the 
others condemned to perpetual impris¬ 
onment. The year 802 is assigned as 
the date of this tragedy. 

Barnabas, St., or Joseph, a dis¬ 
ciple of Jesus, and a companion of the 
Apostle Paul. He was a Levite, and 
a native of the Isle of Cyprus, and is 
said to have sold all his property, and 
laid the price of it at the feet of the 
apostles (Acts iv: 36, 37). He was a 
beloved fellow laborer with Paul. 

Barnacle, a common crustacean 
belonging to the group of stalked cir- 
ripedia. It fixes itself to the bottoms 
of vessels and other inanimate and 
also animate objects, and its head 
being thus attached kicks food into its 
mouth with its legs. The term is often 
applied to persons who are superfluous 
fixtures in some institution or organ¬ 
ization. 




Barnard 


Barn Burners 


Barnard, Edward Emerson, an 

American astronomer, born in Nash¬ 
ville, Tenn., Dec. 16, 1857; graduated 
at Vanderbilt University in 1887; was 
astronomer in Lick Observatory, Cali¬ 
fornia, in 1887-1895, and then became 
Professor of Astronomy in Chicago 
University and Director of the Yerkes 
Observatory. His principal discover¬ 
ies are the fifth satellite of Jupiter in 
.1892, and 16 comets. He has made 
photographs ©f the Milky Way, the 
comets, nebulae, etc. The French Acad¬ 
emy of Sciences awarded him the Le- 
lande gold medal in 1892, and the 
Arago gold medal in 1893, and the 
Royal Astronomical Society of Great 
Britain gave him a gold medal in 1897. 
He is a member of many American 
and foreign societies, and a contribu¬ 
tor to astronomical journals. 

Barnard, Frederick Augustus 
Porter, an American educator, born 
in Sheffield, Mass., May 5, 1809; was 
graduated at Yale College in 1828; in¬ 
structor there in 1830; Professor of 
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 
in the University of Alabama in 1837- 
1848, and afterward of Chemistry and 
Natural History till 1854; Professor 
of Mathematics and Astronomy in the 
University of Mississippi, 1854-1861; 
its president in 1856-1858; and its 
Chancellor in 1858-1861. He was 
president of Columbia College, New 
York city, in 1864-1888. He died 1889. 

Barnard, Henry, an American 
educational reformer, born at Hart¬ 
ford, Conn., in 1811; died there in 
1900. He was graduated at Yale in 
1830; entered the legal profession, be¬ 
came interested in politics, and during 
service in the legislature distinguished 
himself by his interest in the public 
school system, and the vigor with 
which he urged reforms. He was in 
succession School Commissioner of R. 
X.; Superintendent of Schools in Con¬ 
necticut ; President of the University 
of Wisconsin; President of St. John’s 
College, Annapolis, and was first Uni¬ 
ted States Commissioner of Education. 
He organized the Bureau, and in his 
reports suggested or supported the re¬ 
forms that have since been made. 

Barnard College, an educational 
(non-sectarian) institution for women 
* n ^ ew York city; organized in 
1889, and named in honor of Fred¬ 
erick A. P. Barnard, through whose 


efforts its foundation was largely due. 
It was made essentially a part of Co¬ 
lumbia University, certain courses of 
study in the University and the use of 
its library being open to the students 
of Barnard. In January, 1900, the 
college was formally incorporated with 
Columbia University. 

Barnardo, Thomas J., an Eng¬ 
lish philanthropist; founder of the 
Barnardo Homes for homeless chil¬ 
dren; had his attention first turned in 
this direction by the condition in 
which he found a boy in a ragged 
school in East London in 1866. Fol¬ 
lowing up the subject, he began to 
rescue children who had found their 
only shelter at night under archways, 
or in courts and alleys. These were 
introduced to his homes, where they 
received an industrial training, were 
saved from a possible career of crime, 
and enabled to achieve an honorable 
position in life. 

Barnato, Barney, a South Afri¬ 
can speculator. His real name is be¬ 
lieved to have been Bernard Isaac. He 
was born in London, England, about 
1845, of Hebrew parents. He began 
business there as a dealer in diamonds, 
and in five years earned enough to buy 
shares in the Kimberley diamond mines. 
He established a partnership with Ce¬ 
cil Rhodes, and, when, in 1886, gold 
was discovered, secured possession of 
the greater part of the region. He 
committed suicide by jumping from 
the deck of the steamer “ Scot,” bound 
from Cape Town to Southampton, 
June 14, 1897. 

Barnave, . Antoine Pierre 
Joseph Marie, a French orator, was 
born at Grenoble in 1761. The Con¬ 
stituent Assembly appointed him their 
President in January, 1791. After the 
flight of the King, he defended Lafay¬ 
ette against the charge of being privy 
to this step, and, upon the arrest of 
the royal family, was sent, with Petion 
and Latour-Maubourg, to meet them, 
and to conduct them to Paris. When 
the correspondence of the court fell 
into the hands of the victorious party, 
Aug. 10, 1792, they pretended to have 
found documents which showed him 
to have been secretly connected with 
it, and he was guillotined Nov. 29, 
1793. 

Barn Burners, the nickname given 
to the radical element of the Demo- 




Barnegat Bay 


Barnum 


cratic Party in New York State, which 
supported Van Buren in the campaign 
of 1848. 

Barnegat Bay, a bay on the E. 

coast of New Jersey, about 25 miles 
in length. Barnegat Inlet connects 
the bay with the Atlantic. 

Barnes, Albert, an American 
Presbyterian minister, born in Rome, 
N. Y., Dec. 1, 1798. For 37 years 
pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church in Philadelphia; he was best 
known by his “ Notes ” on the New 
Testament (of which over 1,000,000 
volumes are said to have circulated), 
Isaiah, Job, Psalms, etc. He died at 
Philadelphia, Dec. 24, 1870. 

Barnes, Joseph K., an American 
medical officer, born in Philadelphia, 
July 21, 1817; was educated in the 
medical department of the University 
of Pennsylvania; became Assistant 
Surgeon in the army in 1840, and 
served at various posts through the 
Mexican War. At the beginning of 
the Civil War he was summoned from 
Oregon, and assigned to duty in the 
office of the Surgeon-General. In 1863, 
he was appointed a Medical Inspector, 
with the rank of Colonel, and in Sep¬ 
tember of the same year was promoted 
to Brigadier-General. In 1865 he 
was brevetted Major-General, United 
States Army. He was Surgeon-Gen¬ 
eral of the army from 1864 till 1882, 
when he was retired. He died in 
Washington, D. C., April 5, 1883. 

Barnes, William, an English 
poet and philologist, born in Dorset¬ 
shire, Feb. 22, 1800; died in Winter¬ 
bourne Came, in October, 1886. 

Barneveldt, Jan Van Olden, 
Grand Pensionary of Holland, born in 
1549. He had scarcely reached his 
20th year when he was called to the 
office of Councilor and Pensionary of 
Rotterdam; and such was the opinion 
even then entertained of his eminent 
abilities and integrity that he was al¬ 
lowed an important share in the man¬ 
agement of those transactions with 
France and England by which the 
United Provinces sought to maintain 
themselves against Spain, whose yoke 
they had just thrown off. His con¬ 
duct in the high office of Grand Pen¬ 
sionary of Holland and West Fries¬ 
land, which he afterward filled, not 
only secured the independence, but re- 

E. 14. 


stored the trade and improved the 
finances of the United Provinces. Af¬ 
ter the election of Maurice of Nassau 
to the dignity of Stadtholder, Barne¬ 
veldt became the champion of popular 
liberties, and opposed with determina¬ 
tion the ambitious designs of the new 
prince. The latter finally carried the 
day and Barneveldt was adjudged to 
death as a traitor and heretic, by 26 
deputies named by Maurice. The sen¬ 
tence was carried into effect in 1619. 

Barney, Joshua, an American na¬ 
val officer, bom in Baltimore, Md., 
July 6, 1759. He was captured by 
the British in March, 1778, but was 
exchanged in August of the same year; 
was captured again and held a prison¬ 
er till he escaped in 1781. In April, 
1782, he took the British ship “ Gen¬ 
eral Monk,” off Cape May; in Novem¬ 
ber, 1782, he carried dispatches to Dr. 
Franklin in France, and brought back 
a sum of money lent by the French 
government. 1794 he went with Mon¬ 
roe to France, and for six years served 
in the French navy. In 1814, he com¬ 
manded the fleet stationed in Chesa¬ 
peake Bay. He died in Pittsburg, Pa., 
Dec. 1, 1818. 

Barn Owl, a bird of prey belong¬ 
ing to the family strigidse. It is called 
also the white owl, the church owl, 
the screech owl, the hissing owl, the 
yellow owl, the howlet, and the hoolet. 
It is found in the United States and 
in Europe. 

Barnum, Frances Courtenay 
(Baylor), an American novelist, bom 
in Arkansas, 1848. 

Barnum, Phineas Taylor, an 

American showman, born at Bethel, 
Conn., July 5, 1810; after various un¬ 
successful business ventures, finally es¬ 
tablished Barnum’s Museum in New 
York (1841), which was twice burned. 
He introduced Tom Thumb, Jenny 
Lind, Commodore Nutt, Admiral Dot, 
the woolly horse, Jumbo, etc., to the 
American public. In 1871 he estab¬ 
lished his great circus. He was mayor 
of Bridgeport, and four times member 
of the Connecticut Legislature. His 
benefactions were large and frequent. 
He was a lecturer on temperance and 
other popular subjects. He died at 
Bridgeport, Conn., April 7, 1891. 

Barnum, William H., an Amer¬ 
ican statesman, bom in Boston Cor- 




Barnwell 


Barrack 


ners, N. Y., Sept. 17, 1818. He died 
in Lime Rock, Conn., April 30, 1889. 

Barnwell, Robert Woodward, 

an American statesman, born in Beau¬ 
fort, S. C., Aug. 10, 1801; was grad¬ 
uated at Harvard University in 1821; 
became a lawyer; was a member of 
Congress from South Carolina in 
1829-1833; a United States Senator 
from that State, 1850-1851; Commis¬ 
sioner from South Carolina to confer 
with the Federal Government regard¬ 
ing the proposed secession of the State, 
in 1860; member of the Provisional 
Confederate Congress, 1861-1862; a 
Confederate Senator in 1862-1866; 
and then president of the University 
of South Carolina (an office he had 
held in 1835-1841) till 1873. He died 
in Columbia, S. C., Nov. 25, 1882. 

Baroda, the second city of Guz- 
erat, and third in the Presidency of 
Bombay, India; capital of the terri¬ 
tory of the Guicowar in the State of 
the same name. It is 248 miles N. of 
Bombay, with which it is connected 
by railway. Baroda occupies an im¬ 
portant situation between the. coast 
and the interior, and its trade is con¬ 
siderable. Pop. (1901) 103,782. 

Barometer, an instrument for 
measuring the weight of the air and 
the variations of its pressure in order 
to determine changes in the weather, 
the height of mountains, and other 
phenomena. This most useful instru¬ 
ment had its origin in an experiment 
of Torricelli, an Italian, who flour¬ 
ished about the middle of the 17th 
century 

Baron, in the feudal system of the 
Middle Ages, the title baron, derived 
from the Latin varo, which signifies a 
man, and, sometimes, a servant, was 
given, at first, to the immediate tenant 
of any superior. In England, baron 
is the lowest grade of rank in the 
House of Lords. 

Baronet, originally a term appar¬ 
ently in use as early as the time of 
Edward III. for certain landed gen¬ 
tlemen not of the dignity of lords, 
summoned to the English Parliament 
to counterbalance the power of the 
clergy. Subsequently it became the 
name given to three titled orders. 

Baronins, or Baronio, Caesar, an 
Italian ecclesiastical historian, born in 
1538. Ho owes his fame to his work, 


“ Ecclesiastical Annals,” comprising 
valuable documents from the papal 
archives, on which he labored from 
the year 1580 until his death, June 30, 
1607. 

Barony, the lordship or fee of a 
baron, either temporal or spiritual. 

Barotse, or Marotse, an impor¬ 
tant Bantu tribe inhabiting the banks 
and the regions E. of the Upper Zam¬ 
bezi, from about 14° to 18° S. lat. In 
Livingstone’s time the Makololo were 
the dominant tribe in these parts of 
South Africa, but since then they have 
been almost entirely annihilated by 
the Bantus, who now occupy the vast 
territory from the Kabompo river to 
the Victoria Falls. 

Barouche, a four-wheeled carriage 
with a falling top and two inside seats 
in which four persons can sit, two 
fronting two. 

Barr, Amelia Edith, an Anglo- 

American novelist, born in Ulverton, 
Lancashire, England, March 29, 1831. 
She was the daughter of the Rev. Wil¬ 
liam Huddleston, and in 1850 married 
Robert Barr. She came to the United 
States in 1854, and lived for some 
years in Texas; but after her hus¬ 
band’s death (1867) removed to New 
York, where her first book, “ Romance 
and Reality,” was published in 1872. 
She is a prolific writer, and her nov¬ 
els are very popular. 

Barr, Robert, a Scottish author, 
born in Glasgow, Sept. 16, 1850; he 
spent his childhood in Canada, drifted 
into journalism, joined the staff pf De¬ 
troit “ Free Press,” and wrote under 
the name of “ Luke Sharp.” He went 
to London in 1881 and founded “ The 
Idler ” with Jerome K. Jerome, but 
retired to devote himself to fiction. 

Barracan, strictly, a thick, strong 
stuff made in Persia and Armenia of 
camel’s hair, but the name has been 
applied to various wool, flax, and cot¬ 
ton fabrics. 

Barracand, Leon Henri, a 

French poet and novelist, born at Ro¬ 
mans, Drome, May 2, 1844. 

Barrack, a hut or small lodge. 
The plural, barracks, is now generally 
applied to a large structure, either 
erected expressly for the housing of 
troops or one which has been impro¬ 
vised for that purpose. 






Barracuda 


Barrett 


Barracuda, a pike-like seafish al¬ 
lied to the mullets, common on both 
coasts of America. The great barra¬ 
cuda reaches a length of 8 feet and a 
weight of 40 pounds. It is as savage 
as a shark. Its flesh is pleasant flav¬ 
ored, but is not always eaten, as there 
are times when it it not wholesome. 

Barranquilla, the principal port 
of the Republic of Colombia, in the 
Department of Bolivar, near the left 
bank of the Main channel of the Mag¬ 
dalena, 15 miles distant from the sea. 
A railway connects it with the seaport 
of Sabanilla, 20 miles to the north¬ 
west. Trade is largely in the hands 
of the Germans. A United States 
consul is resident at Barranquilla. 
Pop. 40,000. 

Barras, Paul Francois Jean 
Nicolas, Comte de, a French Jaco¬ 
bin, born in Provence, in 1755, of an 
ancient family; served as second lieu¬ 
tenant in the regiment of Languedoc 
until 1775. July 14, 1789, he took 
part in the attack upon the Bastille, 
and Aug. 20, 1792, upon the Tuileries. 
In 1792 he was elected a member of 
the National Convention, and voted 
for the unconditional death of Louis 
XVI. In February, 1795, he was 
elected President of the Convention, 
and, in that capacity, declared Paris 
in a state of siege, when the Assembly 
was attacked by the populace. After¬ 
ward, when the Convention was as¬ 
sailed, Bonaparte, by Barras’s advice, 
was appointed to command the artil¬ 
lery; and that general on the 13th 
Vendemaire (Oct. 5, 1795), decisively 
repressed the royalist movement. For 
his services, Barras was now named 
one of the Directory, and took a prom¬ 
inent part in the changes which that 
body underwent until Napoleon’s coup 
d’etat on the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9, 
1799), effectually overthrew the power 
of Barras and his colleagues. His life, 
from this date, was, generally speak¬ 
ing, one of retirement. He died in 
Paris, Jan. 29, 1829. 

Barre, Isaac, a British soldier, 
born at Dublin in 1726. Gazetted as 
an ensign in 1746, he became friendly 
with General Wolfe, under whom he 
rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colo¬ 
nel. He was wounded in the cheek at 
Quebec, was beside Wolfe when he 
fell, and figures in West’s picture of 


“ The Death of Wolfe.” He entered 
Parliament in 1761, and held office 
successively under Lord Bute, Pitt, 
Rockingham, and Lord Shelburne. In 
Pitt’s second administration he ex¬ 
posed the corruptions of the ministry, 
was a strong opponent of Lord North’s 
ministry, and opposed the taxation of 
America. He died in London, July 
20, 1802. 

Barren Grounds, a large tract in 
the Northwest Territories of Canada, 
extending N. from Churchill river to 
the Arctic Ocean, between Great Bear 
and Great Slave Lakes and Hudson 
Bay. It largely consists of swamps, 
lakes, and bare rock. 

Barrett, John, an American di¬ 
plomatist, bom in Grafton, Vt., Nov. 
28, 1866; was graduated at Dart¬ 
mouth College in 1889, and the same 
year went to the Pacific coast and was 
engaged in journalism till 1894. Dur¬ 
ing 1894-1898 he was United States 
Minister Resident and Consul-General 
at Bangkok, Siam, and, after the ex¬ 
piration of his term of office, repre¬ 
sented several American newspapers 
in Manila, Philippine Islands. After 
the A m erican victory in Manila Bay 
he made a special study of conditions 
in the Philippine Islands, and, return¬ 
ing by way of London, addressed a 
joint assembly of members of the 
House of Commons and the London 
Chamber of Commerce, on the condi¬ 
tion of trade in the Far East. He re¬ 
turned to the United States in the 
summer of 1899, and afterward did 
much to support the Federal Govern¬ 
ment against the attacks of the anti¬ 
expansionists. 

Barrett, Lawrence, an American 
actor, bom in Paterson, N. J., April 
4, 1838. His first appearance on the 
stage was in 1853. In 1856 he ap¬ 
peared as Sir Thomas Clifford in 
“The Hunchback” at Chambers Street 
Theater, New York city, and in 1857 
he supported Mr. Burton, Charlotte 
Cushman, Edwin Booth, and other 
eminent actors. He served as a cap¬ 
tain in the 28th Massachusetts Infan¬ 
try in the early part of the Civil War. 
Later he acted at Philadelphia, Wash¬ 
ington, and at Winter Garden, in New 
York, where he was engaged by Mr. 
Booth to. play Othello to his Iago. 
After this he became an associate 
manager of the Varieties Theater, in 




Barrett 


Barrow 


New Orleans, where for the first time 
he played the parts of Richelieu, Ham¬ 
let, and Shylock. He gained steadily 
in distinction both as manager and 
actor. His last appearance was on 
March 18, 1891, in the character of 
Adrian du Mauprat to the Richelieu 
of Mr. Booth. He died in New York 
city, March 21, 1891. 

Barrett, Wilson, an English dram¬ 
atist, born in Essex, Feb. 18, 1846; 
son of a farmer. He has been man¬ 
ager and lessee of leading English 
theaters. He visited the United States 
in 1886, and again in 1889. His pub¬ 
lications include “ The Sign of the 
Cross,” “Pharaoh,” “In Old New 
York,” etc. Died July 22, 1904. 

Barrie, James Matthew, a Scot¬ 
tish author; born in Kurriemuir, For¬ 
farshire, May 9, 1860. He graduated 
from Edinburg University in 1882, and 
went to London in 1885, to engage in 
journalism. His peculiar talent for 
depicting Scottish village life and rus¬ 
tic characters with fidelity, pathos, 
humor, and poetic charm, has brought 
him fame. 

Barrier Reef, a coral reef which 
extends for 1,260 miles off the N. E. 
coast of Australia, at a distance from 
land ranging from 10 to 100 miles. 

Barrili, Antonio Giulio, an Ital¬ 
ian novelist, born in Savona, in 1836. 
Engaging in journalism when only 18, 
he assumed the management of “ II 
Movimento ” in 1860, and became pro¬ 
prietor and editor of “ II Caffaro ” in 
Genoa in 1872. He took part in 
the campaigns of 1859 and 1866 
(with Garibaldi in Tyrol) and in the 
Roman expedition of 1867, and sat in 
the Chamber of Deputies in 1876- 
1879. He is one of the most prolific 
writers of modern Italy. 

Barrios, Gerardo, a Central 
American statesman, born about 1810; 
became President of Salvador in 1860. 
He was deposed by Duenas as the out¬ 
come of the war with Guatemala, and, 
while endeavoring to bring about a 
revolution in order to become presi¬ 
dent again, he was captured and exe¬ 
cuted, in 1865. 

Barrios, Justo Rufi.no, a Guate¬ 
malan statesman, born in San Marcos, 
about 1834; opposed President Cerna 
in the revolutionary movements of 


1867, and was active in overthrowing 
the regime established by that presi¬ 
dent (1871). Two years later, when 
Granados took command of the army, 
Barrios became President and, by suc¬ 
cessive elections, he held the office till 
his death. His administration was 
marked by prosperity and freedom. A 
war with Salvador resulted from a 
proclamation intended to bring about 
the union of all the Central American 
nations in one republic. In an assault 
upon Chalchuapa, Barrios, putting 
himself at the head of a deserted regi¬ 
ment, was killed April 2, 1885. His 
widow lives in New York. 

Barrister, Barraster, or Barre- 
ter, in England, a member of the le¬ 
gal profession who has been admitted 
to practice at the bar; a counselor at 
law. The term corresponding to bar¬ 
rister is in the United States counselor 
at law; but the position of the latter 
is not quite the same. 

Barron, James, an American na¬ 
val officer, born in Virginia in 1769; 
became Lieutenant in the navy in 
1798, and was soon promoted to Cap¬ 
tain. He commanded the “ Chesa¬ 
peake ” in 1807, and was attacked by 
the British ship “ Leopard ” as a re¬ 
sult of his refusal to allow the “ Ches¬ 
apeake ” to be searched for deserters. 
The “ Chesapeake,” which was quite 
unprepared, discharged one gun pre¬ 
vious to striking her colors. She was 
captured and three alleged deserters 
were found. Barron was court-mar¬ 
tialed and suspended for five years. 
Upon his restoration, as the outcome 
of a long correspondence with his per¬ 
sonal enemy, Commodore Decatur, a 
duel was fought and Decatur was 
killed. Barron became senior officer in 
the navy in 1839. and died in Norfolk, 
Va., April 21, 1851. 

Barron, Samuel, an American 
naval officer, bom in Hampton, Va., 
about 1763; in 1805 commanded a 
squadron of 10 vessels in the expedi¬ 
tion against Tripoli. On his return to 
the United States was appointed Com¬ 
mandant of the Gosport Navy Yard, 
but died immediately afterward, Oct. 
29, 1810. 

Barrow, an artificial mound or 
tumulus, of stones or earth, piled up 
over the remains of the dead. Such 
erections were frequently made in an- 





Barrow 


Barry 


dent times in the New and Old 
Worlds. When opened they are often 
found to contain stone cysts, calcined 
bones, etc. 

Barrow, Frances Elizabeth, an 

American author, born in Charleston, 
S. C., Feb. 22, 1822, was educated in 
New York, where she was married to 
James Barrow. She wrote, under the 
name of Aunt Fanny, numerous 
books for children. She died in New 
York city, May 7, 1894. 

' Barrow, Sir John, a notable Eng¬ 
lish writer on travels, born at Drag- 
leybeck, Lancashire, June 19, 1764; 
died in London, Nov. 23, 1848. 

Barrows, John Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican educator, born in Medina, Mich., 
July 11, 1847; was graduated at Oli¬ 
vet College in 1867 ; subsequently stud¬ 
ied in Yale College, Union and An¬ 
dover Theological Seminaries, and at 
Gottingen ; was pastor of the First 
Presbyterian Church, in Chicago, for 
14 years; organized and was president 
of _ the World’s Parliament of Re¬ 
ligions, at the World’s Columbian Ex¬ 
position in Chicago, in 1893. He de¬ 
livered a course of lectures on Chris¬ 
tianity in the principal universities in 
India, under the patronage of the Uni¬ 
versity of Chicago, in 1896-1897, and 
became President of Oberlin College 
in 1898. He died in Oberlin, O., June 
3, 1902. 

Barrundia, Jose Francisco, a 

Central American statesman, born in 
Guatemala, in 1779. He became 
President of the Central American 
Republic in 1829; retaining office for 
something over a year. In 1852 he 
was again elected President. He came 
to the United States in 1854, as Min¬ 
ister from Honduras, to propose the 
annexation of that territory to the 
United States, but died suddenly be¬ 
fore anything was accomplished, in 
New York city, Aug. 4. 

Barry, Ann Spranger, an Eng¬ 
lish actress, born in Bath, 1734. As 
Desdemona she had, during her whole 
career, no competitor. She died in. 
London, in 1801, and is buried in 
Westminster Abbey. 

Barry, Sir Charles, an English 
architect, born in London, in 1795. He 
was knighted in 1852, and died sud¬ 
denly in 1860. 


Barry, Elizabeth, an English 
actress, born in 1658; was said to be 
the daughter of Colonel Barry, a 
prominent royalist in the Civil War. 
She was known as “ the great Mrs. 
Barry; ” and is said to have created 
over 100 roles. She died in London, 
Nov. 7, 1713. 

Bari.'y, James, an Irish painter 
and writer on art, born in Cork, in 
1741; died in 1806. 

Barry, John, an American naval 
officer, born in Tacumshane, Ireland, 
in 1745. He settled in Philadelphia, 
in 1760. When the Revolutionary 
War broke out he was appointed com¬ 
mander of the “ Lexington,” with 
which he captured the British tender 
“ Edward,” in 1776. He afterward 
took command of the “ Raleigh,” 
which was captured by the British 
“ Experiment; ” but in his next com¬ 
mand, the “ Alliance,” he captured the 
British ships “ Atlanta ” and “ Tre- 
passy.” He was chosen to convey La¬ 
fayette and Noailles back to France; 
and, in 1794 was appointed commo¬ 
dore. He died in Philadelphia, Sept. 
13, 1803. 

Barry, John Daniel, an Ameri¬ 
can novelist, born in Boston, Mass., 
Dec. 31, 1866. He has written a num¬ 
ber of popular books. 

Barry, Spranger, an Irish actor, 
the great rival of Garrick, born in 
Dublin, in 1719. He was brought up 
as a silversmith; but his matchless 
form and voice led him to try the 
stage. He died in London, in 1777, 
and is buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Barry, William Farquhar, an 
American military officer, born in 
New York city, Aug. 18, 1818; grad¬ 
uated at the United States Military 
Academy in 1838; and first saw active 
service in the Florida war (1852- 
1853). In the Mexican War he acted 
as aide-de-camp to General Worth. 
At the outbreak of the Civil War he 
was made chief of artillery, and or¬ 
ganized the artillery of the Army of 
the Potomac. He subsequently be¬ 
came chief of artillery to Sherman, 
and took part in the march to the sea. 
In 1865 he was brevetted Major-Gen¬ 
eral. In 1867 he had charge of the 
Artillery School at Fort Monroe. He 
died near Baltimore, Md., July 1& 
1879. 





Barry 


Bartholomew 


Barry, William Taylor, an 

American statesman, born in Lunen¬ 
burg, Va., Feb. 5, 1784. He served 
in the War of 1812; and from 1814- 
1816 was United States Senator from 
Kentucky. In 1828 he was appointed 
Postmaster-General under Jackson; 
and was on his way as Minister to 
Spain when he died in Liverpool, Aug. 
30, 1835. He was the first Postmas¬ 
ter-General who had a seat in the 
Cabinet. 

Barsabas, Joseph, surnamed “ the 
Just,” one of Christ’s early disciples, 
and probably one of the 70. He was 
one of the two candidates nominated 
to fill the vacancy left by Judas Is¬ 
cariot in the apostleship (Acts i). 

Bart, Barth, or Baert, Jean, a 
French sailor, born at Dunkirk, 1650, 
the son of a poor fisherman. He be¬ 
came captain of a privateer, and, after 
some nrilliant exploits, was appointed 
captain in the Royal Navy. In recog¬ 
nition of his further services, he was 
made commodore, subsequently re¬ 
ceiving letters of nobility. He died 
in 1702, and is regarded to this day 
as the typical naval hero of France. 

Barter, in commerce and political 
economy, a term used to express the 
exchange of one commodity for anoth¬ 
er, as contrasted with the sale of com¬ 
modities for money. 

Barth, Heinrich, a German trav¬ 
eler, born in Hamburg in 1821. His 
explorations, which extended over an 
area of about 2,000,000 square miles, 
determined the course of the Niger 
and the true nature of the Sahara. 
He died in 1865. 

Barthelemy - Saint - Hilaire, 
Jules, a French statesman; born in 
Paris, Aug. 19, 1805. He was on 
the side of the Moderate party in 
the revolution of 1848, and during the 
troublous times of 1876-1871 he was 
closely associated with M. Thiers. In 
1875 he became a life senator, and in 
the cabinet of M. Jules Ferry, consti¬ 
tuted 1880, he was appointed minis¬ 
ter of foreign affairs. The chief event 
of his. tenure of this office was the oc¬ 
cupation of Tunis. He died in Paris, 
Nov. 25, 1895. 

Bartholdi, Frederic Auguste, a 

French sculptor, born in Colmar, Al¬ 
sace, April 2, 1834; received the cross 
of the Legion of Honor in 1865; prin¬ 


cipal works: the “ Lion of Belfort; ” 
statue of Lafayette, in Union Square, 
New York; bronze group of Lafayette 
and Washington, in Paris (1895) ; 
and the colossal figure in New York 
harbor, “ Liberty Enlightening the 
World.” He died in Paris, Oct., 1904. 

Bartholomew, Edward Shef¬ 
field, an American sculptor, born at 
Colchester, Conn., in 1822; studied in 
New York and in Rome, where he 
lived during the latter part of his life. 
Among his works are “ Blind Homer, 
Led by His Daughter,” “ Eve,” 
“ Youth and Old Age,” etc. He died 
in Naples, May 2, 1858. 

Bartholomew Fair, or Bar- 
tlemy Fair, a celebrated fair, which 
was long held in Smithfield, England, 
at Bartholomew-tide. 

Bartholomew, Massacre of St., 
the slaughter of French Protestants 
in Paris, beginning Aug. 24, 1572. Af¬ 
ter the death of Francis II., Catherine 
de’ Medici had assumed the regency 
for her son, Charles IX., then only 
10 years old, and was compelled, in 
spite of the opposition of the Guises, 
to issue an edict of toleration in favor 
of the Protestants. The party of the 
Guises now persqaded the nation that 
the Catholic religion was in the great¬ 
est danger. The Huguenots were 
treated in the most cruel manner; 
Prince Conde took up arms; the Guis¬ 
es had recourse to the Spaniards, 
Conde to the English, for assistance. 
Both parties were guilty of the most 
atrocious cruelties, but finally con¬ 
cluded peace. The queen-mother 
caused the king, who had entered his 
14th year, to be declared of age, that 
she might govern more absolutely un¬ 
der his name. Duke Francis de Guise 
had been assassinated by a Huguenot, 
at the siege of Orleans; but his spirit 
continued in his family, which consid¬ 
ered the Admiral Coligny as the au¬ 
thor of his murder. The king had 
been persuaded that the Huguenots 
had designs on his life, and had con¬ 
ceived an implacable hatred against 
them. Meanwhile, the court endeav¬ 
ored to gain time, in order to seize the 
persons of the prince and the admiral 
by stratagem, but was disappointed, 
and hostilities were renewed with 
more violence than ever. In the battle 
of Jarnac, 1569, Conde was made pris- 





Bartholomew 


Bartlett 


oner and shot by Captain de Montes¬ 
quieu. Coligny collected the remains 
of the routed army; the young Prince 
Henry de Bearn (afterward Henry 
I\., King of Navarre and France), 
the head of the Protestant party after 
the death of Conde, was appointed 
commander-in-chief, and Coligny com¬ 
manded in the name of the Prince 
Henry de Conde, who swore to re¬ 
venge the murder of his father. The 
advantageous offers of peace at St. 
Germain-en-Laye (Aug. 8, 1570) 

blinded the chiefs of the Huguenots, 
particularly Admiral Coligny, who 
was wearied with civil war. The king 
appeared to have entirely disengaged 
himself from the influence of the 
Guises and his mother; he invited the 
old Coligny, the support of the Hugue¬ 
nots, to his court, and honored him 
as a father. The most artful means 
were employed to increase this delu¬ 
sion. The sister of the king was mar¬ 
ried to the Prince de Beam (Aug. 18, 
1572), in order to allure the most 
distinguished Huguenots to Paris. 
Some of his friends endeavored to dis¬ 
suade the admiral from this visit; but 
he could not be convinced that the 
king would command an assassination 
of the Protestants throughout his 
kingdom. On Aug. 22, a shot from a 
window wounded the admiral. The 
king hastened to visit him, and swore 
to punish the author of the villainy; 
but, on the same day, he was induced 
by his mother to believe that the ad¬ 
miral had designs on his life. “ God’s 
death ! ” he exclaimed : “ kill the ad¬ 
miral ; and not only him, but all the 
Huguenots; let none remain to dis¬ 
turb us ! ” The following night Cath¬ 
erine held the bloody council whmh 
fixed the execution for the night 
St. Bartholomew, Aug. 24, 1572. Af¬ 
ter the assassination of Coligny, a bell 
from the tower of the royal palace, at 
midnight, gave to the assembled com¬ 
panies of burghers the signal for the 
general massacre of the Huguenots. 
The Prince of Conde and the King of 
Navarre saved their lives by going to 
mass, and pretending to embrace the 
Catholic religion. By the king’s or¬ 
ders, the massacre was extended 
through the whole kingdom; and if, 
in some provinces, the officers had 
honor and humanity enough to dis¬ 
obey the orders to butcher their inno¬ 


cent fellow citizens, yet instruments 
were always found to continue the 
massacre. This horrible slaughter con¬ 
tinued for 30 days, in almost all the 
provinces; the victims are calculated 
at 30,000. At Rome, the cannons were 
discharged, the Pope ordered a jubilee 
and a procession to the Church of St. 
Louis, and caused the Te Deum to be 
chanted. Those of the Huguenots who 
escaped fled into the mountains and 
to Rochelle. The duke of Anjou laid 
siege to that city, but, during the 
siege, received the news that the Poles 
had elected him their king. He con¬ 
cluded a treaty, July 6, 1573, and the 
king granted to the Huguenots the 
exercise of their religion in certain 
towns. The court gained nothing by 
the massacre of St. Bartholomew. 

Bartholomew, St., the apostle, 
probably the same person as Nathan¬ 
ael, mentioned, in the Gospel of St. 
John, as an upright Israelite, and one 
of the first disciples of Jesus. 

Bartholomew, St., an island, one 
of the West Indies, in the Leeward 
group, belonging to France, being 
transferred by Sweden in 1878. It is 
a dependency of Guadeloupe. The 
island has a mountainous surface and 
is about 24 miles in circumference. 

Bartlett, Edwin Julius, an 
American chemist, born in Hudson, 
O., Feb. 16, 1851; the author of many 
papers on chemical subjects. 

Bartlett, Sir Ellis Ashmead, an 
English politician, born in Brooklyn, 
N. Y., of American parents, in 1849; 
educated in England; was Civil Lord 
of the Admiralty in 1885-1886, and 
1886-1892, and brother of William 
Ashmead Bartlett, who married the 
Baroness Burdett-Coutts. He died 
in London, Jan. 18, 1902. 

Bartlett, Homer Newton, an 
American composer, born in Olive, N. 
Y., Dec. 28, 1846. He has written a 
large number of anthems, quartets, 
and glees, etc. 

Bartlett, John, an American au¬ 
thor and publisher, born in Plymouth, 
Mass., June 14, 1820; became a pub¬ 
lisher in Cambridge, 1836, and head of 
the firm of Little, Brown & Co., 1878. 
He died Dec. 3, 1905. 

Bartlett, John Russell, an 
American author; born in Providence, 
R. I., Oct. 23, 1805; was educated for 







Bartlett 


Barton 


a mercantile career. After 1837, he 
entered the book-importing trade in 
New York. In 1850, he was appoint¬ 
ed one of the commissioners to fix the 
Mexican boundary. In 1855, he was 
made Secretary of State of Rhode Isl¬ 
and. He wrote various valuable rec¬ 
ords, genealogies, local histories, etc. 
His best known work is his “Diction¬ 
ary of Americanisms” (1850). He 
died in Providence, May 28, 1886. 

Bartlett, John R., an American 
naval officer, born in New York in 
1843; was appointed an acting mid¬ 
shipman in the navy from Rhode Isl. 
in 1859. During the Civil War, he 
took part in many important naval 
conflicts, from New Orleans to the 
capture of Fort Fisher. Subsequently 
he was on surveying duty in Nicaragua 
and on the United States Coast Sur¬ 
vey; was promoted to Captain, July 
1, 1892; and was retired July 12, 
1897. After the declaration of war 
against Spain, in 1898, he was re¬ 
called to active service, and on July 
9, succeeded Rear-Admiral Erben as 
commander of the Auxiliary Naval 
Squadron for the protection of the 
Atlantic coast cities. He died at 
‘St. Louis, Nov. 22, 1904. 

Bartlett, Josiah, an American 
physician and statesman, born in 
Amesbury, Mass., in 1729; was one of 
the signers of the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence, and a member of the Con¬ 
tinental Congress (1775-1776) ; be¬ 
came Chief Justice of New Hampshire 
(1788) ; and first Governor of New 
Hampshire under the new State Con¬ 
stitution. He died in 1795. 

Bartlett, Paul Wayland, Ameri¬ 
can sculptor; born at New Haven, 
1865. His chief works are the eques¬ 
trian statue of General McClellan in 
Philadelphia, and the statue of Lafa¬ 
yette, presented to France by the chil¬ 
dren of America, and now in Paris. 

Bartlett, Samuel Colcord, an 
American educator, born in Salisbury, 
N. H„ Nov. 25, 1817. In 1877 he ac¬ 
cepted the presidency of Dartmouth 
College, which he held until 1892, 
when he resigned. He died in Han¬ 
over, N. H., Nov. 16, 1898. 

Bartlett, William Francis, an 
American military officer, born in 
Haverhill, Mass., Jan. 6. 1840; was a 
student in Harvard University at the 


outbreak of the Civil War, but left to 
enter the army; was wounded in the 
battle of Ball’s Bluff, suffering the 
loss of a leg; but continued in the 
service; was twice wounded at Port 
Hudson; and in the battles of the 
Wilderness, while leading the 57th 
Massachusetts Regiment, was again 
wounded, taken prisoner, and sent to 
Libby Prison. At the close of the war, 
he was made a Major-General of Vol¬ 
unteers for distinguished services in 
the field. He died Dec. 17, 1876. 

Bartolini, Lorenzo, an Italian 
sculptor, born at Vernio, in Tuscany, 
in 1777; went to Paris while still a 
young man. His chief patron was Na¬ 
poleon, who, in 1808, sent him to Car¬ 
rara, to establish a school of scupl- 
ture. Besides an immense number of 
busts, he. produced several .groups, the 
most celebrated are “ Charity,” “ Her¬ 
cules and Lycas.” He died 1850. 

Bartolomeo, di San Marco, 
Fra, or Baccio Della Porta, one 
of the most distinguished masters of 
the Florentine School of painting, 
born at Savignano, in Tuscany, in 
1469. He was a warm adherent of 
Savonarola, after whose tragical end 
in 1500 he took the habit of the clois¬ 
ter. He died in Florence in 1517. 

Bartolozzi, Francesco, an en¬ 
graver, born at Florence in 1725, or 
acording to others, in 1730, died at 
Lisbon 1813. In Venice, in Florence, 
and Milan he etched several pieces on 
sacred subjects, and then went to Lon¬ 
don, where he received great encour¬ 
agement. After forty years’ residence 
in London he went to Lisbon on the in¬ 
vitation of the Prince Regent of Port¬ 
ugal to take the superintendence of a 
school of engravers, and remained 
there till his death. 

Barton, Andrew, one of Scot¬ 
land’s first great naval commanders; 
flourished during the reign of James 
IV., and belonged to a family which 
for two generations had produced able 
and successful seaman. In 1497 he 
commanded the escort which accom¬ 
panied Perkin Warbeck from Scotland. 
After doing considerable damage to 
English shipping he was killed in 1512. 

Barton, Clara, an American phi¬ 
lanthropist ; born in Oxford, Mass., 
in 1830; was educated at Clinton, N. 
Y and early became a teacher, and 




Barton 


Bascinet 


founded at Bordentown, N. J., a free 
school, opening it with six pupils. 
In 1854 it had grown to 600, when she 
became a clerk in the Patent Office in 
Washington. On the outbreak of the 
Civil War she resigned her clerkship, 
and became a volunteer nurse in the 
army hospitals and on the battle-field. 
On the breaking out of the Franco- 
Prussian War, in 1870, she aided the 
Grand Duchess of Baden in preparing 
military hospitals, assisted the Red 
Cross Society, and, at the request of 
the authorities, superintended the dis¬ 
tribution of work to the poor of Stras- 
burg, in 1871, after the siege, and in 
1872 did a like work in Paris. At 
the close of the war, she was decorated 
with the Golden Cross of Baden and 
the Iron Cross of Germany. On the 
organization of the American Red 
Cross Society in 1881, she was made 
its President. In 1889 she had charge 
of movements in behalf of sufferers 
from the floods at Johnstown, Pa.; 
in 1892 distributed relief to the Rus¬ 
sian famine sufferers; in 1896, per¬ 
sonally directed relief measures at the 
scenes of the Armenian massacres; in 
1898 took relief tQ the Cuban re- 
concentrados, and performed field 
work during the war with Spain; and 
in 1900 undertook to direct the re¬ 
lief of sufferers at Galveston, but 
broke down physically. In 1903 she 
undertook the re-organization of the 
Red Cross Society in the United 
States. 

Barton, George Hunt, an Amer¬ 
ican geologist, born in Sudbury, Mass., 
July 8, 1852; was graduated at the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
in 1880; assistant on Hawaiian Gov¬ 
ernment survey, 1881-1883; assistant 
in Geology in the Massachusetts Insti¬ 
tute of Technology in 1883-1884; then 
Assistant Professor of Geology there ; 
also occupied the corresponding chair 
in Boston University and the Teach¬ 
ers’ School of Science; and was As¬ 
sistant Geologist of the United States 
Geological Survey. In 1896 he was a 
member of the sixth Peary expedition 
to Greenland. He is the author of 
many technical papers. 

Barton, William, an American 
military officer, born in Warren, R. 
I., May 26, 1748; learned the trade of 
a hatter; but joined the Revolutionary 
Army soon after Bunker Hill. On 


the night of July 10, 1777, he per¬ 
formed the exploit which made him 
famous. Leading 38 men, in four 
whale-boats, across Narragansett Bay, 
he surprised and captured the British 
General, Prescott, at his headquarters, 
and hurried him away to Washing¬ 
ton’s camp in New Jersey. Barton 
received a sword from Congress, and 
was brevetted Colonel. He was after¬ 
ward a member of his State Conven¬ 
tion which adopted the Federal Con¬ 
stitution. He died in Providence, Oct. 
22, 1831. In his later years, like some 
other heroes of the Revolution, he was 
much reduced in circumstances and 
spent some time in a debtors’ prison. 

Barton, William Paul Crillon, 
an American botanist, born in Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa., Nov. 17, 1786; died in 
Philadelphia, Feb. 29, 1856. 

Bartram, John, an American bot¬ 
anist, born in Chester county, Pa., 
March 23, 1699; died at Kingsessing, 
near Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 22, 1777. 

Bartram, William, an American 
botanist and ornithologist, born in 
Kingsessing, Pa., Feb. 9, 1739; a son 
of John Bartram. He compiled a list 
of American birds, which was the best 
of its kind up to the time of Wilson. 
He died in Kingsessing, July 22, 1823. 

Baruch, in Church history, a son 
of Neriah, who was a friend of Jere¬ 
miah’s, and at least occasionally acted 
as his amanuensis (Jer. xxxii: 12; 
xxxvi: 4, 17, 32; xliii: 6; xlv: 1; li: 
59). Two apocryphal books or let¬ 
ters have been attributed to him. 

Barye, Antoine Louis, a French 
sculptor, born in Paris, Sept. 24, 1795; 
died in Paris, June 25, 1875. 

Baryta, or Barytes, or Oxide of 
Barium, the earth present in the min¬ 
erals witherite (carbonate of barium) 
and heavy spar (sulphate of barium). 

Basalt, a word said to have been 
derived from an African word, and to 
have meant basaltoid syenite, from 
Ethiopia or Upper Egypt. In general 
the name is given to any trap rock of 
a black, bluish, or leaden gray color, 
and possessed of a uniform and com¬ 
pact texture. 

Bascinet, or Basnet, a light hel¬ 
met sometimes with, but more fre¬ 
quently without, a visor, in general 
use for English infantry in the reigns 
of Edward II. and III., and Richard II. 




Bascom 


Basel 


Bascom, Florence, an American 
educator; daughter of Dr. John Bas¬ 
com, was educated at the University 
of Wisconsin, and at Johns Hopkins 
University, receiving from the first 
the degree of B. A. and B. L. in 1882, 
B. S., in 1884, and M. A. in 1887; and 
from the latter that of Ph. D., in 1892. 
She was the first woman to whom 
Johns Hopkins granted a degree, and 
the first to receive a Ph. D. from any 
American college. Subsequently, she 
was engaged in teaching; became pro¬ 
fessor at Bryn Mawr College; and, in 
1899, was chosen to supervise the geo¬ 
logical survey of Chester county, Pa. 

Bascom, Henry Bidleman, an 
American clergyman, born in Han¬ 
cock, N. Y., May 27, 1796. In 1850 
he was made a Bishop of the Metho¬ 
dist Episcopal Church. He edited the 
“ Quarterly Review ” from 1846 till 
1850. His writings were published in 
1856. He died in Louisville, Ky., 
Sept. 8, 1850. 

Bascom, John, an American edu¬ 
cator and philosophical writer, born 
at Geneva, N. Y., in 1827. He was 
President of the University of Wis¬ 
consin, in 1874-1887, and in 1900 was 
Professor of Political Science in Wil¬ 
liams College. He has written a num¬ 
ber of philosophical works. 



Base Ball, a field game played 
principally in the United States. It 


originated in the English school-boy 
game of “ roundersbut it has been 
so improved and so generally played 
as to merit its name of “ the Na¬ 
tional game of America.” The play¬ 
ing of baseball has become largely a 
business or a “ profession,” and skilled 
players receive large salaries. As an 
amateur game, however, it is also 
most popular. 

Basel Confession of, a Calvin- 

istic confession introduced by CEcolam- 
padius at the opening of the Synod 
of Basel (1531). It was adopted by 
the Protestants of Basle in 1534. Sim¬ 
ple and comparatively moderate in its 
terms, it occupies an intermediate 
place between Zwingli and Luther. 

Basel, Council of, a celebrated 
Ecumenical council of the Church, 
convoked by Pope Martin V. and his 
successor, Eugenius IV. It was open¬ 
ed Dec. 14, 1431, under the presidency 
of the Cardinal Legate Juliano Cesa- 
hini of St. Angelo. The objects of its 
deliberations were to extirpate here¬ 
sies (that of the Hussites in particu¬ 
lar), to unite all Christian nations 
under the Catholic Church, to put a 
stop to wars between Christian 
princes, and to reform the Church. 
But its first steps toward a peaceable 
reconciliation with the Hussites were 
displeasing to the Pope, who author¬ 
ized the Cardinal Legate to dissolve 
the Council. That body opposed the 
pretensions of the Pope. On the Pope 
continuing to issue bulls for its dis¬ 
solution the Council commenced a for¬ 
mal process against him, and cited him 
to appear at its bar. On his refusal 
to comply with this demand the Coun¬ 
cil declared him guilty of contumacy, 
and, in May, 1439, it declared Eu¬ 
genius, on account of his disobedience 
of its decrees, a heretic, and formally 
deposed him. Excommunicated by 
Eugenius, they proceeded, in a regular 
conclave, to elect the Duke Amadeus 
of Savoy to the papal chair. Felix V. 
— the name he adopted — was ac¬ 
knowledged by only a few princes, cit¬ 
ies, and universities. After this the 
moral power of the Council declined; 
its last formal session was held May 
16, 1443, though it was not technical¬ 
ly dissolved till May 7, 1449, when it 
gave in its adhesion to Nicholas V., 
the successor of Eugenius. 






Baslian 


Bas-Relief 


Bash.au, a rich, hilly district, ly¬ 
ing E. of the Jordan, and between the 
mountains of Hermon on the N., and 
those of Gilead and Ammon on the S. 
The country takes its name (“ fat,” 
“ fruitful ”) from its soft and sandy 
soil. It is celebrated in Scripture for 
its stately oaks, fine breeds of cattle, 
and rich pasturage. 

Bashford, James Whitford, an 
American clergyman, born in Fayette, 
Wis., May 27, 1849; graduated at the 
University of Wisconsin in 1873, and 
at the Theological School of Boston 
University in 1876; became instructor 
of Greek at the University of- Wis¬ 
consin in 1874, and president of the 
Wesleyan University of Ohio in 1889. 

Bashi Bazouks, a body of irreg¬ 
ular troops in the service of the Turk¬ 
ish Sultan. They are principally of 
Asiatic races, and formed a contin¬ 
gent of the Turkish army during the 
Russian War, 1853-1856. As light 
cavalry they are considered excellent. 

Bashkirtseff, Marie, a Russian 
author, born in Russia in 1860. She 
died in Paris in 1884. 

Basil, St., sumamed The Great, 
Bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, 
where he was born about 326. Af¬ 
ter extensive travels, St. Basil re¬ 
tired to the Desert of Pontus, and 
there founded an order of monks. He 
succeeded Eusebius in the See of 
Caesarea in 370. He died in 380. 

Basilan, the largest island of the 
Sulu Archipelago, Philippine Islands. 
This island is very mountainous, and 
most of it is covered by virgin forests. 
The soil is extremely rich and produces 
p variety of valuable crops, including 
cotton, coffee, sugar, chocolate, tobac¬ 
co, indigo, and spices of all sorts. Ba¬ 
silan has about 15,000 inhabitants and 
three excellent harbors. The name 
Basilan is also applied to the whole 
group of 34 adjacent islets. The lead¬ 
ing port is Isabela, on Basilan Strait. 

Basilica, originally the hall or 
court-room in which the King admin¬ 
istered the laws made by himself and 
the chiefs who formed his council. 
Many of the oldest and most splendid 
of the Roman churches are built on 
the plan of the basilica, and are call¬ 
ed basilicas in consequence. 

Basilisk, a fabulous creature for¬ 
merly believed to exist, and variously 


regarded as a kind of serpent, lizard, 
or dragon. The name is now applied 
to a genus of saurian reptiles with a 
crest along the back and tail. 

Basket Ball, an indoor game play- 4 
ed upon a circumscribed space on a 
floor, usually by five players on each 
side. At each end of this playing 
space a basket is placed at a height 
of about 10 feet. The ball is round, 
somewhat lighter than a foot-ball, and 
is passed from one player to another 
by throwing, or striking with the 
hands only; the ultimate object being 
to lodge it in the opponent’s basket, 
which action counts one point. The 
rules as to interference, playing out of 
bounds, etc., are adapted from those 
of foot-ball. 

Baskett, James Newton, an 

American zoologist, born in Kentucky, 
Nov. 1, 1849; graduated at the Mis¬ 
souri State University in 1872. He 
has devoted himself to the study of 
comparative vertebrate anatomy, with 
ornithology as a specialty. 

Basking Shark, a shark, called 
in English also the sun fish and the 
sail fish; it is the largest known shark, 
sometimes reaching 36 feet in length, 
but it has little of the ferocity seen in 
its immediate allies. It is called 
basking because it has a habit of ly¬ 
ing motionless on the water, as if en¬ 
joying the warmth of the sun. 

Basques, or Biscayans (in their 
own language, Euscaldunac), a re¬ 
markable race of people dwelling part¬ 
ly in the S. W. corner of France, but 
mostly in the N. of Spain adjacent to 
the Pyrenees. They are probably de¬ 
scendants of the ancient Iberi, who 
occupied Spain before the Celts. They 
preserve their ancient language, for¬ 
mer manners, and national dances, and 
make admirable soldiers, especially in 
guerrilla warfare. 

Bas-Relief, that is, low relief, as 
applied to sculpture; a representation 
of one or more figures, raised on a flat 
surface or background, in such a man¬ 
ner, however, as that no part of them 
shall be entirely detached from it. 
Alto-rilievo, or high relief, is that in 
which the figures project half of their 
apparent circumference from the back¬ 
ground. Mezzo-rilievo, or middle re¬ 
lief, is a third species, between the 
two. But, generally speaking, the 




Bass 


Bastille 


first term is made to comprehend both 
the others. 

Bass, in music. (1) The string 
which gives a bass sound. (2) An 
instrument which plays the bass part; 
especially of the violoncello or bass- 
viol, and the contrabasso or double 
bass. (3) The lowest of the prin¬ 
cipal human voices; those higher in 
pitch being, respectively, baritone, 
tenor, alto or contralto, mezzo-soprano, 
soprano. 

Bass, the name of a number of 
fishes of several genera, but originally 
belonging to a genus of sea fishes of 
the perch family, distinguished from 
the true perches by having the tongue 
covered by small teeth and the preoper¬ 
culum smooth. 

Bass, Edward, first Protestant 
Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts, 
born in Dorchester, Nov. 23, 1726. 
During the Revolution he omitted 
from the church service all refer¬ 
ence to the royal family and the 
British Government. For this he 
was expelled from the Society for 
Propagating the Gospel. In 1797 
he was consecrated Bishop of Massa¬ 
chusetts, and finally also of New 
Hampshire and Rhode Island. He 
died in Newburyport, Mass., Sept.-10, 
1803. 

Basset, a name used with some 
latitude in France for any very short¬ 
legged dogs, but especially for various 
breeds of sporting dogs resembling 
(though considerably larger than) the 
dachshund. 

Bassett, James, a Canadian-Amer¬ 
ican missionary, born in Glenford, 
Ontario, Jan. 31, 1834; served as a 
chaplain in the Union army in 1862- 
1863; and afterward in 1871, he went 
as a missionary to Persia under the 
direction of the Presbyterian Board. 
There he finally obtained the estab¬ 
lishment of a United States legation 
in Persia. 

Bassett, John Spencer, an 

American historian, born in Tarboro, 
N. C., Sept. 10, 1867. In 1900 he 
was Professor of History in Trinity 
College, N. C. 

Bassia, the mohra or moho tree. 
A large tree growing in the East 
Indies; it is also found in Africa. 
The flowers have a heavy, sickening 
smell, and an intoxicating spirit is 


distilled from them. It is the Indian 
butter tree. 

Bassora, or Bussora, a town of 
Asiatic T.urkey, on the W. bank of 
the Euphrates, here called the Shat- 
el-Arab, 56 miles from its mouth in 
the Persian Gulf. The population, 
once 150,000, had sunk in 1854 to 
5,000, but the establishment of the 
English Tigris and Euphrates Steam¬ 
ship Company has altogether changed 
the prospects of Bassora and the town 
now probably contains at least 40,000 
inhabitants, most of them actively en¬ 
gaged in commerce. 

Bass Strait, a channel beset with 
islands, which separates Australia 
from Tasmania, 120 miles broad, dis¬ 
covered by George Bass, a surgeon in 
the Royal navy, in 1798. 

Basswood, the American lime tree 
or linden, a tree common in North 
America, yielding a light, soft timber. 

Bastard, an illegitimate child. Ac¬ 
cording to the Roman law, one born 
out of wedlock might be legitimated by 
subsequent marriage and acknowledg¬ 
ment of his parents. The Roman law 
has been long adopted in Scottish law, 
and in that of some of the United 
States. 

Bastian, Adolf, a German trav¬ 
eler and ethnologist, born in 1826. 
He has travelled very extensively and 
his numerous writings throw light on 
almost every subject connected with 
ethnology or anthropology, as well as 
psychology, linguistics, non-Christian 
religions, geography, etc. 

Bastian, Henry Charlton, an 
English biologist, born in Truro in 
1837. He has been an advocate of 
spontaneous generation. 

Bastien-Lepage, Jules, a French 
painter, born at Damvilliers, Nov. 1, 
1848. De died at the height of his 
fame, Dec. 10, 1884. 

Bastille, properly means any 
strong castle provided with towers, 
but as a proper name is applied to a 
famous castle which once existed in 
Paris, in which State prisoners and 
other persons arrested by lettres de 
cachet were confined. It was founded 
by Hugues d’ Aubriot in 1369, and 
completed by the addition of four 
towers in 1383. The lettres de cachet 
mentioned above were issued in the 
name of the king, but the names of 




Bastion 


Batchelder 


the individuals were inserted by the 
ministers, who were the depositaries 
of these letters. 

The invention of the lettres de 
cachet immediately opened the door to 
the tyranny of ministers and the in¬ 
trigues of favorites, who supplied 
themselves with these orders, in order 
to confine individuals who had become 
obnoxious to them. These arrests be¬ 
came continually more arbitrary, and 
men of the greatest merit were liable 
to be imprisoned. On July 14, 1789, 
the Bastille was surrounded by a tu¬ 
multuous mob, who first attempted to 
negotiate with the governor, Delaunay, 
but this failing attacked the fortress. 
For hours they continued the siege 
without being able to effect more than 
an entrance into the outer court of 
the Bastille, but at last the arrival of 
some of the Royal Guard with a few 
pieces of artillery forced the governor 
to let down the second drawbridge and 
admit the populace. The governor was 
seized, but on the way to the Hotel de 
Ville he was torn from his captors and 
put to death. The next day the de¬ 
struction of the Bastille, commenced. 
A bronze column has been erected on 
its site. The event considered by it¬ 
self was of no great national impor¬ 
tance, but it marked the beginning of 
the French Revolution. 

Bastion, a projecting mass of 
earth or masonry at the angle of a 
fortification, having two faces and 
two flanks, and so constructed that 
every part of it may be defended by 
the flank fire of some other part of the 
fort 

Basntoland, a native province and 
British South African possession, be¬ 
tween the former Orange Free State, 
Natal, Griqualand East, and Cape 
Colony. The Basutos belong chiefly 
to the great stem of the Bechuanas, 
and have made greater advances in 
civilization than perhaps any other 
South African race. Basutoland has 
an area of about 10,300 square miles, 
much of it covered with grass, and 
there is but little wood. The climate 
is pleasant. Capital, Maseru. 

Bat, the common name of all ani¬ 
mals of the class mammalia which are 
furnished with true wings, and so are 
capable of really flying or propelling 
themselves in the air. Bats are now 
generally placed by naturalists in the 


order cheiroptera, although, like many 
other animals of that great order, most 
of them are by no means exclusively 



LONG-EARED BAT. 

carnivorous. Upward of 130 species 
have been described, and there is great 
probability that the actual number ex¬ 
isting is very much greater. 

Batan Islands, a group of small 
islands in the extreme N. of the Phil¬ 
ippine Archipelago, over which, and 
Calayan, nearby, American control 
was established in March, 1900. 

B&tavi, an old Teutonic people 
who inhabited a part of the present 
Holland. Under Augustus they became 
allies of the Romans, and earned for 
their fidelity the honorable title of 
friends and brothers of the Roman 
people, and were permitted to choose 
their commanders from among them¬ 
selves. Their cavalry were famous 
and were often employed by the Ro¬ 
mans. 

Batavia, properly the name of the 
island occupied by the ancient Ba- 
tavi, became at a later date the Latin 
name for Holland and the whole king¬ 
dom of the Netherlands. The name 
Batavian Republic was given to the 
Netherlands on their new organiza¬ 
tion, May 16, 1795, and they continued 
to bear it till they were converted into 
the kingdom of Holland, under Louis 
Bonaparte, June 8, 1806. 

Batavia, a city and seaport of Ja¬ 
va, on the N. coast of the island, the 
capital of all the Dutch East Indies, 
founded in 1619. Its inhabitants are 
chiefly Malay, with an admixture 
of Chinese and a small number of Eu¬ 
ropeans. Pop. (1897) 115,567. 

Batclielder, Richard Napoleon, 
an American military officer, born in 
Lake Village, N. H., July 27, 1832; 




Batcheller 


Bates 


entered the Union army at the begin¬ 
ning of the Civil War; and was bre- 
vetted Brigadier-General, United 
States Volunteers, March 13, 1865; 
became Brigadier-General and Quar¬ 
termaster-General, United States 
Army, June 26, 1890; and was retired 
July 27, 1896. He was awarded a 
Congressional medal of honor for most 
distinguished gallantry in action dur¬ 
ing the Civil War. 

Batclieller, George Sherman, 
an American jurist; born in Batchel- 
lerville, N. Y., July 25, 1837; grad¬ 
uated at Harvard University; was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in 1858; entered the 
Union army at the beginning of the 
Civil War; was taken prisoner at 
Harper’s Ferry, and exchanged in 
1863. In 1889 he became Assistant 
Secretary of the United States Treas¬ 
ury; in 1890, United States Minister- 
Resident, and Consul-General to Portu¬ 
gal ; and in 1897, a member of the 
International Tribunal of Egypt 
again. In the last year he received 
from King Humbert Jhe decoration of 
the great cordon of the Order of the 
Crown of Italy, in recognition of his 
services as President of the Universal 
Postal Congress which met in Wash¬ 
ington in May, 1897. 

Bate, William Brimage, an 
American legislator, born near Cas- 
talian Springs, Tenn., Oct. 7, 1826. 
In the Civil War he rose from pri¬ 
vate to the rank of Major-General 
in the. Confederate army, and was 
three times dangerously wounded. He 
was an Elector-at-Large for Tennes¬ 
see on the Democratic ticket in 1876; 
was elected Governor in 1882 and 
a U. S. Senator, 1887, 1893, 1899. 
He died Mar. 9, 1905. 

Bateman, Kate Josephine, an 
American actress, born in Baltimore, 
Md., Oct. 7, 1842. About 1851 she 
and her sister Ellen began to act, they 
being known as the Bateman Sisters. 
She became rich and famous, and, hav¬ 
ing married George Crowe, an Eng¬ 
lish physician, identified herself with 
the management of a London theater. 

Bates, Alfred E., an American 
military officer, born in Monroe, 
Mich., July 15, 1840; was a Briga¬ 
dier-General of Volunteers in the war 
with Spain in 1898. 


Bates, Arlo, an American author, 
born in East Machias, Me., Dec. 16, 
1850. He graduated from Bowdoin in 
1876, when he engaged in literary 
work in Boston, and afterward be¬ 
came Professor of English Literature 
in the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology. 

Bates, Charlotte Fiske, an 

American poet and miscellaneous 
prose-writer, bom in New York city, 
Nov. 30, 1838. She was married in 
1891 to Adolphe Rog€, who died in 
1896. 

Bates College, an educational in¬ 
stitution at Lewiston, Me. This was 
the first college in the East to provide 
for the higher education of women. 
In 1902 it had a faculty of 22, and 
about 350 students. 

Bates, Edward, an American 
lawyer, born in Belmont, Va., Sept. 4, 
1793. He was Attorney-General of 
tue United States in Lincoln’s first 
administration; and had been a candi¬ 
date for the presidential nomination in 
1860. He died in St. Louis, Mo., 
March 25, 1869. 

Bates, Harriet Leonora (Vose), 

better known as Eleanor Putnam, 
an American story and sketch writer, 
wife of Arlo Bates, born in 1856; died 
in 1886. 

Bates, Henry Walter, an Eng¬ 
lish naturalist, born in Leicester, Feb. 
18, 1825. In 1848 he began an ex¬ 
ploration of the Amazon region in 
Brazil. He died in London, Feb. 16, 
1892. 

Bates, John Coalter, an Amer¬ 
ican military officer, born in St. 
Charles co.. Mo., Aug. 26, 1842; edu¬ 
cated at Washington University, St. 
Louis; entered the regular army as a 
Lieutenant in the 11th United States 
Infantry, May 14, 1861; served on the 
staff of General Meade from the battle 
of Gettysburg to the close of the war; 
promoted Captain, May 1, 1863; Ma¬ 
jor, May 6, 1882; and Colonel of the 
2d United States Infantry, April 25, 
1S92. On May 4, 1898, he was ap¬ 
pointed a Brigadier-General of Volun¬ 
teers; on July 8, was promoted Major- 
General for his services in the Santi¬ 
ago campaign; on April 13, 1899, was 
honorably discharged under this com¬ 
mission, and on the same day was re¬ 
commissioned a Brigadier-General of 




Bates 


Baton 


Volunteers. In February, 1899, he 
was appointed Military Governor of 
the province of Santa Clara, Cuba, 
and in April following, was ordered to 
duty in the Philippines, where he sev¬ 
eral times greatly distinguished him¬ 
self in the latter part of that year and 
the early part of 1900. In March, 
1900, he was assigned to the com¬ 
mand of the department of Southern 
Luzon; was promoted Major-General, 
U. S. A., June 9, 1902, and Feb. 1, 
1906, was promoted Chief of Staff and 
Lieutenant-General. 

Bates, Joshua, an American finan¬ 
cier, born in Weymouth, Mass., in 
1788. Mr. Bates was the principal 
founder of the Boston Public Library, 
and in 1852, the first year of its ex¬ 
istence, he made it a gift of $50,000, 
and later gave it 30,000 volumes. 
Died in London, Sept. 24, 1864. 

Bates, Katharine Lee, an Amer¬ 
ican story writer, poet, and educator, 
born in Falmouth, Mass., Aug. 12, 
1859; was called to the chair of Eng¬ 
lish Literature in Wellesley College 
in 1891; has edited collections of bal¬ 
lads, etc.; and written juvenile stories. 

Bates, Samuel Penniman, an 
American historian, born in Mendon, 
Mass., Jan. 29, 1827. He was State 
Historian of Pennsylvania, 1866-1873. 

Batfish, a fish found in the waters 
of Florida and the West Indies; noted 
for its peculiar shape. Its ventral 
and pectoral fins resemble the legs of 
a frog. 

Bath, Order of the, in heraldry, 
etc., an order of knighthood, so called 
because the recipients of the honor 
were required formerly to bathe the 
evening before their creation. It was 
instituted by Henry IV. in 1399, and, 
falling into disuse, was revived by 
George I. in 1725. 

Bath ChaSr, a small carriage or 
chair on wheels, drawn by a chairman, 
and intended for the conveyance of in¬ 
valids or others for short distances. 

Bathometer, an instrument for 
measuring the depth of sea beneath a 
vessel without casting a line. 

Bathori, a Hungarian family, 
which gave Transylvania five princes, 
and Poland one of its greatest kings. 

Bathori, Elizabeth, niece of 
Stephen, King of Poland, and wife of 


Count Nadasdy, of Hungary; a histor¬ 
ical monster. By means of large 
bribes, she induced an old man servant 
and two female servants to kidnap 
and convey to her, either by stratagem 
or force, young girls from the neigh¬ 
boring country, whom she slowly put 
to death in the dungeons of her castle 
by the most horrible tortures. In¬ 
quiry was at length made into the ap¬ 
palling rumors, when it was discover¬ 
ed that this female fiend had murdered 
in cold blood, not fewer than 650 
maidens. The domestics who assisted 
her were either beheaded or burned 
alive. The Countess, who merited cer¬ 
tainly the greater punishment, died 
quietly in 1614, in her fortress of Esej, 
where she had been confined for life. 

Batb-sbeba, the wife of Uriah. 
David caused her husband to be slain, 
and afterward took her to wife. These 
sins displeased Jehovah, who sent the 
prophet Nathan to David, with the 
parable of the ewe lamb. David bit¬ 
terly repented, but yet was punished. 
Bath-sheba was the mother of Solo¬ 
mon, whose succession to the throne 
she took pains to secure. 



COLLAR AND BADGE, ORDER OF BATH. 

Baton, a short staff or truncheon, 
in some cases used as an official badge, 
as that of a field marshal. The con¬ 
ductor of an orchestra has a baton 
for the purpose of directing the per- 





Batoni 


Battle 


formers as to time, etc. In heraldry, 
what is usually called the bastard bar, 
or bar sinister, is properly a baton 
sinister. 

Batoni, Pompeo, an Italian 
painter, born at Lucca, in 1708. He 
died in 1786. 

Batomn, or Batum, a port on the 
E. coast of the Black Sea, acquired 
by Russia by the Treaty of Berlin. 

Batrachians, the term batrachia 
is applied by Huxley to an order of 
reptiles, including the frogs and toads, 
or the tailless amphibians. 

Battalion, an assemblage of com¬ 
panies. In the United States army 
eight companies of cavalry and artil¬ 
lery and 10 of infantry constitute a 
battalion; each infantry regiment has 
one battalion and those in the cavalry 
and artillery have two. 

Battering Ram, an ancient mili¬ 
tary contrivance used for battering 
down walls. It existed among the 
Assyrians, the Greeks, and the Ro¬ 
mans. It consisted of a pole or 
beam of wood, sometimes as much 
as 80, 100, or even 120 feet in 

length. It was suspended by its ex¬ 
tremities from a single point, or from 
two points in another beam above, 
which lay horizontally across two 



BATTERING RAM. 

posts. When at rest it was level, like 
the beam above it. When put in ac¬ 
tion against a wall, it was swung hori¬ 
zontally by men who succeeded each 
other in constant relays, the blow 
which it gave to the masonry at each 


vibration being rendered all the more 
effective that one end of it was armed 
with iron. 

Battery, in law, the unlawful 
beating of another, or even the touch¬ 
ing him with hostile intent. In mil¬ 
itary usage, a certain number of artil¬ 
lerymen united under the command of 
a field officer, and the lowest tacti¬ 
cal unit in the artillery. In a bat¬ 
tery there are gunners who work the 
guns, and drivers who drive the horses 
by which these guns are transported 
from place to place. Batteries are 
usually distinguished as horse, field, 
and garrison 

Bat thy any i, one of the oldest and 
most powerful of the noble families 
of Hungary, which traces its origin 
as far back as the invasion of Pan- 
nonia by the Magyars, in 884 a. d., 
and has given to Hungary many dis¬ 
tinguished warriors, statesmen, and 
churchmen. 

Battle, a town in Sussex, Eng¬ 
land, 6 miles N. W. of Hastings. An 
uninhabited heathland then, Senlac 
by name, it received its present name 
from the battle of Hastings, fought 
here on Oct. 14, 1066, which won 
England for the Normans. 

Battle, Cullen Andrews, an 
American military officer; born fn 
Powelton, Ga.; June 1, 1829. At the 
outbreak of the Civil War he enter¬ 
ed the Confederate army, and during 
the war was wounded seven times, 
promoted Brigadier-General on the 
field of Gettysburg, and Major-Gen¬ 
eral in October, 1864. After the war 
he devoted most of his time to jour¬ 
nalism in Newbern, N. C. 

Battle, Kemp Plummer, an 
American educator; born in Frank¬ 
lin Co., N. C., Dec. 19, 1831; grad¬ 
uated at the University of North Car¬ 
olina in 1849; was a member of the 
State Convention of North Carolina 
in 1S61 that passed the ordinance of 
secession; . State Treasurer, 1866- 
1868; president of the University of 
North Carolina, in 1876-1891; and 
afterward Professor of History there. 

Battle, Lorenzo, an Uruguayan 
military officer; born in Montevideo, 
in 1812. He was minister of war in 
1866-1868; and president of the re¬ 
public in 1868-1872, when he resigned 
and resumed military service. 








Battle 


Bauxite 


Battle, Trial by, or Wager of 

(original spelling, battel), a barbarous 
method of deciding in the court of last 
resort, by personal combat, all civil 
and criminal questions turning on dis¬ 
puted matters of fact. 

Battledore and Shuttlecock, a 
popular game invented in the 14th 
century. The implements are a bat 
shaped like a tennis racket and strung 
with gut or covered with parchment, 
and a shuttlecock consisting of a cork 
stuck with feathers, which is batted 
to and fro between the players. 

Battle-Ground, a town in Tip¬ 
pecanoe co., Ind., where the famous 
battle of Tippecanoe was fought be¬ 
tween the United States troops under 
General Harrison and the Indians un¬ 
der Tecumseh and his brother, “The 
Prophet,” on Nov. 7, 1811. 

Battlement. (1) A wall or ram¬ 
part built around the top of a fortified 
building, with interstices or embra¬ 
sures to discharge arrows or darts, or 
fire guns through. (2) A similar erec¬ 
tion around the roofs of churches and 
other Gothic buildings, where the ob¬ 
ject was principally ornamental. They 
are found not only upon parapets, but 
as ornaments on the transoms of win¬ 
dows, etc. (3) A wall built around a 
flat-roofed house, in the East and else¬ 
where, to prevent any one from falling 
into the street, area, or garden. 

Battleship, a warship of the 
heaviest class, designed for fighting in 
line of battle. Her armor is the least 
vulnerable, her guns are the heaviest, 
and the qualities of the cruiser and 
armored cruiser are subordinated to 
protection and armament. Among 
notable modern battleships are the U. 
S. vessels “ So. Carolina ” and “ Mich¬ 
igan ; ” the British “ King Edward,” 
“ Lord Nelson,” and “ Dreadnought ” ; 
the Japanese “ Katori ” and “ Ka- 
shima.” 

Batum, or Batoum, a port on the 
east coast of the Black Sea, acquired 
by Russia by the Treaty of Berlin, on 
condition that its fortifications were 
dismantled and it were thrown open 
as a free port. It rapidly grew to be 
the main outlet for Transcaucasia, in¬ 
cluding the traffic in petroleum, im¬ 
mense quantities of which are shipped ; 
its harbor was enlarged for alleged 
commercial reasons; an arsenal was 1 

E 15. 


built outside it; it was connected by a 
military road with Kars; and finally, 
in July, 1886, the Russian govern¬ 
ment declared it to be a free port no 
longer. Its importance as a naval and 
military station to Russia is unques¬ 
tionably great, and it will probably 
rank as one of the strongest positions 
on the Black Sea. The water is of 
great depth close inshore, and the ship¬ 
ping lies under protection of the over¬ 
hanging cliffs of the Gouriel Moun¬ 
tains. Pop. over 30,000. 

Baudelaire, Charles, a French 
poet, born April 9, 1821; died 1867. 
He was the herald, if not the founder 
of the so called decadent school of 
French literature. He seems to have 
striven to be as offensive as possible 
in the expression of his peculiar views 
of life, nature and God, yet his work 
will live because of its wonderful tech¬ 
nique, which is not equalled in French 
poetry. 

Baudry, Paul, a French painter, 
born Nov. 7, 1828, at La Roche-sur- 
Yon ; died Jan. 17, 1886. 

Bauer, Wilhelm, a German in¬ 
ventor, born in Dillingen, in 1822. He 
served as an artilleryman during the 
Schleswig-Holstein War (1866), and, 
meanwhile, conceived the plan of a 
submarine vessel for coast defense. 
It was subsequently adopted by Russia. 
He afterward made improvements in 
torpedoes. He died in 1875. 

Bauernfeld, Eduard von, an 
Austrian dramatist, born in Vienna, 
Jan. 13, 1802; died Aug. 9, 1890. 

Baum, Friedrich, a German mili¬ 
tary officer in the British service in 
the Revolutionary War. He arrived in 
Canada in 1776, and in Burgoyne’s 
expedition acted as Lieutenant-Colonel 
of the Brunswick dragoons. He was 
sent out with 800 men and two pieces 
of artillery on a foraging expedition. 
Near Bennington, Vt., he was attack¬ 
ed by the New Hampshire militia un¬ 
der Stark, and utterly defeated. He 
himself was killed Aug. 16, 1777. 

Bauxite, a mineral occurring in 
round, concretionary, disseminated 
grains; found extensively in France 
and other parts of Europe, and in the 
United States, principally in Alabama 
and Georgia. The purest bauxite is 
called aluminum ore, because com¬ 
mercial aluminum is made from it. 





Bausset 


Bavaria 


Bausset, Louis Francois, Car-* 
dinal, born in Pondiccherry, India, 
Dec. 14, 1748. His father, who held 
an important position in the French 
Indies, sent young Bausset to France 
when he was but 12 years of age. He 
was educated by the Jesuits, and be¬ 
came bishop of Alais in 1784. After the 
restoration of Louis XVIII., in 1815, 
he entered the Chamber of Peers; the 
following year he became a member of 
the French Academy; and, in 1817, 
he received the appointment of Cardi¬ 
nal. He died in Paris, June 21, 1824. 

Bautain, Louis Eugene Marie, 
a French philosopher, born in Paris, 
Feb. 17, 1796; died Oct. 18, 1867. 

Bavaria, a kingdom of Central 
Europe, in the S. of Germany, com¬ 
posed of two isolated portions of un¬ 
equal size. Bavaria is estimated to 
contain an area of 29,286 English 
square miles, and is divided into eight 
circles (kreise). The total population 
in 1900 was 6,175,153. 

Bavaria is one of the most favored 
countries in Germany, in respect of 
the fruitfulness of its soil. In the 
plains and valleys the soil is capable 
of producing all kinds of crops. The 
forests of Bavaria, composed chiefly of 
fir and pine trees, cover nearly a third 
of its entire surface, and yield a large 
revenue to the State; much timber 
being annually exported, together with 
potashes, tar, turpentine, and other 
products peculiar to these wooded re¬ 
gions. The principal mineral products 
are salt, coal, and iron. Some of the 
mining works belong to the State, and 
contribute something to the public rev¬ 
enue ; but the minerals are not 
wrought to the extent they might be. 
In the rearing of cattle and sheep the 
Bavarians are somewhat backward. 
Swine are reared in great numbers in 
all parts of the country, and poultry 
and wild fowl are abundant. The 
wolves and bears, with which the for¬ 
ests of Bavaria were at one time in¬ 
fested, are nearly extinct. 

The manufactures of Bavaria are 
singly not very important, being most¬ 
ly on a small scale, and conducted by 
individuals of limited capital. The 
principal articles manufactured are 
linens, woolens, cottons, silks, leather, 
paper, glass, earthen and iron and 
steel ware, jewelry, etc., but the sup¬ 
ply of some of these articles is ipade- 


quate to the home consumption. Of 
leather, paper, glass, and ironware, 
rather large quantities are exported. 
The optical and mathematical instru¬ 
ments made at Munich are the best on 
the Continent, and are prized accord¬ 
ingly. But the most important branch 
of manufacture in Bavaria is the 
brewing of beer — the universal and 
favorite beverage of the country. 

There are over 7,400 schools in Ba¬ 
varia, attended by more than 830,000 
pupils. Attendance at school is com¬ 
pulsory up to 14 years of age. There 
are three universities in Bavaria — 
two of which (Munich and Wurzburg) 
are Roman Catholic, and one (Erlan¬ 
gen) Protestant. The capital, Munich, 
contains a library of 800,000 volumes, 
including 25,000 MSS.; several scien¬ 
tific and literary institutions, acade¬ 
mies, and national societies, and ex¬ 
tensive collections of works of art. 

The religion of the State is Roman 
Catholicism, which embraces more 
than 70 per cent, of the population. 
The Protestants number about 21 per 
cent.; the Hebrews 1 per cent., the re¬ 
mainder being Mennonites, etc. 

Bavaria was formerly a member of 
the Germanic Confederation, and now 
forms part of the German empire. The 
executive is in the hands of the king. 
The legislature consists of two cham¬ 
bers — one of senators, and one of 
deputies; the former composed of 
princes of the royal family, the great 
officers of the State, the two arch¬ 
bishops, the heads of certain noble 
families, a bishop named by the king, 
the president of the Protestant Gen¬ 
eral Consistory, and any other mem¬ 
bers whom the king may create hered¬ 
itary peers; the latter, of members 
chosen indirectly, one to every 31,500 
persons of the total population. 

In 1805 Bavaria was raised, by the 
treaty of Presburg to the rank of a 
kingdom, with some further accessions 
of territory, all of which were con¬ 
firmed by the treaties of 1814 and 
1815. In the war of 1866 Bavaria 
sided with Austria, in consequence of 
which it was obliged, by the treaty of 
August 22 in the same year, to cede 
a small portion of its territory to 
Prussia, and to pay a war indemnity 
of 30,000,000 florins. Soon after Ba- 
vaia entered into an alliance with 
Prussia, and in 1867 joined the Zoll- 




Bax 


Bayer 


verein under Prussian regulations. In 
the Franco-German War of 1870-1871 
Bavaria took a prominent part, and 
since 1871 it has been one of the con¬ 
stituent States of the German empire, 
represented in the Bundesrath by 6; 
in the Reichstag by 48 members. In 
1886 King Louis II. committed suicide 
from alienation of mind. His brother 
Otto succeeded, but he being also in¬ 
sane, his uncle Luitpold became re¬ 
gent. 

Bax, Ernest Belfort, an Eng¬ 
lish socialist; born in Leamington, 
July 23, 1854. He wrote a large num¬ 
ber of works on socialistic and his¬ 
torical subjects. 

Baxter, Richard, an English 
Nonconformist preacher and theologi¬ 
cal writer; born in Shropshire in 
1615. He early entered the Church, 
and, taking sides with the Parliamen¬ 
tary party, became chaplain to one of 
the regiments of the Commonwealth. 
But, either his Republican opinions 
were offensively prominent or his 
enemies took advantage of his public 
preaching to denounce him; for, after 
enduring much persecution, he, then 
70 years old, was brought before Judge 
Jeffreys, who abused him in court, 
and fined him £500, with imprison¬ 
ment till paid. Baxter was a prolific 
writer, a large portion of his works 
being polemical and now little read. 
He died Dec. 8, 1691. 

Baxter, William, an American 
clergyman and author, born at Leeds, 
England, in 1820. President of Ar¬ 
kansas College, Fayetteville; when it 
was burned in the Civil War, he re¬ 
moved to Cincinnati. 

Bay, an arm or inlet of the sea 
extending into the land, with a wider 
mouth proportionally than a gulf. 

Bay, a berry, and especially one 
from some species of the laurel; also 
the English name of the laurus nobilis. 
A fine tree, with deep green foliage 
and a profusion of dark purple or 
black berries. 

Bayadere, a name originally given 
by the Portuguese to the singing and 
dancing girls of Hindustan. They are 
of two kinds — those who are em¬ 
ployed as priestesses in the temples, 
and those who go about the country 
as itinerants. The former class cele¬ 
brate with song and dance the festi¬ 


vals of the gods; the latter are em¬ 
ployed by the grandees of India to 
amuse and cheer them at their ban¬ 
quets. 

Bayamo, or San Salvador, a 

town in the interior of the E. part of 
the island of Cuba, situated in a fer¬ 
tile and healthy district on the north¬ 
ern slope of the Sierra Maestra. It is 
connected by a railway with Manzan- 
illa. 

Bayard, or more properly Bayart, 
Pierre du Terrail, Chevalier de, 

called the “ knight without fear and 
without reproach ”; born in 1476, in 
the castle of Bayard, near Grenoble, 
was one of the most spotless charac¬ 
ters of the Middle Ages. He was sim¬ 
ple and modest; a true friend and 
tender lover; pious, humane, and mag¬ 
nanimous. He died April 30, 1524. 

Bayard, Thomas Francis, an 
American statesman and diplomatist, 
born in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 29, 
1828. He came of a family which for 
four successive generations represent¬ 
ed the State of Delaware in the United 
States Senate. Mr. Bayard was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in 1851 and prac¬ 
ticed law until 1868, when he suc¬ 
ceeded his father, James A. Bayard, 
in the United States Senate. In the 
Democratic National Convention of 
1872 he received 15 votes for the pres¬ 
idential nomination, and in the con¬ 
vention of 1876, 31 votes, which he 
turned over to Samuel'J. Tilden. In 
1880 and again in 1884 his name was 
voted on in the National conventions 
of his party. 

In 1885 Mr. Bayard was chosen 
by President Cleveland as Secretary of 
State, and on Cleveland’s second elec¬ 
tion, in 1892, he was appointed United 
States Ambassador to the Court of St. 
James, being the first to bear that 
title. Mr. Bayard filled this office 
with high honor to himself and his 
country. During his official residence 
in London he was the recipient of 
marked attentions, and by his public 
utterances and his engaging person¬ 
ality promoted the best feeling in both 
social and government circles. He 
died in Dedham, Mass., Sept. 28, 1898. 

Bayer, Johann, a German con¬ 
structor of charts of the stars, born 
in 1572, at Rhain, in Bavaria. He 
died at Augsburg in 1625, 








Bayeux 


Bayonet 


Bayeux, an ancient city of Nor¬ 
mandy, in the French Department of 
Calvados, on the Aure. The Gothic 
cathedral — the oldest, it is said, in 
Normandy — was rebuilt after a fire 
by William the Conqueror, in 1077; 
but the present edifice dates mainly 
from 1106 to the 13th century. 

Bayeux Tapestry, a celebrated 
roll of linen cloth or canvas, 214 feet 
in length and 20 inches wide, contain¬ 
ing, in 72 distinct compartments, a 
representation, in embroidery, of the 
events of the Norman invasion of Eng¬ 
land, from Harold’s leave-taking of 
Edward the Confessor, on his depart¬ 
ure for Normandy, to the battle of 
Hastings. It contains the figures of 
623 men, 202 horses, 55 dogs, 505 ani¬ 
mals of various kinds not hitherto 
enumerated, 37 buildings, 41 ships and 
boats, and 49 trees — in all 1,512 fig¬ 
ures. These are all executed by the 
needle, and are believed to have been 
the handiwork of Matilda, the queen 
of William the Conqueror, and by her 
presented to the Cathedral of Bayeux. 
This piece of tapestry is exceedingly 
valuable, both as a work of art of the 
period referred to, and as correctly 
representing the costume of the time. 
It has been engraved, and several 
works upon the subject have been pub¬ 
lished. 

Bay Islands, a small group in the 
Bay of Honduras, 150 miles S. E. of 
Balize. The cluster was proclaimed a 
British colony in 1852, but in 1859 
they were ceded to the Republic of 
Honduras. 

Bayle, Pierre, French critic and 
miscellaneous writer, the son of a Cal¬ 
vinist preacher, born at Carlat (Lan¬ 
guedoc) in 1647, died at Rotterdam 
1706. His chief work is a Dictionary 
of History and Criticism, which he 
first published in 1696. This work, 
much enlarged, has passed through 
many editions. It is a vast store¬ 
house of facts, discussions, and opin¬ 
ions, and though it was publicly cen¬ 
sured by the Rotterdam consistory for 
its frequent impurities, its pervading 
scepticism, and tacit atheism, it long 
remained a favorite book both with 
literary men and with men of the 
world. The articles in his dictionary, 
in themselves, are generally of little 
value, and serve only as a pretext for 


the notes, in which the author dis¬ 
plays, at the same time, his learning 
and the power of his logic. 

Bayley, James Roosevelt, an 
American theologian, born in New 
York city, Aug. 23, 1814; studied at 
Trinity College, Hartford, and became 
minister of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church; but, in 1842, was converted 
to the Roman Catholic faith; and, af¬ 
ter studying at Paris and Rome, be¬ 
came a priest in 1844. After serving 
as secretary to Archbishop Hughes, he 
was consecrated the first Bishop of 
Newark, N. J., in 1853. In 1872 he 
became Archbishop of Baltimore, Md. 
He was the founder of Seton Hall 
College and several other institutions. 
He died in Newark, N. J., Oct. 3,1877. 

Bayley, William Shirley, an 
American geologist, born in Baltimore, 
Md., Nov. 10, 1861; graduated at 
Johns Hopkins, in 1883; since 1887 
has been Assistant Geologist of the 
Lake Superior division of the United 
States Geological Survey, and since 
1886 associate editor of the “ Ameri¬ 
can Naturalist.” 

Baylor University, a coeduca¬ 
tional institution in W T aco, Tex.; now 
under the auspices of the Baptist 
Church. 

Bayly, Ada Ellen, an English 
novelist, best known as Edna Lyall. 

Bayly, Thomas Haynes, an Eng¬ 
lish song-writer and author; bom in 
Bath, Oct. 13, 1797. After deserting 
successively both law and church, Bay¬ 
ly, during a short sojourn in Dublin, 
first discovered his powers as a ballad 
writer and achieved his earliest suc¬ 
cesses. He died April 22, 1839. 

Baynes, Thomas Spencer, an 
English editor, born in Wellington, 
Somerset, in 1823. He studied under 
Sir William Hamilton at Edinburgh, 
and in 1864 he was appointed to the 
Chair of Logic, Rhetoric, and Meta¬ 
physics in St. Andrews University, a 
post he held till his death, in London, 
in 1S87. 

Bayonet, a straight sharp-point¬ 
ed weapon, generally triangular, in¬ 
tended to be fixed upon the muzzle of 
a rifle or musket, which is thus trans¬ 
formed into a thrusting weapon. It 
was probably invented about 1640, in 
Bayonne (though this is doubtful), 
but was not universally introduced 





Bayonne 


Baztan 


until after the pike was wholly laid 
aside, in the beginning of the 18th cen¬ 
tury. About 1690 the bayonet began 
to be fastened by means of a socket 
to the outside of the barrel, instead of 
being inserted as formerly in the in¬ 
side. A variety of the bayonet, called 
the sword bayonet, is quite widely 
used in European armies, especially 
for the short rifles of the light infan¬ 
try, the carbines of the artillery, etc. 
It is a compound of the sword and the 
bayonet, as its name indicates having 
a sword-like blade with only one edge, 
and being capable of being fastened to 
the muzzle of the gun like the bayonet. 

Bayonne Conference, a confer¬ 
ence held at Bayonne, in June, 1565, 
between Charles IX. of France, the 
queen mother, Catherine de Medicis, 
Elizabeth, Queen of Spain, and the 
Duke of Alva, envoy of Philip II., to 
arrange plans for the repression of the 
Huguenots. It is generally believed 
that the massacre of St. Bartholo¬ 
mew’s Day was determined upon at 
this meeting. 

Bayonne, Treaty of, a treaty of 
peace agreed to May 4, 1808, and 
signed on the next day, between Na¬ 
poleon I. and Charles IV., King of 
Spain. The latter resigned his king¬ 
dom, and Napoleon I. engaged to main¬ 
tain its integrity, and to preserve the 
Roman Catholic religion. His son, 
Ferdinand VII., confirmed the cession 
May 10. 

Bayreuth. See Beyeout. 

Bayrhoffer, Karl Theodore, a 

German Hegelian philosopher, and 
radical politician, born in Marburg in 
1812, was Professor of Philosophy 
there, taking the chair in 1845. In 
1846 his radical views caused his ex¬ 
pulsion. During the brief rule of lib¬ 
eralism in Hesse, he was chosen pres¬ 
ident of the Chamber; but, in 1853, 
he was forced to flee to the United 
States. He died in Jordan, Wis., Feb. 
3, 1888. 

Bay Rum, an aromatic, spirituous 
liquid, used by hair dressers and per¬ 
fumers, prepared in the West Indies 
by distilling rum in which bay leaves 
have been steeped. 

Bay Salt, a general term for 
coarse grained salt, but properly ap¬ 
plied to salt obtained by spontaneous 


or natural evaporation of sea water 
in large shallow tanks or bays. 

Bay Window, a window projecting 
beyond the line of the front of a 
house, generally either in a semi-hex¬ 
agon or semi-octagon. 

Bazaine, Francois, Achille, a 
French military officer, born in Ver¬ 
sailles, Feb. 13, 1811. He served in 
Algeria, in Spain against the Carlists, 
in the Crimean War, and joined the 
Mexican expedition as general of di¬ 
vision, in 1862, and, in 1864, was 
made a marshal of France. He com¬ 
manded the 3d Army Corps in the 
Franco-Prussian War, when he capit¬ 
ulated at Metz, after a seven weeks’ 
siege, with an army of 175,000 men. 
For this act he was tried by court- 
martial in 1871, found guilty of trea¬ 
son and condemned to death. This 
sentence was commuted to 20 years’ 
seclusion in the Isle St. Marguerite, 
from which he escaped and retired to 
Spain. He died in Madrid, Sept 23, 
1888. His widow, who had clung 
faithfully to him in his adversity, and 
had plotted successfully for his escape, 
died in Mexico City, Jan. 8, 1900. 
She was a woman of aristocratic birth 
and much beauty. 

Bazau, Emilia Pardo, a Span¬ 
ish author, born in Coruna, in 1852; 
published works on history and phil¬ 
osophy, and was the author of “ Stud¬ 
ies in Darwinism,” “ Saint Francis of 
Assisi,” and many novels. These, 
translated into English, have become 
very popular. 

Bazar, an exchange; a market 
place; a place where goods are ex¬ 
posed for sale. Bazar is a term orig¬ 
inally derived from the Arabic, and 
literally signifies the sale or exchange 
of goods. The name has of late years 
been adopted in many American and 
European cities, and is applied to 
places for the sale of fancy goods, etc. 

Baztau, or Bastau, a Pyrenean 
valley in the extreme N. of Spain; 
having a length of 9 miles, and an 
average breadth of 4 miles. It is in¬ 
habited by about 8,000 people, who 
form, under Spanish supervision, a 
sort of diminutive republic, at the 
head of which is the mayor of Elizon¬ 
do. The citizens of this republic rank 
with the Spanish nobility and hold 
special privileges, which were granted 




Bdellium 


Beale 


them for former services to the Span¬ 
ish crown. 

Bdellium, in Scripture, is in He¬ 
brew bedholachh, rendered in the Sep- 
tuagint of Gen. ii: 12, anthrax (lit¬ 
erally, burning coal). Some modern 
writers, following the Septuagint 
translation, make it a mineral, as are 
the gold and the onyx stone, with 
which it is associated in Gen. ii: 12. 
Others think that it was the gum de¬ 
scribed below; while the Rabbins, Bo- 
chart, and Gesenius consider that it 
was a pearl, or pearls. 

Beach, Alfred Ely, an American 
publisher and inventor, born in Spring- 
field, Mass., in 1826; son of Moses 
Yale Beach, editor of the old New 
York “ Sun.” In 1846 he established 
the “ Scientific American,” in connec¬ 
tion with Orson D. Munn. For nearly 
50 years he was editor of this paper 
and director of its patent business. He 
died in New York city, Jan. 1, 1896. 

Beach, Amy Marcy Cheney, an 
American composer, and one of the 
chief of the few women who are dis¬ 
tinguished as creative musicians. She 
was born in New Hampshire, Sept. 5, 
1867. Her most important works are 
“The Gaelic Symphony,” for full or¬ 
chestra, a “Jubilate,” written for the 
dedication of the Woman’s Building at 
the Chicago Exposition, and a cyclus 
of fourteen songs. 

Beach, Moses Yale, an American 
publisher and inventor, born 1800; 
died 1868. He became owner of the 
New York “ Sun ” three years after its 
establishment. His inventions relate 
to the manufacture of paper, and in¬ 
clude a rag-cutting machine. 

Beacousfield, Benjamin Dis¬ 
raeli, Earl of, an English states¬ 
man and author; born in London, 
England, Dec. 21, 1804; the eldest son 
of Isaac D’lsraeli, the well-known au¬ 
thor of the “ Curiosities of Litera¬ 
ture”; his mother also being of Jew¬ 
ish race. Little is known of his early 
education, though it is certain he 
never attended a public school or a 
university. In 1817 he was baptized 
into the Church of England. He ac¬ 
quired a good reputation as an author, 
and sought eminence in politics. 

His first appointment to office was 
in 1852, when he became chancellor of 
the exchequer under Lord Derby. In 


February, 1868, he reached the 
summit of his ambition, becoming 
premier on the resignation of Lord 
Derby, but being in a minority 
after the general election he had 
to give up office the following Decem¬ 
ber. In 1874 he again became prime 
minister with a strong Conservative 
majority, and he remained in power 
for six years. This period was marked 
by his elevation to the peerage in 
1876 as Earl of Beaconsfield, and by 
the prominent part he took in regard 
to the Eastern question and the con¬ 
clusion of the treaty of Berlin in 
1878, when he visited the German 
capital. 

In the spring of 1880 Parliament 
was rather suddenly dissolved, and 
the new Parliament showing an over¬ 
whelming Liberal majority, he re¬ 
signed office, though he still retained 
the leadership of his party. Not long 
after this, the publication of a novel 
called “ Endymion ” (his last, “ Lo- 
thair,” had been published 10 years 
before) showed that his intellect was 
still vigorous. His physical powers, 
however, were now giving way, and 
he died April 19, 1881, after an ill¬ 
ness of some weeks’ duration. His 
wife had died in 1872 after having 
been created Viscountess Beaconsfield. 

Bead Snake, a beautiful little 
snake, variegated with yellow, car¬ 
mine, and jet black. Though venom¬ 
ous, it rarely uses its fangs. It is 
about two feet long. 

Beagle, a small hunting dog. 

Beagle Island, an island discov¬ 
ered by Admiral Fitzroy, during a 
voyage in the “ Beagle,” to survey 
Patagonia, in 1828-1834. The chan¬ 
nel of the same name is on the S. side 
of the Island of Tierra del Fuego. 

Beal, George Lafayette, an 
American military officer, born in Nor¬ 
way, Me., May 21, 1825. When the 
Civil War broke out, he was captain 
of the Norway Light Infantry. On 
Jan. 15, 1866, he was mustered out of 
service with the brevet of Major-Gen¬ 
eral of Volunteers. In 188CK1885 he 
was adjutant-general of Maine, and 
in 1888-1894, State treasurer. He 
died in Norway, Me., Dec. 11, 1896. 

Beale, Edward Fitzgerald, an 
American diplomatist, born in "Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., Feb. 4, 1822; graduated 




Beale 


Bean 


at the United States Naval Academy 
in 1842, and at the beginning of the 
Mexican War was assigned to duty in 
California, under Commodore Stock- 
ton. After the war, he resigned his 
naval commission and was appointed 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs for 
California and New Mexico. He was 
commissioned a Brigadier-General in 
the army by President Pierce. He 
served in the Union army in the Civil 
War, and at its close engaged in stock 
raising in Los Angeles, Cal., till 1876, 
when President Grant appointed him 
United States Minister to Austria. 
He died in Washington, D. C., April 
22, 1893. 

Beale, Lionel Smith, an English 
physiologist and microscopist, born in 
London, Feb. 5, 1828. He is a mem¬ 
ber of the Royal Medical and Chirur- 
gical, the Microscopical, and other 
English and foreign societies, and is 
the author of a number of medical and 
scientific works. 

Beall, John Young, a Confeder¬ 
ate guerilla, born in Virginia, Jan. 1, 
1835; was appointed an acting master 
in the Confederate naval service in 
1863. On Sept. 19, 1864, he and a 
number of followers were shipped on 
the Lake Erie steamer “ Philo Par¬ 
sons ” as passengers, and at a given 
signal, took possession of the vessel, 
making prisoners of the crew. They 
also scuttled another boat, the “Isl¬ 
and Queen,” and tried to wreck a 
railroad train near Buffalo, N. Y. In 
spite of a proclamation of Jefferson 
Davis assuming the responsibility of 
this expedition, Beall was hanged on 
Governor’s Island, New York, Feb. 
24, 1865, on the ground that, if act¬ 
ing under orders, he should have 
shown some badge of authority. 

Beam, a long, straight and strong 
piece of wood, iron, or steel, especially 
when holding an important place in 
some structure, and serving for sup¬ 
port or consolidation; often equivalent 
to girder. In a balance it is the part 
from the ends of which the scales are 
suspended. In a loom it is a cylin¬ 
drical piece of wood on which weavers 
wind the warp before weaving; also, 
the cylinder on which the cloth is 
rolled as it is woven. In a ship, one 
of the strong transverse pieces stretch\ 
ing across from one side to the other 


to support the decks and retain the 
sides at their proper distance; hence, 
a ship is said to be on her beam ends 
when lying over on her side. 

Beaming, the art of winding the 
web on the weaver’s beam in a manner 
suitable for weaving, with regard to 
firmness and evenness. It is to some 
extent a special employment, followed 
by workmen trained as beamers. 

Bean, a well known cultivated 
plant which may be primarily divided 
into the garden bean and the field 
bean. Of the former, there are numer¬ 
ous sub-varieties. The earliest is the 
mazagan, which is small seeded; while 
the largest is the Windsor. The field 
bean runs into two leading sub-varie¬ 
ties, a larger and a smaller one. The 
navy bean is the common white bean 
used as an article of diet. 

The word is also applied to any 
leguminous plant resembling a bean, 
though not of the genuine genus. Such, 
for example, as the Florida bean, 
which is the seed, not the fruit, of a 
West Indian plant. These seeds are 
washed up on the Florida shore, and 
are sometimes used as food, and some¬ 
times they are polished and used as 
ornaments. 

Bean, Nehemiah S., an Ameri¬ 
can inventor, born in Gilmanton, N. 

H. , in 1818; learned the machinist’s 
trade. In the winter of 1857-1858 he 
built his first steam fire engine, which 
he named the “ Lawrence,” and sold 
it to the city of Boston. In 1859 he 
took the management of the Amos- 
keag Locomotive Works in Manches¬ 
ter, where he had been employed in 
1847-1850. During 1859 he built the 
“ Amoskeag Steam Fire Engine, No. 

I, ” the first of a class of engines which 
now is used everywhere. He died in 
Manchester, N. H., July 20, 1896. 

Bean, Tarleton Hoffman, an 
American ichthyologist, born in Bain- 
bridge, Pa., Oct. 8, 1846; graduated at 
Columbian University in Washington, 
in 1876. He represented the United 
States Fish Commission at the World’s 
Columbian Exposition, and, in 1895, 
at the Atlanta Exposition. In 1895 
he became Director of the New York 
Aquarium, and, in 1899, was appoint¬ 
ed Director of Forestry and Fisheries 
of the United States Commission to 
the Paris Exposition of 1900. 




Bear 


Bear Lake 


Bear, the English name of the va¬ 
rious species of plantigrade mammals 
belonging to the ursus and some neigh¬ 
boring genera. The term plantigrade, 
applied to the bears, intimates that 
they walk on the soles of their feet; 
not, like the digitigrade animals, on 
their toes. Though having six incisor 
teeth in each jaw, like the rest of the 
carnivora, yet the tubercular crowns 
of the molar teeth show that their food 
is partly vegetable. They grub up 
roots, and, when they can obtain it, 
greedily devour honey. They hiber¬ 
nate in winter. The best known spe¬ 
cies is ursus arctos, the brown bear, 
the one sometimes seen dancing to the 
amusement o* children in the streets. 
They are wild in this country, on the 
continent of Europe, and in Asia. 
The grizzly bear, black bear and Polar 
bear are well known in menageries. 

In _ Stock Exchange parlance, a 
bear is one who contracts to sell on a 
specified day Certain stock not be¬ 
longing to him, at the market price 
then prevailing, on receiving imagi¬ 
nary payment for them at the rate 
which obtains when the promise was 
made. It now becomes his interest 
that the stock on which he has specu¬ 
lated should fall in price; and he is 
tempted to effect this end by circulat¬ 
ing adverse rumors regarding it; while 
the purchaser, called a “ bull,” sees it 
to his advantage to make it rise. The 
origin of the term is uncertain. 

In astronomy, the word is applied 
to one or. other of two constellations, 
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, called 
respectively the Great Bear and the 
Little Bear. When the word Bear 
stands alone, it signifies Ursa Major. 

Beard, the hair that grows on the 
chin, lips, and adjacent parts of the 
face of men, and sometimes, though 
rarely, of women. Its growth is the 
distinctive sign of manhood. 

Beard, Daniel Carter, an Amer¬ 
ican artist and author, born in Cincin¬ 
nati, O., June 21, 1850; first engaged 
in civil engineering, but later stud¬ 
ied art and has since become 
known as a Book and magazine illus¬ 
trator. He founded and became teach¬ 
er of the Department of Animal Draw¬ 
ing in the Woman’s School of Applied 
Design, believed to be the first class 
of this character in the world. 


Beard, George Miller, an Amer¬ 
ican physician and hygienic writer, 
born at Montville, Conn., May 8, 
1839; made a specialty of the study of 
stimulants and narcotics, hypnotism, 
spiritualism, etc. He died in New 
York, Jan. 23, 1883. 

Beard, Henry, an American paint¬ 
er, born in Ohio, in 1841; son of 
James Henry Beard, and nephew of 
William Holbrook Beard; served in 
the Union army during the Civil 
War; and, after his removal to New 
York city, in 1877, was chiefly en¬ 
gaged in illustrating books and period¬ 
icals. He died in New York, Nov. 19, 
1889. 

Beard, Janies Henry, an Amer- . 

ican painter, born in Buffalo, N. Y., 
in 1814. In his childhood his parents 
removed to Ohio. He became a por¬ 
trait painter in Cincinnati, and paint¬ 
ed the portraits of Henry Clay and 
other distinguished men. He died in 
Flushing, N. Y., April 4, 1893. 

Beard, William Holbrook, an 
American painter, born in Paines- 
ville, O., April 13, 1825; brother of 
James H. Beard; was a traveling por¬ 
trait painter from 1846 till 1851, 
when he settled in Buffalo, N. Y. He 
made many studies of decorative archi¬ 
tecture. He died in New York city, 
Feb. 20, 1900. 

Beard Moss, a lichen of gray 
color, forming a shaggy coat on many 
forest trees. 

Beardsley, Aubrey, an English 
author and illustrator, born in Bright¬ 
on, in 1874; died in Mentone, France, 
March 16, 1898. 

Beardsley, Samuel, an American 
jurist, born in Hoosic, N. Y., Feb. 9, 
1790. He became Associate Judge of 
the Supreme Court of New York in 
1844, and three years later succeeded 
Judge Bronson as Chief Justice. On 
his retirement he devoted himself to 
the practice of his profession. He died 
in Utica, N. Y., May 6, 1860. 

Bearer Company, a British or¬ 
ganization for removing wounded sol¬ 
diers from the field of battle to the 
dressing station or temporary hospital. 

Bear Lake, Great, an extensive 
sheet of fresh water in the Northwest 
Territory of Canada. 




Bear River 


Beaufort 


Bear River, a river of the United 
States, 400 miles long; rises in the N. 
of Utah, and flows N. into Idaho; 
turns abruptly S., re-enters Utah, and 
empties into Great Salt Lake. 

Bear's Grease, the fat of bears, 
esteemed as of great efficacy in nour¬ 
ishing and promoting the growth of 
hair. The unguents sold under this 
name, however, are in a great measure 
made of hog’s lard or veal fat, or a 
mixture of both, scented and slightly 
colored. 

Beast Fables, stories in which 
animals play human parts, a widely 
spread primitive form of literature, 
often surviving in more or less devel¬ 
oped forms in the more advanced civ¬ 
ilizations. 

Beat, in music, the beating or pul¬ 
sation resulting from the joint vibra¬ 
tions of two sounds of the same 
strength, and all but in unison. Also 
a short shake or transient grace-note 
struck immediately before the note it 
is intended to ornament. 

Beatification, in general, the act 
of rendering supremely blessed, also 
the state of being rendered supremely 
blessed. In a special sense an act by 
which the Pope declares, on evidence 
which he considers himself to possess, 
that a certain deceased person is in 
the enjoyment of supreme felicity in 
Heaven. It is the first step toward 
canonization, but it is not canoniza¬ 
tion itself. 

Beaton, David, Cardinal Arch¬ 
bishop of St. Andrew’s, Scotland, born 
in 1494. He became Abbot of Arb¬ 
roath in 1525, Lord Privy Seal three 
years later, was sent on several mis¬ 
sions to France, received a cardinal’s 
hat in 1538, and in the following year 
became Primate. On the death of 
James V., he, by craft and determina¬ 
tion, secured to himself the chief pow¬ 
er in Church and State, being named 
Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, 
and Papal Legate. He opposed an 
alliance with England, and especially 
distinguished himself as a persecutor 
of the Reformers. The trial and burn¬ 
ing of George Wishart for heresy took 
place under his direction, and, a short 
time afterward Beaton was assassinat¬ 
ed at St. Andrew’s, in May, 1546. 
With his death, church tyranny came 
to an end in Scotland. 


Beattie, Francis Robert, a Ca- 

nadian-American educator, born near 
Guelph, Ontario, in 1848. In 1888 
he became Professor of Apologetics in 
the Presbyterian Theological Semin¬ 
ary in Columbia, S. C., where he re¬ 
mained till 1893 and then accepted 
the Chair of Systematic Theology and 
Apologetics in the Presbyterian Theo¬ 
logical Seminary, Louisville, Ky. 

Beattie, James, a Scottish poet 
and miscellaneous writer, born at 
Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire, Oct. 
25, 1735. In 1765 he published a 
poem, the “Judgment of Paris,” and 
in 1770 his celebrated “ Essay on 
Truth,” for which the University of 
Oxford conferred on him the degree of 
LL. D.; and George III. honored him, 
when on a visit to London, with a 
private conference and a pension. He 
died in Aberdeen, Aug. 18, 1803. 

Beatty, Jobn, an American legis¬ 
lator, born in Bucks county, Pa., Dec. 
19, 1749; was educated at Princeton, 
and took up the study of medicine 
with Dr. Rush of Philadelphia. He 
fought with distinction through the 
Revolutionary War, reaching the rank 
of Colonel; was Delegate to the Con¬ 
tinental Congress in 1783-1785; 
Speaker of the House; served in the 
convention which adopted the Fed¬ 
eral Constitution; was a member of 
Congress in 1793-1795; and Secretary 
of State of New Jersey in 1795-1805. 
He died in Trenton, N. J., April 30, 
1826. 

Beatty, Jobn, an American mili¬ 
tary officer, born near Sandusky, O., 
Sept. 16, 1828. He fought on the 
Union side in the Civil War, rising 
from private to Brigadier-General, 
and showing intrepid courage at Stone 
River, 1862-1863^ He was a member 
of Congress in 1868-1874. and Repub¬ 
lican Presidential Elector-at-Large in 
1884. 

Beauchamp, Alphonse de, 

French historian and publicist, born 
at Monaco in 1767. Under the Direc¬ 
tory he had the surveillance of the 
press, a position which supplied him 
with materials for his “ History of 
La Vendee.” He died in Paris, June 
1, 1832. 

Beaufort, Margaret, an English 
countess, born in 1441; daughter of 
John, first Duke of Somerset, and 




Beauharnais 


Beauregard 


mother of Henry VII., King of Eng¬ 
land. In the Wars of the Roses, she 
and her son, Henry, became more or 
less dangerous to the Yorkists and 
were for a long time in retirement or 
exile. Henry was attainted by a Par¬ 
liament under Richard III., and Mar¬ 
garet’s estates forfeited. After the 
accession of her son as Henry VII. 
she took no part in public affairs. Her 
life forms one of the romantic episodes 
of English history. She was devoutly 
religious, and founded several religious 
institutions. 

Beauliarnais, Eugene de, Viceroy 
of Italy, and a Prince of the French 
Empire, son of Alexandre de Beau- 
harnais and Josephine, born in Paris 
in 1781. After his mother’s marriage 
to Napoleon, he, in 1796, became aide- 
de-camp to the latter, and served with 
distinction in the campaigns of Italy 
and Egypt. Beauharnais was wound¬ 
ed at Acre, contributed to the victory 
of Marengo, was created Prince of the 
Empire in 1805, and Viceroy of Italy. 
In 1806, he married the Princess Ama¬ 
lie Augusta, of Bavaria, and in the 
same year was adopted by the Em¬ 
peror as his son, and appointed gover¬ 
nor of Lombardy and Venice. He 
served in the campaign of 1809, de¬ 
feated the Austrians at Raab, and 
distinguished himself at Wagram. His 
military. talents were particularly 
evinced in the retreat from Moscow, 
and in the following campaigns of 
1813-1814. To Beauharnais may be 
mainly ascribed the victory of Lutzen. 
After the fall of Napoleon, he retired 
to Munich, was allowed, by the Treaty 
of Fontainebleau and the Congress of 
Vienna, to retain his extensive posses¬ 
sions in Italy, and took his place as 
Duke of Leuchtenberg among the Ba¬ 
varian nobles. His children subse¬ 
quently ranked as members of the im¬ 
perial family of Russia. He died Feb. 
21, 1824. 

Beaumarchais, Pierre Augus¬ 
tin, Baron de, born in Paris, Jan. 
24, 1732. He was a man of singular 
versatility of talent, being by turns 
politician, artist, dramatist, and mer¬ 
chant. At the beginning of the Amer¬ 
ican War of Independence (1777), 
Beaumarchais entered into a specula¬ 
tion for supplying the colonies with 
arms, ammunition, etc.; he lost sev¬ 
eral vessels, three of which were taken 


in one day by the English cruisers in 
coming out of the river of Bordeaux, 
but the greater number arrived in 
America, and inspired the colonists 
with renewed hope. He died in Paris, 
May 18, 1799. 

Beaumont, Francis, and Fletch¬ 
er, John, two eminent English dra¬ 
matic writers, contemporaries of 
Shakespeare, and the most fam¬ 
ous of literary partners. The 
former, son of a Common Pleas 
judge, was born at Grace-Dieu, 
in Leicestershire, in 1584. At the 
age of 16 he published a trans¬ 
lation, in verse, of Ovid’s fable of 
“ Salmacis and Hermaphroditus,” and 
later he became the friend of Ben 
Jonson. With Fletcher also he was 
early on terms of friendship. He mar¬ 
ried Ursula, daughter of Henry Isley, 
of Sundridge, in Kent, by whom lie 
left two daughters. He died March 
6, 1616, and was buried in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey. John Fletcher was born 
at Rye, Sussex, in December, 1579. 
His father was successively Dean of 
Peterborough, Bishop of Bristol, Wor¬ 
cester, and London. The “ Woman 
Hater,” produced in 160&-1607, is the 
earliest work known to exist in which 
he had a hand. It does not appear 
that he was ever married. He died in 
London in August, 1625, and was 
buried at St. Saviour’s, Southwark. 

Beaumont, Sir John, an Eng¬ 
lish poet, born in 1583, brother of 
Francis Beaumont, the dramatist; 
died April 19, 1627. 

Beaumont, William, an Ameri¬ 
can surgeon, born in Lebanon, Conn., 
in 1785. His experiments on diges¬ 
tion with the Canadian St. Martin, 
who lived for years after receiving a 
gunshot wound in the stomach which 
left an aperture of about two inches 
in diameter, were of great importance 
to physiological science. He died in 
St. Louis, Mo., April 25, 1853. 

Beaumont, city and county-seat 
of Jefferson co., Tex. In 1901 it 
was the center of the large and newly 
discovered petroleum fields of Texas. 
Fuel-oil wells were discovered of such 
capacity as made the Beaumont oil 
field one of the largest in the world. 

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave 
Tout ant, an American military offi¬ 
cer, born in St. Martin’s parish, La., 




Beans 


Beaver 


May 28, 1818; was graduated at the 
United States Military Academy and 
appointed a brevet Second Lieutenant 
of Artillery in 1838. He distin¬ 
guished himself in the Mexican War, 
where he won the brevet of Major. 
He resigned his commission after 
the secession of Louisiana in Feb¬ 
ruary following; was appointed com¬ 
mander of the Confederate forces 
at Charleston, S. C., and there 
opened the hostilities of the Civil War 
by bombarding Fort Sumter, on April 
11. After the evacuation of the fort 
by Major Anderson, General Beaure¬ 
gard was transferred to Virginia, 
where he commanded the Confederate 
forces in the battle of Bull Run, on 
July 21. In March, 1862, he was or¬ 
dered to the Army of the Mississippi, 
under Gen. Albert S. Johnston, and in 
April following fought the battle of 
Shiloh, gaining a victory over the Na¬ 
tional forces the first day, but being 
defeated by General Grant on the sec¬ 
ond day. Failing health kept him 
from active duty till June, 1863, when 
he took charge of the defense of 
Charleston against the combined land 
and naval forces. He remained in 
command there till April, 1864, when 
he was ordered to Richmond to 
strengthen its defenses. On May 16, 
he attacked General Butler in front 
of Drury’s Bluff, and forced him back 
to his intrenchments between the 
James and the Appomattox rivers. 
He attempted to aid General Jo¬ 
seph E. Johnston in opposing Gen¬ 
eral Sherman, but in April surren¬ 
dered with the former to the latter. 
After the war he became president of 
the New Orleans, Jackson and Missis¬ 
sippi Railroad Company, Adjutant- 
General of the State, and a manager 
of the Louisiana State Lottery. In 
1866 the chidf command of the Ru¬ 
manian army was tendered him, and 
in 1869 that of the army of the 
Khedive of Egypt, both of which he 
declined. He died in New Orleans, 
Feb. 20, 1893. 

Beans, Cecilia, an American art¬ 
ist, born in Philadelphia about 1877. 
She won nearly every prize for which 
she competed in America, and became 
a member of the National Academy in 
1892, and also of the Soci§t§ des 
Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her work is 
exclusively portraiture. 


Beaver, a quadruped of the order 
Rodentia, or gnawers, the only species 
of its genus. It is very widely dis- 



BEAVEB. 

tributed, being found in the N. parts 
of Europe, Asia, and America, nowa¬ 
days most abundantly in the N. and 
thinly peopled parts of North Amer¬ 
ica, dwelling in communities on the 
banks of rivers and lakes. 

At one time immense numbers of 
these animals were killed for their fur, 
which was largely used in making 
hats, but in more recent times they 
have suffered less persecution on this 
account, their fur now not being held 
in the same estimation. 

The beaver is about two feet in 
length; its body thick and heavy; the 
head compressed, and somewhat 
arched at the front, the upper part 
rather narrow; the snout much so. 
The eyes are placed rather high on 
the head, and the pupils are rounded; 
the ears are short, elliptical, and al¬ 
most concealed by the fur. The skin 
is covered by two sorts of hair, of 
which one is long, rather stiff, elastic, 
and of a gray color for two-thirds of 
its length next the base, and termin¬ 
ated by shining, reddish-brown points; 
the other is short, thick, tufted, and 
soft, being of different shades of sil¬ 
ver-gray or light lead color. The hair 
is shortest on the head and feet. The 
hind legs are longer than the fore, and 
are completely webbed. The tail is 
10 or 11 inches long, and, except the 
part nearest the body, is covered with 
hexagonal scales. 







Beaver 


Becker 


Beaver, James, Addams, an 

American military officer and states¬ 
man, born in Millerstown, Pa., Oct. 

21, 1837; was graduated at Jefferson 
College, Canonsburg, Pa., in 1856; 
and studied law with H. N. McAllis¬ 
ter, Beliefonte, Pa., whose partner he 
afterward became. On the outbreak 
of the Civil War he was made Lieu¬ 
tenant-Colonel of the 45th Pennsyl¬ 
vania Volunteers. At the battle 
of Ream’s Station, he was se¬ 
verely wounded and lost a leg; and 
was retired with the rank of Brig¬ 
adier-General of Volunteers (Dec. 

22, 1864). He then resumed the 
practice of law; became Major-Gen¬ 
eral of the Pennsylvania State Mi¬ 
litia ; was defeated as a Republican 
candidate for Governor in 1882; 
elected in 1887; President of the 
Board of Trustees of the Penn¬ 
sylvania State College; Vice-Modera¬ 
tor of the Presbyterian General As¬ 
sembly in 1888 and 1895; and mem¬ 
ber of the President’s Commission on 
Investigation of the War Department 
in 1898. 

Beaver Islands, a group of 
islands situated in the N. part of Lake 
Michigan and interesting as the scene 
of a short-lived Mormon colony. 

Beaver Rat, a name sometimes 
given to a small species of beaver, one 
of the animals called musk rat. It is 
only the size of a rabbit, and inhab¬ 
its Canada. 

Bebeerine, in chemistry, an un- 
crystallizable basic substance, extract¬ 
ed from the bark of the greenheart 
tree of Guiana. In pharmacy, the 
sulphate of bebeerine is a very valua¬ 
ble medicine, being used like quinine 
as a tonic and febrifuge. 

Bebek, a beautiful bay on the 
European side of the Bosphorus, with 
a palace of the Sultan, known as the 
Humayunabad, and built in 1725. 

Bebel, Ferdinand August, a 
German Socialist, born in Cologne in 
1840. He settled in Leipsic in 1860, 
joined various labor organizations, 
and became one of the editors of 
the “ Volkstaat ” and of the better 
known “ Varwarts.” Membership in 
the North German Reichstag was fol¬ 
lowed by his election to the German 
Reichstag, of which he was a member 
from 1871 to 1881, and which he en¬ 


tered again in 1883. He is the leader 
of his party in the Reichstag. 

Bee, a celebrated abbey of France, 
in Normandy, near Brionne, now rep¬ 
resented only by some ruins. Lan- 
franc and Anselm were both connected 
with this abbey. 

Beccaria, Cesare Bonesana, 
Marquis de, an Italian political 
philosopher, born at Milan, March 15, 
1738. He is chiefly known as author 
of the celebrated “ Treatise on Crimes 
and Punishments,” which first appear¬ 
ed in 1764, and advocated great re¬ 
forms in criminal legislation. He died 
in Milan, Nov. 28, 1794. 

Becerra, Gaspar, a Spanish 
painter and sculptor, born in 1520. 
He studied under Michael Angelo at 
Rome, and is credited with the chief 
share in the establishment of the fine 
arts in Spain. He died in 1570. 

Beebe, Sir Henry, an English 
geologist, born in 1796. He founded 
the Geological Survey of Great Brit¬ 
ain, which was soon undertaken by 
the Government, De la Beche being 
appointed director general. He also 
founded the Jermyn Street Museum of 
Economic or Practical Geology, and 
the School of Mines. He died in 1855. 

Bechstein, Jobann Mattbaus, 
a German naturalist, born in Gotha, 
July 11, 1757; wrote a popular nat¬ 
ural history of Germany, and various 
works on forestry, in which subject 
his labors were highly valuable. He 
died Feb. 23, 1822. 

Becbuanaland, an extensive tract 
in South Africa, inhabited by the Be- 
chuanas, extending from 28° S. lat. to 
the Zambesi, and from 20° E. long, to 
the Transvaal border. In 1895 Be- 
chuanaland was placed under the ad¬ 
ministration of the British South Af¬ 
rica Company. 

Beck, Janies Burnie, an Ameri¬ 
can lawyer, born in Dumfriesshire, 
Scotland, Feb. 13, 1822; came to the 
United States when a youth, and set¬ 
tled in Kentucky. He was elected a 
Democratic Representative to Con¬ 
gress in 1866, 1868, 1870, and 1872, 
and United States Senator in 1876, 
1882, and 1888. He died in Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., May 3, 1890. 

Becker, George Ferdinand, an 
American geologist, born in New 
York, Jan. 5, 1847; graduated at Har- 





Becker 


Becket 


vard University in 1868; was Instruc¬ 
tor of Mining and Metallurgy in the 
University of California in 1875- 
1879; attached to the United States 
Geological Survey since 1879, and 
Special Agent of the 10th Census, 
1879-1883. He was appointed a spe¬ 
cial agent to examine into the mineral 
resources of the Philippine Islands in 
1898. 

Becker, Karl Ferdinand, a 

German musician, born in Leipsic, 
July 17, 1804; died in Leipsic, Oct. 
26, 1877. 

Becker, Karl Ferdinand, a Ger¬ 
man philologist, born in Liser, April 
14, 1775; died in Offenbach, Sept. 5, 
1849. 

Becker, Karl Friedrick, a Ger¬ 
man historical writer, born in Berlin, 
1777; wrote various popular works 
on historical topics. He died in Ber¬ 
lin, March 15, 1806. 

Becket, Thomas, the most cele¬ 
brated Roman Catholic prelate in the 
English annals; born in London in 
1117 or 1118. He was the son of 
Gilbert, a London merchant. His 
mother is said to have been a Saracen 
lady, to whose father Gilbert was pris¬ 
oner in Jerusalem, having become a 
captive during the Crusades. The 
lady is said to have fallen in love with 
the prisoner, to have assisted him in 
obtaining his liberty , and afterwards 
to have followed him to London, 
where she found him with the greatest 
difficulty. After studying at Oxford 
and Paris, Becket studied civil law 
at Bologna, Italy, and returning to 
England was made Archdeacon of Can¬ 
terbury and Provost of Beverly. 

In 1158 Becket was appointed high- 
chancellor, and at this time was a 
complete courtier, conforming in every 
respect to the humor of the king. 
Henry II. raised his favorite to the 
primacy, on the presumption that he 
would aid him in those political views, 
in respect to Church power, which all 
the sovereigns of the Norman line em¬ 
braced, and which, in fact, caused a 
continual struggle till its termination 
by Henry VIII. .... 

Becket was consecrated archbishop 
in 1162, and immediately affected an 
austerity of character which formed 
a very natural prelude to the part 
which he meant to play. Pope Alex¬ 


ander III. held a general council at 
Tours in 1163, at which Becket at¬ 
tended and made a formal complaint 
of the infringements by the laity on 
the rights and immunities of the 
Church. On his return to England he 
began to act in the spirit of this rep¬ 
resentation, and to prosecute several 
of the nobility and others holding 
Church possessions, whom he also pro¬ 
ceeded to excommunicate. Finding 
himself the object of the king’s dis¬ 
pleasure, he soon after attempted to 
escape to France; but being intercept¬ 
ed, Henry, in a Parliament at North¬ 
ampton, charged him with a violation 
of his allegiance, and all his goods 
were confiscated. 

After much negotiation a sort of 
reconciliation took place in 1170, on 
the whole to the advantage of Becket, 
who, being restored to his see, with 
all his former privileges, behaved on 
the occasion with excessive haughti¬ 
ness. After a triumphal entry into 
Canterbury the young Prince Henry, 
crowned during the lifetime of his 
father, transmitted him an order to re¬ 
store the suspended and excommuni¬ 
cated prelates, which he refused to do, 
on the pretence that the Pope alone 
could grant the favor, though the lat¬ 
ter had lodged the instruments of cen¬ 
sure in his hands. 

The deposed prelates thereupon im¬ 
mediately appealed to Henry in Nor¬ 
mandy, who in a state of extreme ex¬ 
asperation exclaimed, “ What an un¬ 
happy prince am I, who have not 
about me one man of spirit enough to 
rid me of a single insolent prelate, the 
perpetual trouble of my life! ” These 
rash and too significant words in¬ 
duced four of the attendant barons, 
Reginald Fitz-Urse, William de Tracy, 
Hugh de Morville, and Richard Brete, 
to resolve to wipe out the king’s re¬ 
proach. Having laid their plans, they 
forthwith proceeded to Canterbury, 
and having formally required the arch¬ 
bishop to restore the suspended prel¬ 
ates, they returned in the evening of 
the same day (Dec. 29, 1170), and 
placing soldiers in the courtyard, 
rushed with their swords drawn into 
the cathedral, where the archbishop 
was at vespers, and advancing toward 
him threatened him with death if he 
still disobeyed the orders of Henry. 
Becket, without the least tokei* of 




Beckwith 


Bede 


fear, replied that he was ready to die 
for the rights of the Church; and 
magnanimously added, “ I charge you 
in the name of the Almighty, not to 
hurt any other person here, for none 
of them have been concerned in the 
late transactions.” The confederates 
then strove to drag him out of the 
church; but not being able to do so, 
on account of his resolute deportment, 
they killed him on the spot with re¬ 
peated wounds, all which he endured 
without a groan. 

Thus perished Thomas Becket in 
his 52d year, a martyr to the cause 
which he espoused, and a man of un¬ 
questionable vigor of intellect. He 
was canonized two years after his 
death. In the reign of Henry III. 
his body was taken up and placed in a 
magnificent shrine erected by Arch¬ 
bishop Stephen Langton; and of the 
popularity of the pilgrimages to his 
tomb the “ Canterbury Tales ” of 
Chaucer will prove an enduring testi¬ 
mony. 

Beckwitk, Sir George, an Eng¬ 
lish military officer, born in 1753. 
His scene of action was largely in 
America — in the United States, and 
the West Indies. He fought with the 
English in the American Revolution 
in 1776-1782, and was intrusted with 
important diplomatic commissions in 
1782-1791, as there was then no Brit¬ 
ish Minister to the United States. In 
1804, he was made governor of St. 
Vincent, and four years later gov¬ 
ernor of Barbadoes. As England was 
then at war with France, he organ¬ 
ized an expedition and conquered Mar¬ 
tinique, for which he obtained the 
thanks of the House of Commons. 
Later (1810) he conquered Guade¬ 
loupe, the last possession of the 
French in that part of the world. 
When he returned to England, after 
nine years’ service in the West . In¬ 
dies, a set of silver plate was given 
to him by the legislature of the Bar¬ 
badoes, and the King conferred, upon 
him armorial distinction. He died in 
London, March 20, 1823. 

Beckwith, James Carroll, an 
American genre painter, born in Han¬ 
nibal, Mo», Sept. 23, 1852; was a pu¬ 
pil of Carolus Duran, and became a 
member of the National Academy in 
1894. 


Beckwith, John Watrus, an 

American Episcopal bishop, born in 
Raleigh, N. C., Feb. 9, 1831; was 
graduated at Trinity College, Hart¬ 
ford, in 1852; ordained priest in 
1855; and was elected Bishop of 
Georgia, being consecrated in Savan¬ 
nah, April 2, 1868. He was an elo¬ 
quent and powerful preacher, and pub¬ 
lished several sermons and addresses. 
He died in Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 24, 
1890. 

Becquerel, Antoine Cesar, a 

French physician, and member of the 
Institute, born in Chatillon-sur-Loing, 
March 7, 1788. In early life he served 
in the French army in Spain as an 
officer of engineers. He invented a 
new psychometer in 1866. He died in 
Paris, Jan. 18, 1878. His son, Alex¬ 
andre Edmond, also an eminent phy¬ 
sicist, was born in Paris, March 24, 
1820. Besides his conjoint labors with 
his father, he made important re¬ 
searches on the nature of light and 
its chemical effects, on phosphores¬ 
cence, on the conductivity and mag¬ 
netic properties of many substances. 
He died in Paris, May 13, 1891. 

Bed, in ordinary language, an ar¬ 
ticle of domestic furniture to sleep 
upon. 

In law, a divorce from bed and 
board, is the divorce of a husband and 
wife, to the extent of separating them 
for a time, the wife receiving support, 
under the name of alimony, during 
the severance. 

In mechanics, a bed is the founda¬ 
tion piece or portion of anything on 
which the body of it rests, as the bed 
piece of a steam engine; the lower 
stone of a grinding mill; or the box, 
body, or receptacle of a vehicle. 

Bede, or Bseda, generally known 
as the Venerable Bede, the greatest 
figure in ancient English literature, 
was born near Monkwearmouth, Dur¬ 
ham, about 673. Left an orphan at 
the age of six, he was educated in the 
Benedictine Abbey at Monkwear¬ 
mouth, entering the monastery of Jar- 
row, where he was ordained priest in 
his 30th year. His industry was 
enormous. Bede wrote homilies, lives 
of saints, hymns, epigrams, works on 
grammar and chronology, and the 
great “ Ecclesiastical History of Eng¬ 
land,” in five books, gleaned from na- 








Bede 


Bee 


tive chronicles and oral tradition. 
This was translated from Latin into 
Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred. The 
first editions were issued from Stras- 
burg in the 15th century. He died in 
the monastery of Jarrow, May 26, 
735. 

Bede, Cuthbert, pseudonym of 
Edward Bradley, an English author, 
born in Kidderminster in 1827; died 
in Lenton, Dec. 12, 1889. 

Bedell, Gregory Thurston, an 
American clergyman, born in Hudson, 
N. Y., Aug. 27, 1817; in early life was 
rector of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church of the Ascension, New York 
city. In 1859 he was consecrated As¬ 
sistant Bishop of Ohio, and in 1873 
Bishop of that State. He died in 
New York city, March 11, 1892. 

Bedford, Gunning, an American 
patriot, born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
about 1730; was a lieutenant in the 
French War; entered the Revolution¬ 
ary army with the rank of Major; 
was wounded at White Plains; became 
Muster-Master-General* in 1776; was 
a delegate to the Continental Con¬ 
gress ; and was elected Governor of 
Delaware in 1796. He died in New¬ 
castle, Del., Sept 30, 1797. 

Bedford, Gunning, an Amer¬ 
ican lawyer, born in Philadelphia, 
Pa., in 1747; was graduated at 
Princeton in 1771; became a lawyer; 
acted for a time as aide-de-camp to 
General Washington; represented Del¬ 
aware in the Continental Congress in 
1783-1786; and became Attorney- 
General of the State, and United 
States Judge for the District of Dela¬ 
ware. He died in Wilmington, Del., 
March 30, 1812. 

Bedford, Gunning S., an Amer¬ 
ican physician, born in Baltimore, 
Md., in 1806; introduced into the 
United States obstetrical clinics for 
the gratuitous* treatment of poor 
women. He died in New York city, 
Sept. 5, 1870. 

Bedford Level, an eastern dis¬ 
trict of England, comprising about 
450,000 acres. It was a mere waste of 
fen and marsh, until the time of 
Charles I., when, in 1634, a charter 
was granted to Francis, Earl of Bed¬ 
ford, who undertook to drain the level, 
on condition of being allowed 95,000 
acres of the reclaimed land. He ac¬ 


complished the undertaking at an 
enormous expense, and it now forms 
one of the most fertile and grain-pro¬ 
ductive districts of the kingdom. 

Bedlam, a contraction from Beth¬ 
lehem, a famous English hospital for 
lunatics. 

Bedloe’s Island, an island in 
New York harbor; ceded to the United 
States Government, in 1800; the site 
of Fort Wood, erected in 1841 and 
mounted with 77 guns; now the loca¬ 
tion of Bartholdi’s colossal statue of 
“ Liberty Enlightening the World.” 

Bedmar, Alfonso de la Cueva, 
Marquis of, Cardinal Bishop of Ovie¬ 
do, a Spanish diplomatist, born in 
1572. He was created Cardinal in 
1622, was afterward Spanish gover¬ 
nor of the Netherlands, made himself 
detested by the Flemings, and retired 
to Rome, where he died in 1655. 

Bedouins, a Mohammedan people 
of Arab race, inhabiting chiefly the 
deserts of Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and 
North Africa. They lead a nomadic 
existence in tents, huts, caverns and 
ruins, associating in families under 
sheiks or in tribes under emirs. 

Bee, the common name given to a 
large family of hymenopterous or 
membranous-winged insects, of which 
the most important is the common hive 
or honey bee (apis mellifica). It be¬ 
longs to the warmer parts of the East¬ 
ern Hemisphere, but is now natural¬ 
ized in the Western. A hive com¬ 
monly consists of one mother or queen, 
from 600 to 800 males or drones, and 



DRONE BEE. 

from 15,000 to 20,000 working bees, 
formerly termed neuters, but now 
known to be imperfectly developed fe¬ 
males. The last mentioned, the small¬ 
est, have twelve joints to their anten¬ 
nae, and six abdominal rings, and are 
provided with a sting; there is, on the 






Beech 


Beecher 


outside of the hind legs, a smooth, 
hollow, edged with hairs, called the 
basket, in which the kneaded pollen or 
bee bread, the food of the larvae, is 



QUEEN BEE. 


stored for transit. The queen has the 
same characteristics, but is of larger 
size, especially in the abdomen; she 
has also a sting. The males, or drones, 
differ from both the preceding by hav¬ 
ing 13 joints to the antennae; a 
rounded head with larger eyes, elon¬ 
gated and united at the summit; and 
no stings. The queen has two large 
ovaries, consisting of a great number 
of small cavities, each containing 16 
or 17 eggs. The inferior half-circles, 
except the first and last, on the abdo¬ 
men of working bees, have each on 
their inner surface two cavities, where 
the wax secreted by the bee from its 
saccharine food, is formed in layers, 
and comes out from between the ab¬ 
dominal rings. Respiration takes place 



WORKER BEE. 


by means of air tubes which branch out 
to all parts of the body, the bee being 
exceedingly sensitive to an impure 
atmosphere. Of the organs of sense 
the most important are the antennae, 
deprivation of these resulting in a spe¬ 
cies of derangement. The majority of 
entomologists regard their function as 
in the first place auditory, but they 
are exceedingly sensitive to tactual 
impressions, and are apparently the 
principal means of mutual communi¬ 


cation. Bees undergo perfect meta¬ 
morphosis, the young appearing firs' 
as larvae, then changing to pupae, from 
which the imagos or perfect insecti 
spring. 

The humblebees, or bumblebees, oi 
which over 60 species are found ir 
North America, belong to the genus 
bombus, which is almost world wide in 
its distribution. Of these species soli¬ 
tary females which have survived the 
winter, commence constructing small 
nests when the weather begins to be 
warm enough; some of them going 
deep into the earth in dry banks, oth¬ 
ers preferring heaps of stone or gravel, 
and others choosing always some bed 
of dry moss. In the nest the bee col¬ 
lects a mass of pollen and in this lays 



ROYAL CELLS. 

some eggs. The cells in these nests are 
not the work of the old bee, but are 
forfhed by the young insects similarly 
to the cocoons of silk worms; and when 
the perfect insect is released from 
them by the old bee, which gnaws off 
their tops, they are employed as 
honey-cups. The humblebees, how¬ 
ever, do not store honey for the win¬ 
ter, those which survive till the cold 
weather leaving the nest and penetrat¬ 
ing the. earth, or taking up some other 
sheltered position, and remaining there 
till the spring. 

Beech, a tree. The wood is brittle 
and not very lasting, yet it is used by 
turners, joiners, and millwrights. The 
fine thin bark is employed for making 
baskets and band-boxes. 

Beecher, Catherine Esther, an 
American author and educator, daugh¬ 
ter of Lyman, and sister of Henry 
Ward Beecher, born in Easthampton, 
L. I., Sept. 6, 1800. The latter 
part of her life was devoted to 









Beecher 


Beers 


training teachers and supplying them 
to needy fields, especially in the West¬ 
ern and Southern States. She wrote 
numerous works on education and on 
the woman question. She died in El¬ 
mira, N. Y., May 12, 1878. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, an Amer¬ 
ican clergyman, born in Litchfield, 
Conn., June 24, 1813. He was the 
son of Lyman Beecher; graduated 
from Amherst # in 1834; studied in 
Lane Theological Seminary, near 
Cincinnati, Ohio; and began clerical 
duty as pastor of a church in Law- 
renceburg, Ind., removing to Indian¬ 
apolis in 1839. From 1847 until his 
death he was Pastor of Plymouth 
Congregational Church in Brooklyn. 
He was one of the founders of the 
“ Independent ” and of the “ Christian 
Union” (now the “Outlook”). He 
was also a prominent anti-slavery ora¬ 
tor, as well as a famous lecturer. He 
died in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 8, 1887. 

Beecher, Lyman, an American 
clergyman, born in New Haven, Conn., 
Oct. 2, 1775. His ancestors were Pu¬ 
ritans. He graduated from Yale in 
1796, and became pastor of the Pres¬ 
byterian Church in East Hampton, 
L. I.; then of a Congregational church 
in Litchfield, Conn., in 1810; and 
then of the Hanover Street Congrega¬ 
tional Church in Boston, Mass. In 
1832 he became President of Lane 
Theological Seminary, near Cincin¬ 
nati, Ohio. His influence throughout 
the country was very great, especially 
on the questions of temperance and of 
slavery. His “ Six Sermons on In¬ 
temperance ” had a great effect, and 
have been frequently republished and 
translated into many languages. His 
sermon on the death of Alexander 
Hamilton, in 1804, with his “ Remedy 
for Dueling” (1809), did much 
toward breaking up the practice of 
dueling in the United States. He died 
in Brooklyn, N. Y., June 10, 1863. 

Beecher, Thomas Kinnicntt, 
an American clergyman, son of Ly¬ 
man, and brother of Henry Ward 
Beecher, born in Litchfield, Conn., 
Feb. 10, 1824. He became pastor in 
Brooklyn in 1852, and in Elmira, N. 
Y., in 1854. He was a very success¬ 
ful lecturer and an effective writer on 
current topics. He died in Elmira, 
N. Y., March 14, 1900. 

E. 16. 


Beechey, Frederick William, 

an English naval officer, born in Lon¬ 
don, Feb. 17, 1796. He died in Lon¬ 
don, Nov. 29, 1856. Beechey Island 
in the Arctic Archipelago was named 
after him. 

Bee Eater, in the singular the 
English name of a genus of birds, 
more fully called the yellow throated 
bee eater of Africa. 

Beelzebub. (1) The fly-god, a god 
worshipped in the Philistine town of 
Ekron. (II. Kings i: 3) (2) An evil 

spirit. (3) Any person of fiendish 
cruelty, who is nicknamed by his ad¬ 
versaries, or, in contempt of moral 
sentiment, appropriates the appella¬ 
tion to himself and cherishes it as if 
it were an honorable title. 

Beer, an alcoholic drink made from 
the malted grains of barley, boiled with 
hops and then fermented with yeast. 
The manufacture of ale or beer is of 
very high antiquity. Herodotus ascribes 
the invention of brewing to Isis, and 
it was certainly practised in Egypt. 
Xenophon mentions it as being used in 
Armenia, and the Gauls were early ac¬ 
quainted with it. Pliny mentions an 
intoxicating liquor made of corn and 
water as common to all the nations of 
the west of Europe, and in England 
ale-booths were regulated by law as 
early as the 8th century. A rude pro¬ 
cess of brewing is carried on by many 
uncivilized races; thus chica or maize 
beer is made by the South American 
Indians, millet beer by various Afri¬ 
can tribes, etc. The beers common In 
the United States are: lager beer— 
that is, store beer, the name being 
given to it because it is usually kept 
for four to six months before being 
used. In brewing it the fermentation 
is made to go on rather slowly and at 
a low temperature; Schenk beer, 
brewed in winter for immediate use; 
bock beer, brewed extra strong and 
served during the spring months. The 
alcohol in beer averages about 4 per 
cent. 

Beerbohm-Tree, Herbert, an 

English actor, born in London, in 
1853. In 1897 he opened his new 
theatre, Her Majesty’s, in the Hay- 
market. 

Beers, Henry Augustin, an 

American author, born in Buffalo, N. 




Beersheba 


Beet Sugar 


Y., July 2, 1847. He graduated from 
Yale in 1859; became tutor there in 
1871, and Professor of English Liter¬ 
ature in 1880. 

Beersheba (now Bir-es-Seba, 
“the well of the oath”), the place 
where Abraham made a covenant with 
Abimelech, and in common speech, 
representative of the southernmost 
limit of Palestine, near which it is sit¬ 
uated. It is now a mere heap of rums 
near two large and five smaller wells, 
though it was a place of some impor¬ 
tance down to the period of the cru¬ 
sades. 

Beet, a genus of plants distin¬ 
guished by its fruit being inclosed in a 
tough woody or spongy five-lobed en¬ 
larged calyx. The garden beet, or 
beet of general cultivation, is of bi¬ 
ennial duration, and has a tender 
fleshy root. Red beet Us principally 
used at table, in salad, boiled, and 
cut into slices, as a pickle, and 
sometimes stewed with onions;. but 
if eaten in great quantity it is 
said to be injurious to the stom¬ 
ach. The beet may be taken out of 
the ground for use about the end of 
August, but it does not attain its full 
size and perfection till the month of 
October. When good it is large and 
of a deep red color, and when boiled 
is tender, sweet, and palatable. 

Beethoven, Ludwig von, one of 
the greatest musical composers of 
modern times, was born in Bonn, in 
1770. His genius was very early dis¬ 
played, and his musical education was 
begun by his father, and continued by 
the court organist, who introduced him 
to the works of Sebastian Bach and 
Handel. He soon attempted composi¬ 
tion, and showed wonderful facility in 
improvisation. About 1790, he. set¬ 
tled at Vienna, where Mozart quickly 
recognized his marvellous powers. 
When about 40 years of age, he was 
attacked with deafness, which became 
total, and lasted through life. He be¬ 
came, gradually, the victim of mor¬ 
bid irritability and hopeless melan¬ 
choly, ending in confirmed hypochon¬ 
dria, and, finally, dropsy and delirium. 
He continued to compose, however, 
long after he had ceased to hear him¬ 
self play, and received homage and 
honors from all parts of Europe. He 
died unmarried, in Vienna, March 26, 


1827. Vast power, intense passion, 
and infinite tenderness are manifested 
in all his compositions, which abound 
no less in sweetest melodies than in 
grand and complicated harmonies. A 
statue of Beethoven, by Hulmel, was 
erected at Bonn, in 1845. 

Beet Sugar, the sugar obtained 
from the beet; similar to cane sugar, 
but inferior in sweetening power. Beet 
root contains an average of about 10 
per cent, of saccharine matter; sugar 
cane, 18 per cent. Of the varieties, 
the white Selvig beet is richest. 

Of the 985,568,640 pounds of sugar 
produced in the United States in 1901, 
about one-third was from beets and 
two-thirds from cane, and of the 599,- 
774,613 pounds of beet sugar imported, 
484,344,004 pounds came unrefined. 
The annual statement of the American 
Beet Sugar Company furnishes ample 
proof of the advance which has. been 
made by the beet sugar industry in the 
United States. In 1880 the domestic 
production of beet sugar was 357 tons, 
and in 1901 it had increased to 124,- 
859 tons, a gain in 20 years of nearly 
350 per cent. 

In 1901 there were 52 beet sugar 
factories in the United States and 
Canada, each having a daily capacity 
of from 350 to 3,000 tons. Of these, 
17 were situated in the State of Mich¬ 
igan, 15 in the West, 4 in the Middle 
West, 10 in the States bordering on 
the Pacific coast, 2 in New York 
State, and 4 in Canada. 

The beet sugar production of the 
world in 1901-1902 was 6,825,000 
tons; Germany led with 2,295,000 
tons; Austria, France, and Russia fol¬ 
lowed next, with 1,320,000, 1,200,000, 
and 1,060,000 tons respectively. The 
cane sugar output was in 1901-1902, 
3,530,000 tons. Cuba produced 800,- 
000 tons; Porto Rico, 80,000; Brazil, 
235,000; Java, 720,000; United States, 
450,000; Peru, 120,000; Hawaii, 340,- 
000 . 

The beet sugar industry was started 
by Marggraf, in Germany, in 1747, 
who was the first to discover that 
sugar could be extracted from the com¬ 
mon beet. The first factory for its 
manufacture was erected by Archard, 
at Kunern, in Silesia, in 1802. Na¬ 
poleon issued an imperial decree in 
the early part of his reign establish¬ 
ing this industry in France, and in 









Beetle 


Behistnn 


1812 he ordered the building of 10 fac¬ 
tories and placed Delessert in charge 
of their construction. In 1830 at¬ 
tempts were made in the United States 
to introduce the cultivation of the 
sugar beet. It was not, however, till 
1876 that the first successful beet 
sugar factory was built, being erected 
in Alvarado, Cal. 

Beetle, a name often used as syn¬ 
onymous with the term Coleoptera, 
but restricted by others to include all 
those insects that have their wings 
protected by hard cases or sheaths, 
called elytra. Beetles vary in size from 
a mere point to the bulk of a man’s 
fist, the largest, the elephant beetle of 
S. America, being 4 inches long. The 
so called ‘black beetles’ are not prop¬ 
erly beetles at all, but cockroaches, 
and of the order Orthoptera. 

Beggars, a term first applied to 
the 300 Protestant deputies under 
Henri de Brederode and Louis de Nas¬ 
sau, who protested against the estab¬ 
lishment of the Inquisition in Holland, 
in April, 1566. The Dutch patriots 
assumed this designation when they 
rebelled against Spain in 1572. 

Beghards, Beguards, or Be- 
gards, various spellings of a name 
said by some to be derived from their 
begging favor from God in Drayer, and 
to the fact that they were religious 
mendicants. 

Begonia, an extensive genus of suc¬ 
culent-stemmed herbaceous plants, or¬ 
der Begoniaceae, with fleshy oblique 
leaves of various colors, and showy 
unisexual flowers, the whole perianth 
colored. Tfiey readily hybridize, and 
many fine varieties have been raised 
from the tuberous-rooted kinds. From 
the shape of their leaves they have 
been called elephant’s ear. Almost all 
the plants of the order are tropical. 

Beguines, Begnins, or Begni- 

nae. Associations of praying women 
which arose in the Netherlands in the 
13th century, the first being formed 
at Nivelles, in Brabant, in a. d. 1226, 
and spread rapidly in the adjoining 
countries. They used to weave cloth, 
live together under a directress, and 
leave on being married, or indeed 
whenever they pleased. They still ex¬ 
ist in some of the Belgian towns, 
notably at Ghent, where they are re¬ 
nowned as makers of lace, though un¬ 


der different rules from those formerly 
observed. 

Begum (a feminine form corre¬ 
sponding to beg, or bey), an Indian 
title of honor equivalent to princess, 
conferred on the mothers, sisters, or 
wives of native rulers. The Begum 
of Oudh is well known in Indian his¬ 
tory. 

Behaim, or Behem, Martin, a 

German mathematician and astrono¬ 
mer, born in Nuremberg about 1430. 
He colonized the Island of Fayal, 
where he remained for several years, 
and assisted in the discovery of the 
other Azores; was afterward knighted, 
and returned to his native country, 
where, in 1492, he constructed a ten 
restrial globe, still preserved. He died 
in Lisbon in 1506. 

Behemoth, the animal described 
in Job xi: 15-24. It is probably the 
hippopotamus, which, in the time of 
Job, seems to have been found in the 
Nile below the cataracts, though now 
it is said to occur only above them. 
A second opinion entertained is that 
Job’s behemoth was the elephant; 
while a few scholars make the less 
probable conjecture that it was the 
rhinoceros. 



BEGONIA REX. 

Behistun, or Bisutun, a moun¬ 
tain near a village of the same name 
in Persian Kurdistan, celebrated for 
the sculptures and cuneiform inscrip¬ 
tions cut upon one of its sides — a 
rock rising almost perpendicularly to 
the height of 1,700 feet. These works, 
which stand about 300 feet from the 
ground, were executed by the orders 




Be hm 


Bel and the Dragon 


of Darius I., King of Persia, and set 
forth his genealogy and victories. To 
receive the inscriptions, the rock was 
carefully polished and coated with a 
hard, siliceous varnish. Their prob¬ 
able date is about 515 b. c. They were 
first copied and deciphered by Rawlin- 
son. 

B chin, Ernst, a German geog¬ 
rapher, born in Gotha, Jan. 4, 1830; 
died in Gotha, March 15, 1884. 

Behn, Aphra, or Afra, or Aph- 
ara, an English author; born in 
Wye, in 1640. Early in life she spent 
several years in the West Indies, 
where she met the Indians, who be¬ 
came the model of her famous “ Oroo- 
noko.” She was the first woman 
writer in England who earned a live¬ 
lihood by her pen. She died in Lon¬ 
don, April 16, 1689. 

Behring, another spelling of Ber¬ 
ing. 

Beissel, Johann Conrad, a Ger¬ 
man mystic, born in Eberbach, in 
1690. He settled in Pennsylvania in 
1720, and established the German 
Seventh-Day Baptists, at Ephrata, in 
1728. He died in Ephrata, in 1768. 

Beit, Alfred, So. African finan¬ 
cier, b. Hamburg, 1853, d. London, 
July 16, 1906. He was associated 
with Cecil Rhodes (q. v.) and left an 
immense fortune in benefactions. 

Beitzke, Heinrich Ludwig, a 
German historian, born in Muttrin, 
Feb. 15, 1798; died in Berlin, May 10, 
1867. 

Bejapoor, a ruined city of Hin¬ 
dustan, in the Bombay Presidency, 
one of the largest cities in India until 
its capture by Aurungzebe in 1686. 
The ruins are chiefly Mohammedan, 
the principal being Mahomet Shah’s 
tomb, with a dome visible for 14 miles. 
Pop. 13,245. 

Beke, Charles Tilstone, an 

English geographer, explorer, and au¬ 
thor, born in London, Oct. 10, 1800. 
In 1834 he published “ Origines Bib- 
licse; or, Researches in Primeval His¬ 
tory,” one of the first attempts to 
reconstruct historv on the principles 
of the young science of geology. He 
explored Abyssinia, Godjam and the 
countries lying to the W. and S., pre¬ 
viously almost entirely unknown to 
Europeans. He died in London, July 


Bekker, Immanuel, a German 

scholar distinguished by his recensions 
of the texts of Greek classics, born in 
Berlin, May 21, 1785; died in Berlin, 
June 7, 1871. 

Bel, in Accadian, Assyrian and Bab¬ 
ylonian mythology, a god; mentioned 
in Scripture, in Is. xlvi: 1; Jer. 1: 2, 
li: 44; in the Septuagint, in Baruch 
vi: 40, and in the apocryphal addi¬ 
tions to the Book of Daniel, as well 
as by classical authors. It has 
been discovered that, prior to 1600 
b. c., the highly interesting Turan¬ 
ian people called Accadians, the in¬ 
ventors of the cuneiform writing, 
who wielded extensive authority in 
Western Asia before the Semitic As¬ 
syrians and Babylonians had come 
into notice, worshipped as their 
first triad of gods, Anu, ruling over 
the heaven; Elu, Belu, or Bel, over 
the earth; and Ea, over the sea. Bel’s 
three children, or three of his children, 
were Shamas, the sun-god; Sin, the 
moon-god; and Ishtar, the Accadian 
Venus. Sayce shows that some first 
born children were vicariously offered 
in sacrifice by fire to the sun-god. 
From the Accadians, human sacrifice 
passed to various Semitic tribes and 
nations. Bel’s name Elu identifies him 
with the Phoenician El, who, in a time 
of trouble, offered his first born son, 
“ the beloved,” on a high place, by 
fire. It is not settled whether or not 
Bel was the same also as the Phoeni¬ 
cian Baal. To the wrath of Bel the 
deluge was attributed. In Scripture 
times he was known exclusively as a 
Babylonian divinity, being distinguish¬ 
ed from both Nebo and Merodach. 
In the later Babylonian Empire, how¬ 
ever, Merodach came to be generally 
identified with Bel, though sometimes 
distinguished from him, being called 
“ the lesser Bel.” 

Bel and the Dragon, one of the 

books of the Apocrypha, or, more pre¬ 
cisely, certain apocryphal chapters ad¬ 
ded to the canonical Book of Daniel. 
The Jews consider them as no part of 
their Scriptures. They were penned 
probably by an Alexandrian Jew, the 
language used being not Hebrew, nor 
Aramaean, but Greek. The Church of 
Rome accepts Bel and the Dragon as 
part of the Holy Scripture; most, if 
not all, Protestant churches reject it. 
The story of Bel and the Dragon tells 





Belcher 


Belgium 


how Daniel enlightened Cyrus, who is 
represented as having been a devout 
worshiper of Bel, by proving that the 
immense supplies of food laid before 
the idol were really consumed, not by 
it or by the inhabiting divinity, but 
by the priests and their families. On 
Cyrus urging that the dragon, also 
worshipped, was at least a living God, 
Daniel poisoned it, for which he was 
thrown into a lions’ den, where the 
Prophet Habakkuk fed him. Ulti¬ 
mately he was released, and his perse¬ 
cutors put to death. 

Belcher, Sir Edward, an Eng¬ 
lish naval officer, born in 1799. 
Knighted in 1843, and for five years 
employed on surveying service in 
the East Indies, he was, in 1852 
appointed to the command of the 
unfortunate expedition sent out by 
the government to search for Sir 
John Franklin. He died March 18, 
1877. Belcher Channel, an inlet of 
Jones’ Sound (Baffins Bay), is named 
from him, its discoverer. 

Belem, a town in Portugal, W. of 
Lisbon; noted for a monastery found¬ 
ed in 1500, to commemorate the voy¬ 
age of Vasco da Gama, and now used 
as an orphan asylum. 

Belemnite, a genus of fossil 
chambered shells. 

Belfast, a seaport and municipal 
and parliamentary borough of Ireland 
(in 1888 declared a city), principal 
town of Ulster, and county town of 
Antrim, built on low, alluvial land on 
the left bank of the Lagan, at the 
head of Belfast Lough. Previous to 
about 1830 the cotton manufacture 
was the leading industry of Belfast, 
but nearly all the mills have been con¬ 
verted to flax spinning. The iron ship¬ 
building trade is also of importance, 
and there are breweries, distilleries, 
flour mills, oil mills, foundries, print 
works, tan yards, chemical works, 
rope works, etc. The commerce is 
large. An extensive direct trade is 
carried on with British North Amer¬ 
ica, the Mediterranean, France, Bel¬ 
gium, Holland, and the Baltic, besides 
ports of the British Islands. Belfast 
is comparatively a modern town. It 
returns four members to Parliament. 
Pop. (1901) 348,876. 

Belgium, a kingdom of Europe, 
bounded N. by Holland, N. W. by the 


North Sea, W. and S. by France, and 
E. by the duchy of Luxemburg, Rhen¬ 
ish Prussia, and Dutch Limburg; 
greatest length, 165 miles; greatest 
breadth, 120 miles; area, about 11,400 
square miles. For administrative pur¬ 
poses it is divided into nine provinces 
— Antwerp, South Brabant, East 
Flanders, West Flanders, Hainaut, 
Liege, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Na¬ 
mur. Pop. (1902) 6,896,079. 

The greater part of the country is 
well adapted for agricultural opera¬ 
tions, and the inhabitants have so hap¬ 
pily availed themselves of their nat¬ 
ural advantages that they early began, 
and in some respects still deserve, to 
be regarded as the model farmers of 
Europe. 

The mineral riches of Belgium are 
great, and, after agriculture, form the 
most important of her national inter¬ 
ests. They are almost entirely con¬ 
fined to the four provinces of Hainaut, 
Liege, Namur, and Luxemburg, and 
consist of lead, manganese, calamine 
or zinc, iron, and coal. All these 
minerals, however, are insignificant 
compared with those of iron and coal. 
The coal field has an area of above 
500 square miles. The export is about 
5,000,000 tons, forming one of the 
largest and most valuable of all the 
Belgian exports, and employing about 
125,000 persons. Nearly the whole of 
this coal is taken by France. 

The industrial products of Belgium 
are very numerous, and the superiority 
of many of them to those of most oth¬ 
er countries is confessed. The fine 
linens of Flanders, and lace of South 
Brabant are of European reputation. 
Scarcely less celebrated are the car¬ 
pets and porcelain of Toumay, the 
cloth of Verviers, the extensive foun¬ 
dries, machine works, and other iron 
and steel establishments of Liege, Se- 
raing, and other places. The cotton 
and woolen manufactures, confined 
chiefly to Flanders and the province 
of Antwerp, have advanced greatly. 
Other manufactures include silks, 
beet sugar, beer. There were 17 pig 
iron works in operation in 1899; 46 
iron manufactories; 15 steel works; 
123 sugar factories; and 25 refineries; 
and 240 distilleries. 

The railways have a length of about 
2,900 miles, three-fourths belonging to 
the State. The value of the general 




Belgium 


Belgium 


commerce in 1900 was: Imports, 3,- 
594,425,067 francs, and exports, 3,297,- 
509,775 francs; imports for home 
consumption, 2,215,700,000 francs; 
exports of Belgian produce and manu¬ 
factures, 1,922,900,000 francs; transit 
trade, 1,374,600,000 francs. 

The Belgian population is the dens¬ 
est in Europe, and is composed of two 
distinct races — Flemish, who are of 
German, and Walloons, who are of 
French extraction. 

Almost the entire population belong 
to the Roman Catholic Church. Prot¬ 
estantism is fully tolerated, and even 
salaried by the State, but cannot 
count above a mere fraction (some 
10,000) of the population among its 
adherents. Education is in a very un¬ 
satisfactory state. At the census of 
1890 nearly 27 per cent, of the popu¬ 
lation above 15 years of age could 
neither read nor write. French is the 
official language of Belgium and in 
general use among the educated class¬ 
es, and there can scarcely be said to 
be a national literature. 

The Belgian constitution combines 
monarchical with a strong infusion of 
the democratic principle. The execu¬ 
tive power is vested in a hereditary 
king; the legislative in the king and 
two chambers — the Senate and the 
Chamber of Representatives — the for¬ 
mer elected for eight years, the latter 
for four, but one-half of the former 
renewable every four years, and one- 
half of the latter every two years. The 
senators are elected partly directly, 
partly indirectly (by the provincial 
councils), and must be 40 years of 
age. Their numbers depend on popu¬ 
lation. The deputies or representatives 
are elected directly, one for every 40,- 
000 inhabitants at most. The army is 
raised by conscription, to which every 
able man who has completed his 19th 
year is liable, and also by voluntary 
enlistment. The peace strength of the 
army in 1899 amounted to 51,270 offi¬ 
cers and men; in time of war the total 
strength is about 140,000 men. Be¬ 
sides this standing army there is a 
garde civique, numbering about 43,000 
men in time of peace, in addition to 
which there are 90,000 non-active men 
belonging to this force. The navy is 
confined to a few steamers and a small 
flotilla of gunboats. 

After being for centuries under 


Spanish, Austrian and French dom¬ 
ination, Belgium was united by the 
Congress of Vienna to Holland, under 
the title of the kingdom of the Nether¬ 
lands. A most injudicious measure 
of the Dutch government, an at¬ 
tempt to assimilate the language of 
the provinces by prohibiting the use 
of French in the courts of justice, 
excited an opposition, which, en¬ 
couraged by the success of the French 
revolution of 1830, broke out into 
revolt. The electoral system, more¬ 
over, gave the preponderance to the 
N. provinces, though inferior in 
population, and the interests of the 
provinces were diametrically opposed 
in matters of taxation. Belgium 
was agricultural and manufacturing, 
Holland commercial; the one wished 
to tax imports and exports, the other 
property and industry. In the cham¬ 
bers three different languages were 
spoken, Dutch, German, and French; 
and the members frequently did not 
understand each other. Nothing but 
the most skillful government could 
have overcome these difficulties, and 
no statesman appeared fitted to 
grapple with them. The revolutionary 
movement became general in the S., 
and the Dutch troops, at first success¬ 
ful before Brussels, were finally re¬ 
pulsed, and compelled by the arrival 
of fresh bands of insurgents from all 
quarters to retire. The Flemings sa¬ 
luted the volunteers of Liege, Mons, 
and Tournay by the ancient title of 
Belgians, and this name, which prop¬ 
erly distinguished only a section of the 
people of the S. provinces, became 
henceforth recognized as the patriotic 
designation of the whole. 

A convention of the great powers 
assembled in London to determine on 
the affairs of the Netherlands and 
stop the effusion of blood. It favored 
the separation of the provinces, and 
drew up a treaty to regulate it. In 
the meantime the National Congress 
of Belgium offered the crown to the 
Duke of Nemours, second son of Louis 
Philippe, and, on his declining it, they 
offered it, on the recommendation of 
England, to Leopold, Prince of Saxe- 
Coburg, who acceded to it under the 
title of Leopold I., on July 21, 1831. 
In November of the same year the 
five powers guaranteed the crown to 
him by the treaty of London. 





Belgrade 


Belknap 


During the reign of Leopold, a pros¬ 
perous period of 34 years, Belgium 
became a united and patriotic com¬ 
munity. Arts and commerce flour¬ 
ished, and a place was taken in the 
family of nations upon which the Bel¬ 
gian people could look with compla¬ 
cency. On the outbreak of the French 
Revolution qf 1848 Leopold declared 
his willingness to resign the crown if 
it was contrary to the wishes of his 
subjects that he should retain it. This 
declaration disarmed the Republican 
party, and confirmed the stability of 
the monarchy at a critical moment. 
During his reign Belgium concluded 
various treaties of commerce, with 
Great Britain in 1851 and 1SG2, and 
with France in 1861. Leopold II. 
succeeded his father in 1865. In re¬ 
cent years the chief feature of Bel¬ 
gian politics has been a keen struggle 
between the clerical and the liberal 
party. At the elections in June, 1878, 
the liberals gained a majority, which 
they lost in 1884, and failed to re¬ 
gain in 1890. Soon after followed a 
revision of the constitution, and at 
the elections in 1894 the clericals were 
returned with a great majority over 
Liberals and Socialists combined. In 
1885 Leopold II. became sovereign of 
the Kongo Free State. 

Belgrade, a city and capital of 
Servia, on the right bank of the Dan¬ 
ube in the angle formed by the junc¬ 
tion of the Save with that river, con¬ 
sists of the citadel or upper town, on 
a rock 100 feet high; and the lower 
town, which partly surrounds it. Of 
late years many modern improvements 
have been introduced and many fine 
edifices have been built. It man¬ 
ufactures carpets, silks, etc. Since the 
treaty of Berlin (July, 1878) it has 
been the capital of an independent 
State. Pop. (Dec. 31, 1900) 69,097. 

Belisarius, the great general of 
the Roman Emperor Justinian, was 
a native of Illyria. He commanded 
an expedition against the King of 
Persia about 530; suppressed an in¬ 
surrection at Constantinople; con¬ 
quered Gelimer, King of the Vandals, 
and put an end to their dominion in 
Africa; was recalled and honored with 
a triumph. In 535, Belisarius was 
sent to Italy to carry on war with 
the Goths, and took Rome in 537. He 
was there unsuccessfully besieged by 


Vitiges, whom he soon after besieged 
in turn, and captured at Ravenna, but 
was recalled, through jealousy, before 
he had completed the conquest of 
Italy. Belisarius recovered Rome from 
Totilus in 547, and was recalled the 
next year. He was afterward sent 
against the Huns. He was charged, 
in 563, with conspiracy against Jus¬ 
tinian, but was acquitted. That he 
was deprived of sight, and reduced to 
beggary, appears to be a fable of late 
invention. Died in 565. 

Blize, or British Honduras, a 
British colony washed on the E. by 
the Bay of Honduras, in the Carib¬ 
bean Sea, and elsewhere surrounded 
by Guatemala and Mexico. It forms 
the S. E. part of the peninsula of 
Yucatan, and measuring 180 by 60 
miles, has an area of 7,562 square 
miles. Since 1862 Belize has ranked 
as a British colony, with a lieutenant- 
governor, whose rank was raised, in 
1884, to that of governor. Pop. (1901) 
36,998. Belize, the capital, is a depot 
for foreign goods for Central America, 
and has a population of about 6,600. 

Belknap, George Eugene, an 
American naval officer, bom in New¬ 
port, N. H., Jan. 22, 1832; was ap¬ 
pointed midshipman in the navy in 
1852, rose to Rear-Admiral in 1889; 
and was retired in 1894. He took 
part in the capture of the Barrier 
Forts on the Canton river, China, in 
1856; and in the Civil War. In 1873, 
while engaged in deep sea sounding in 
the North Pacific Ocean, he made dis¬ 
coveries concerning the bed of the ocean 
that found high favor among scientists. 
He was appointed Superintendent of 
the United States Naval Observatory 
in 1885. He died in 1903. 

Belknap, William Worth., an 
American military officer, born in 
Newburg, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1829; grad¬ 
uated at Princeton, and read law in 
Keokuk, la., where he was elected to 
the Legislature in 1857. In 1861 he 
entered the Union army as Major of 
the 15th Iowa Volunteers and was 
engaged at Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicks¬ 
burg ; but became most prominent in 
Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. He 
was promoted to Brigadier-General, 
July 30, 1864, and Major-General, 
March 13, 1865. He was collector of 
internal revenue in Iowa from 1865 
to Oct. 13, 1869, when he was ap- 





Bell 


Bell 


pointed Secretary of War, which of¬ 
fice he occupied till March 7, 1876. 
He resigned in consequence of accusa¬ 
tions of official corruption. Subse¬ 
quently he was tried and acquitted. 
He died in Washington, D. C., Oct. 
12, 1890. 

Bell, a hollow, sounding instru¬ 
ment of metal. The metal from which 
bells are usually made (by founding), 
is an alloy, called bell-metal, com¬ 
monly composed of 80 parts of copper 
and 20 of tin. 

Bells, as the term is used on ship¬ 
board, are the strokes of the ship’s 
bell that proclaim the hours. Eight 
bells, the highest number, are rung at 
noon and every fourth hour after¬ 
wards, i. e., at 4, 8, 12 o’clock, and 
so on. The intermediary periods are 
indicated thus: 12:30, 1 bell; 1 

o’clock, 2 bells; 1:30, 3 bells, etc., 
until the eight bells announce 4 
o’clock, when the series recommences 
4:30, 1 bell; 5 o’clock, 2 bells, etc. 
The even numbers of strikes thus al¬ 
ways announce hours, the odd numbers 
half hours. 

Bell, Alexander Graham, in¬ 
ventor of the telephone, was born in 
Edinburgh, March 3, 1847; son of 
Alexander Melville Bell. He was ed¬ 
ucated at Edinburgh and in Germany, 
and settled in Canada in 1870. In 
1872 he came to the United States 
and introduced for the education of 
deaf mutes the system of visible 
speech contrived by his father. He 
became Professor of Vocal Physiology 
in Boston University, and at the Phil¬ 
adelphia Exhibition, in 1876, exhibit¬ 
ed his telephone, designed and partly 
constructed some years before. He 
was also the inventor of the photo¬ 
phone in 1880, of the graphophone in 
1887, and of kindred instruments. 

Bell, Alexander Melville, a 
Scotch elocutionist, born at Edin¬ 
burgh in 1819. He is inventor of the 
system of visible speech, in which all 
the possible articulations of the hu¬ 
man voice have corresponding char¬ 
acters designed to represent the re¬ 
spective positions of the vocal organs. 
This system has been successfully em¬ 
ployed in teaching the deaf and dumb 
to speak. Besides writing on this 
subject he has written on elocution, 
stenography, etc. Died Aug. 7, 1905. 


Bell, Andrew James, a Cana¬ 
dian educator, born in Ottawa, May 
12, 1856; educated at the University 
of Toronto, and at Breslau Universi¬ 
ty ; became Professor of Latin and 
Literature in Victoria University, in 
1889. He is an active member of the 
Canadian Institute, and has contrib¬ 
uted some important papers to its 
“ Transactions.” 

Bell, Benjamin Taylor A., a 

Scotch-Canadian mining expert, born 
in Edinburgh, July 2, 1863; was edu¬ 
cated in Edinburgh; went to Canada 
in 1882. In 1890 he organized the 
General Mining Association of the 
Province, and in 1892 he was instru¬ 
mental in uniting the coal, gold, and 
other mineral interests of Nova Scotia 
into a like organization. 

Bell, Henry, a Scotch engineer, 
born in Linlithgowshire in 1767. In 
1798 he turned his attention es¬ 
pecially to the steamboat, the prac¬ 
ticability of steam navigation hav¬ 
ing been already demonstrated. In 
1812 the “ Comet,” a small 30-ton 
vessel built at Glasgow under Bell’s 
directions, and driven by a three 
horse-power engine made by him¬ 
self, commenced to ply between 
Glasgow and Greenock, and continued 
to run till she was wrecked in 1820. 
This was the beginning of steam navi¬ 
gation in Europe. Bell is also cred¬ 
ited with the invention of the “ dis¬ 
charging machine ” used by calico 
printers. He died in Helensburgh, in 
1830. A monument has been erected 
to his memory at Dunglass Point on 
the Clyde. 

Bell, Henry Haywood, an Amer¬ 
ican naval officer, born in North Caro¬ 
lina, about 1808; was appointed a 
midshipman from that State in 
1823. Shortly after the outbreak 
of the Civil War, he became Fleet 
Captain of the Western Gulf Squad¬ 
ron. He commanded one of the 
three divisions of the fleet which cap¬ 
tured New Orleans, and was sent to 
raise the United States flag over the 
custom house and the city hall. In 
1866 he was promoted to Rear-Ad¬ 
miral; and, in 1867, retired. He was 
drowned at the mouth of the Osaka 
river, Japan, Jan. 11, 1868. 

Bell, Isaac, an American philan¬ 
thropist, born in New York city. Aug. 




Bell 


Bell 


4, 1814; died in New York city, Sept. 
30, 1S97. 

Bell, James Franklin, an Amer¬ 
ican military officer, born in Ken¬ 
tucky, was graduated at the United 
States Military Academy; commis¬ 
sioned Second Lieutenant in the 9th 
Cavalry in 1879; was promoted to 
First Lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry, 
Dec. 29, 1890; and Captain, March 2, 
1899. On July 5, 1899, he was com¬ 
missioned Colonel of the 36th United 
States Infantry, and, in an action 
with the Filipino insurgents near Po- 
rac, Luzon, Sept. 9, following, he so 
signally, distinguished himself that 
President McKinley directed that a 
Congressional medal of honor be pre¬ 
sented to him. Colonel Bell had much 
to do with the establishment of the 
United States War School for Cavalry 
and Light Artillery at Fort Riley, 
Kan., and is considered an exception¬ 
ally skillful cavalry officer. 

Bell, John, an American states¬ 
man, born near Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 
18, 1797; was admitted to the bar in 
1816; member of Congress from 1827 
to 1841; Speaker in 1834, and Secre¬ 
tary of War in 1841. During this 
period he became from an ardent free 
trader, a protectionist and supporter 
of the Whigs, and favored the recep¬ 
tion of petitions for the abolition of 
slavery in the District of Columbia; 
afterward (1858) he vigorously op¬ 
posed the admission of Kansas as a 
slave State. He sat in the United 
States Senate from 1847 to 1859, and, 
in 1860, was nominated for the Presi¬ 
dency by the “ Constitutional Union ” 
Party, but received only 39 electoral 
votes, cast by the States of Tennes¬ 
see, Kentucky and Virginia. He after¬ 
ward took no active share in politics, 
and died at Cumberland Ironworks, 
Sept. 10, 1869. 

Bell, Liberty, a famous bell 
which was rung when the Continental 
Congress declared the independence of 
the United States in 1776. The order 
for founding it was given in 1751. The 
State House of Pennsylvania, in Phil¬ 
adelphia, work on which had been sus¬ 
pended for a number of years, was 
then approaching completion. The 
lower floors were already occupied by 
the Supreme Court in the Chamber, 
while in the other assembled the Free¬ 


men of the Province of Pennsylvania, 
then consisting of one body. A com¬ 
mittee was appointed by the Freemen, 
with Peter Norris as chairman, and 
empowered to have a new bell cast for 
the building. The commission for the 
bell was, in the same year, awarded 
to Robert Charles, of London, the 
specification being that the bell should 
weigh 2,000 pounds and cost £100 
sterling. It was to be made by the 
best workmen, to be examined care¬ 
fully before being shipped, and to con¬ 
tain, in well shaped letters around it, 
the inscription: “ By order of the 
Province of Pennsylvania for the 
State House in the City of Philadel¬ 
phia, 1752.” An order was given to 
place underneath this the prophetic 
words from Leviticus xxv: 10: “ Pro¬ 
claim liberty throughout the land and 
to all the inhabitants thereof.” The 
reason for the selection of this text 
has been a subject of much conjecture, 
but the true reason is apparent when 
the full text is read. It is as follows: 
“ And ye shall hallow the 50th year 
and proclaipa liberty throughout the 
land and to all the inhabitants there¬ 
of.” In selecting the text the Quakers 
had in memory the arrival of William 
Penn and their forefathers more than 
half a century before. In August, 
1752, the bell arrived, but though in 
apparent good order, it was cracked 
by a stroke of the clapper while being 
tested. It was recast successfully, and 
placed in position in June, 1753. Af¬ 
ter the Declaration of Independence it 
rang out the memorable message of 
“ Liberty throughout the land and to 
all the inhabitants thereof.” For 50 
years the bell continued to be rung on 
every festival and anniversary, until 
it eventually cracked. An ineffectual 
attempt was made to cause it to con¬ 
tinue serviceable by enlarging the 
cause of its dissonance and chipping 
the edges. It was removed from its 
position in the tower to a lower story, 
and only used on occasions of public 
sorrow. Subsequently, it was placed 
on the original timbers in the vesti¬ 
bule of the State House, and, in 1873, 
it was suspended in a prominent posi¬ 
tion immediately beneath where a 
larger bell, presented to the city in 
1866, now proclaims the passing 
hours. In 1893 it was taken to Chi- 




Bell 


Belligerent 


cago and placed on exhibition at the 
World’s Columbian Exposition. 

Bell, Lilian, an American novel¬ 
ist, born in Kentucky in 1867. 

Bell, Robert, a Canadian geolo¬ 
gist, born in the township of Toronto, 
Ont., June 3, 1841; author of about 
130 reports and papers, a list of which 
is found in the “ Biblio of the Royal 
Society.” „ 

Bell, Samuel Dana, an Ameri¬ 
can jurist, born in Francestown, N. 
H., Oct. 9, 1798; died in Winchester, 
N. H., July 31, 1868. 

Belladonna, a European plant, 
atropa belladonna, or deadly night¬ 
shade, natural order solanacese. It is 
native in Great Britain. All parts of 
the plant are poisonous, and the in¬ 
cautious eating of the berries has often 
produced death. The inspissated juice 
is commonly known by the name of 
extract of belladonna. It is narcotic 
and poisonous, but is of great value 
in medicine, especially in nervous ail¬ 
ments. It has the property of causing 
the pupil of the eye to dilate. The 
fruit of the plant is a dark, brownish- 
black shining berry. The name signi¬ 
fies beautiful lady, and is said to have 
been given from the use of the plant 
as a cosmetic. 

Bellamy, Edward, an American 
writer, born in Chicopee Falls, Mass., 
March 29, 1850. He was educated in 
Germany; admitted to the bar; was 
on the staff of the “ Evening Post ” of 
New York in 1871-1872; and on his 
return from the Sandwich Islands in 
1877, he founded the Springfield 
“ News.” He is best known by his 
novel “Looking Backward” (1888), 
a socialistic work, of which an im¬ 
mense number of copies were sold in 
two years. He died in Chicopee Falls, 
Mass., May 22, 1898. 

Bellamy, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Whitfield, (Croom), an American 
novelist, writing under the pseudonym 
Kamba Thorpe, born at Quincy, Fla., 
1839. 

Bell Bird, a bird, called also the 
arapunga. It is pure white in color, 
about a foot in length, and has a voice 
like the tolling of a bell. It inhabits 
Guiana. 

Belle de Nuit, a name sometimes 
given to the Marvel of Peru (mira- 


bilis jalapa), sometimes also to cer¬ 
tain tropical American and West In¬ 
dian species of convolvulacese, with 
extremely beautiful and fragrant flow¬ 
ers, which open only during the night. 

Belle - Isle, or Belle - Isle - en 
Mer, a French island in the Bay of 
Biscay, Department of Morbihan, 8 
miles S. of Quiberon Point; length, 11 
miles; greatest breadth, 6 miles. Pop. 
about 10,000, largely engaged in the 
pilchard fishing. The capital is Le 
Palais, on the N. E. coast. 

Belle-Isle, a rocky island 9 miles 
long, at the E. entrance to the Strait 
of Belle-Isle, the channel, 17 miles 
wide, between Newfoundland and the 
coast of Labrador. 

Belle-Isle, an island in the James 
river, near Richmond, Va., where 
Union prisoners were confined during 
the Civil War. 

Belles Lettres, polite, or elegant 
literature: a word of somewhat vague 
signification. Rhetoric, poetry, fiction, 
history, and criticism, with the lan¬ 
guages in which the standard works 
in these departments are written, are 
generally understood to come under 
the head of belles lettres. 

Bellevue, the name of a castle 
near Sevres, built by Madame Pompa¬ 
dour, and destroyed during the French 
revolution; also of a famous castle 
near Cassel, Germany, possessing a 
picture gallery, rich in old masters. 
Also of a well known city hospital in 
New York. 

Bell Flower, the English name 
of the great genus campanula. It is 
so called because the corollas have a 
close resemblance to a bell. 

Belliard, Augustin Daniel, 
Count, a French military officer of 
phenomenal courage, who played an 
active part in all the wars of Napo¬ 
leon I., born in Fontenay-le-Comte, 
March 25, 1769. He died in Brussels, 
Jan. 28, 1832. 

Belligerent, a nation or a large 
section of a nation engaged in carry¬ 
ing on war. When a revolted party 
of great numerical strength are able 
to form a regular government and rule 
over the whole, or part of the territory 
which they claim, humanity dictates 
that they should not be treated as 
rebels guilty of treason, but should, 
if captured, be regarded as prisoners 




Beilin 


Bellows 


of war. To attain this result, it is 
needful for those who have risen in 
arms against the government to make 
every effort to obtain for their party 
the position of belligerents. In the 
contest between the Federals and Con¬ 
federates, in the war of 1861-1865, 
the latter section of the American 
people, at the very commencement of 
the struggle, claimed the privilege of 
belligerents. Their demand was 
promptly acceded to by the British 
Government, on which the Federal 
authorities took umbrage, contending 
that the recognition had been prema¬ 
ture, jvhile the British maintained 
that it could not have been refused or 
delayed. 

Beilin, Jacques Nicolas, the 

first hydrographic engineer in the ma¬ 
rine service of France, and the author 
of several excellent geographical 
works. He died in Versailles, March 
21, 1772. 

Bellingham, Richard, an Eng¬ 
lish colonial governor, born in 1592; 
arrived in Boston in 1634, and in the 
following year became deputy gover¬ 
nor of Massachusetts. In 1641 he was 
candidate for governor against Win- 
throp, and was elected; was re-elected 
in 1654 and 1665; and held the gover¬ 
norship at the time of his death. In 
1664 he refused to go to England at 
the command of the King, to defend 
his administration. He became Major- 
General in the same year. He died 
Dec. 7, 1672. 

Bellini, the name of a Venetian 
family which produced several re¬ 
markable painters. Giovanni Belli¬ 
ni, born in 1426, died in 1512, was 
the founder of the older Venetian 
school of painting, and contributed 
greatly to its progress. His best works 
are altar pieces. 

Bellinzona, a town of Switzer¬ 
land, capital of the canton of Ticino; 
charmingly situated on the left bank 
of the Ticino, about 5 miles from its 
embouchure in in the N. end of Lago 
Maggiore. It occupies a position of 
great military importance. 

Bellman, Carl Michael, a Swe¬ 
dish poet, born in Stockholm, Feb. 4, 
1740. His poems were often improvisa¬ 
tions, and the airs of his songs were 
largely of his own composition. As 
singer of the rollicking life of a capi¬ 


tal city, he is unsurpassed. A colossal 
bronze bust of Bellman, by Bystrom, 
was erected in the Zoological Garden 
at Stockholm in 1829, and there a 
popular festival is held yearly in his 
honor. He died in Stockholm, Feb. 
11, 1795. • 

Bello, Andres, a Spanish-Ameri- 
can diplomatist and author, born in 
Caracas, Venezuela, Nov. 30, 1780. 
From 1810 to 1828 he represented 
Venezuela in London; in 1829, became 
an official of the Bureau of Finance; 
in 1834, Minister of Foreign Affairs 
for Chile; in 1842, the first rector of 
Santiago University. He was the au¬ 
thor of “ Principles of International 
Law” (1832), and his entire works 
were printed after his death at the 
expense of the State. He died in San¬ 
tiago, Chile, Oct. 15, 1865. 

Bellona, the goddess of war, and 
sister or wife, or sister-wife and chari¬ 
oteer of Mars. 

Bellot, Joseph Rene, a French 
naval officer, born in Paris in 1826. 
In 1851 he joined the expedition to 
the Polar regions in search of Sir 
John Franklin, and took part in sev¬ 
eral explorations. He was drowned 
in an attempt to carry despatches to 
Sir Edward Belcher over the ice, in 
1853. His diary was published in 
1855. 

Bellot Strait, the passage on the 
N. coast of North America, which 
separates North Somerset from Boo¬ 
thia Felix, and connects Prince Re¬ 
gent Inlet with Franklin Channel. Its 
E. entrance was discovered in 1852 by 
Lieut. Joseph Rene Bellot. 

Bellows, an instrument for blow¬ 
ing the fire in manufactories, forges or 
private houses. 

Bellows, Albert F., an American 
painter born in Milford, Mass., Nov. 
20, 1829; was one of the first to suc¬ 
ceed with water colors. He died in 
Auburndale, Mass., Nov. 24, 1883. 

Bellows, Henry Whitney, an 
American Unitarian clergyman and 
writer, born at Walpole, N. H., June 
11, 1814; became pastor of All Souls 
Church, New York, 1839; was chief 
founder and long editor of the “ Chris¬ 
tian Inquirer” (1846); chief origi¬ 
nator of the United States Sanitary 
Commission, and its President during 
the Civil War (1861-1865). He was 






Bellows Fish 


Beloit College 


an effective preacher and public speak¬ 
er. He died in New York, Jan. 30, 
1882. 

Bellows Fish, called also the trum¬ 
pet fish or sea snipe. It is 4 or 5 
inches long, and has an oblong, oval 
body and a tubular elongated snout, 
which is adapted for drawing from 
among sea-weed and mud the minute 
Crustacea on which it feeds. 

Bell Rock, or Inch Cape, a dan¬ 
gerous reef surmounted by a light¬ 
house, situated in the German Ocean, 
about 12 miles from Arbroath, nearly 
opposite the mouth of the river Tay. 
It is said that in former ages the 
monks of Aberbrothock caused a bell 
to be fixed on this reef, which was 
rung by the waves, and warned the 
mariners of this dangerous place. The 
reef is partly uncovered during the ebb 
tides. 

Bell-Smith, Frederic Marlett, 

an English artist, born in London, 
Sept. 26, 1846; went to Canada in 
1866. He was for seven years Art Di¬ 
rector at Alma College, St. Thomas, 
and teacher of drawing in the public 
schools of London, Ont. About 1888 
he became a portrait and figure paint¬ 
er; but he is best known as a painter 
of landscapes. 

Belmont, a town in the E. part 
of Cape Colony, midway between 
Orange River Junction and Kimber¬ 
ley. It was the scene of one of the 
earliest engagements in the war of 
1899-1900, between the Boers and the 
British under Gen. Lord Methuen. 
The town was attacked by the British 
on Nov. 23, 1899, while on the march 
to the relief of Kimberley, and the 
battle resulted in a victory for them. 
Two days later Lord Methuen took 
Graas Pan, 10 miles N. of Belmont, 
after again defeating the Boers. 

Belmont, August, an American 
banker, born in Alzey, Germany; ed¬ 
ucated at Frankfort, and was appren¬ 
ticed to the Rothschild’s banking 
house in that city when 14 years old. 
In 1837 he went to Havana to take 
charge of the firm’s interests, and soon 
afterward was sent to New York city, 
where he established himself in the 
banking business and as the represent¬ 
ative of the Rothschilds. He was 
Consul-General of Austria, in 1844- 
1850; became Charge d’Affaires at 


The Hague in 1853; and was Minis¬ 
ter-Resident there in 1854-1858. He 
was a delegate to the Democratic Na¬ 
tional Convention in 1860, and when 
a portion of the delegates withdrew 
and organized the convention in Balti¬ 
more, he was active in that body, and 
through it became Chairman of the 
National Democratic Committee, an 
office he held till 1872. He was an 
active worker in the party till 1876, 
when he closed his political career. 
He died in New York city, Nov. 24, 
1890. 

Belmont, August, an American 
banker, born in New York city, Feb. 
18, 1853; son of the preceding. He 
was graduated at Harvard University 
in 1875; at once entered his father’s 
banking house, and on the death of 
his father became head of the firm of 
August Belmont & Co., also repre¬ 
senting the European banking firm of 
the Rothschilds. In February, 1900, 
he organized the Rapid Transit Sub¬ 
way Construction Company to back 
John B. McDonald, who had been 
awarded the $35,000,000 contract for 
the construction of a rapid transit 
system in New York city, which, it is 
stated, will be in operation in March, 
1904. 

Belmont, Perry, an American 
lawyer, born in New York, Dec. 28, 
1851; son of August Belmont; grad¬ 
uated at Harvard University in 1872, 
and at Columbia College Law School 
in 1876; was admitted to the bar and 
practiced in New York till 1881, when 
he was elected as a Democrat to Con¬ 
gress, and served till 1887, being a 
member of the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs. In 1885 he was appointed 
Chairman of the Committee on For¬ 
eign Affairs, and in 1888 United 
States Minister to Spain. In 1889 he 
was a commissioner to the Universal 
Exposition in Paris, and for his ser¬ 
vices received from the President of 
France, in 1890, the decoration of 
Commander of the Legion of Honor. 
He was one of the principals in the 
execution of the great contract for the 
construction of a rapid transit sys¬ 
tem in New York city, in February, 
1900, becoming bondsman for the 50- 
year, continuing bond for $1,000,000. 

Beloit College, a co-educational 
(non-sectarian) institution in Beloit, 





Belshazzar 


Ben 


Wis.; it was organized in 1847 by the 
Congregational and Presbyterian 
Churches. 

Belshazzar, the last of the Baby¬ 
lonian kings, who reigned conjointly 
with his father Nabonadius. He per¬ 
ished b. c. 538, during the successful 
storming of Babylon by Cyrus. 

Belt, in astronomy, a varying num¬ 
ber of dusky, belt-like bands or zones 
encircling the planet Jupiter parallel 
to his equator, as if the clouds of his 
atmosphere had been forced into a 
series of parallels through the rapidity 
of his "dotation, and the dark body of 
the planet was seen through the com¬ 
paratively clear spaces between. 

In physical geography, two pas¬ 
sages or straits connecting the Baltic 
with the German Ocean, viz. (a) the 
Great Belt, between the islands of 
Seeland and Laland on the N. and 
Fuhnen and Langeland, on the W. 
(b) The Little Belt, between the 
mainland of Denmark on the W., and 
the island of Fuhnen on the E. 

Beltane, a superstitious observ¬ 
ance now or formerly practiced among 
the Scottish and Irish Celts, as well 
as in Cumberland and Lancashire. 
The Scotch observe the Beltane festi¬ 
val chiefly on the 1st of May (old 
style), though in the W. of that coun¬ 
try St. Peter’s Day, June 29, was pre¬ 
ferred. In Ireland there were two 
Beltanes, one on the 1st of May, and 
the other on the 21st of June. The 
ceremonies varied in different places, 
but one essential part of them every¬ 
where was to light a fire. At Cal¬ 
lander, in Perthshire, the boys went 
to the moors, cut a table out of sods, 
sat round it, lit a fire, cooked and ate 
a custard, baked an oatmeal cake, di¬ 
vided it into equal segments, black¬ 
ened one of these, drew lots, and then 
compelled the boy who drew out the 
blackened piece to leap three times 
through the fire. Merry-makings came 
at length to attend the Beltane festi¬ 
val. 

Beluga, a species of fish—the 
great or Hausen, sturgeon. It is 
sometimes 12 to 15 feet in length, and 
weighs 1,200 pounds, or in rare cases 
even 3,000. The best isinglass is made 
from its swimming bladder. Its flesh, 
though sometimes eaten, is occasional¬ 
ly unwholesome. It is found in the 


Caspian and Black Seas and the large 
rivers which flow into them. The 
word is also applied to a cetacean. It 
is called also the white whale. It is 
from 18 to 21 feet in length, and in¬ 
habits Davis Straits and the other 
portions of the Northern Seas, and 
sometimes ascends rivers. 

Belus, the Roman name of the 
Assyrian and Babylonian divinity 
called Bel in Isaiah xlvi: 1. 

Belus, a Phoenician river at the 
base of Mt. Carmel. Its fine sand, 
according to tradition, first led the 
Phoenicians to the invention of glass. 

Belus, Temple of, an enormous 
temple in ancient Babylon, rebuilt by 
Nebuchadnezzar, about 604 b. c. Its 
site is thought, by some authorities, 
to be the modern Bers-Nimrud, and by 
others, Babil. 

Belvedere, in architecture the up¬ 
permost story of a building open to 
the air, at least on one side, and fre¬ 
quently on all, for the purpose of ob¬ 
taining a view of the country and for 
enjoying cool air. A portion of the 
Vatican has this name. 

Bembo, Pietro, an Italian schol¬ 
ar, born at Venice in 1470. Pope 
Paul III. conferred on him, 1539, the 
hat of a cardinal, and soon after the 
bishoprics of Gubbio and Bergamo. 
He died in 1547. 

Bemis, Edward Webster, an 

American economist, born in Spring- 
field, Mass., April 7, 1860; graduated 
at Amherst College in 1880. In 1897 
he became Professor of Economical 
Science in the Kansas State Agricul¬ 
tural College. 

Bemis (incorrectly Bemtjs) 
Heights, a village in Saratoga coun¬ 
ty, N. Y., on the Hudson river, fam¬ 
ous as the scene of the first battle of 
Stillwater, Sept. 19, 1777. 

Ben (Hebrew, “son”), a prepos¬ 
itive syllable signifying in composition 
“ son of,” found in many Jewish 
names, as Bendavid, Benasser, etc. 
Beni, the plural, occurs in several 
modern names, and in the names of 
many Arabian tribes. 

Ben, a Gaelic word signifying 
mountain, prefixed to the names of 
many mountains in Scotland N. of the 
Firths of Clyde and Forth; as, Ben 
Nevis, Ben MacDhui, etc. 




Benaiah 


Benedict 


Benaiah, the name of 12 different 
persons mentioned in the Bible, the 
one chiefly important being a son of 
Jehoida, a chief priest. He was made 
commander-in-chief in Joab’s place by 
Solomon. 

Benalcazor, Belasazor, or Ve- 
lalcazor, Sebastian de, the name 
given to Sebastian Movano from his 
native town; a Spanish soldier who 
figured in the Spanish conquests in 
South America. His gallant conduct 
attracted the attention of Pizarro, 
who promoted him. He took the city 
of Quito, made an expedition into Co¬ 
lombia and reduced Popayan, and was 
appointed governor of that part of 
the country in 1538. He was forced 
to resign this office in consequence of 
legal complications and died when 
about to return to Spain, in 1550. 

Benares, a town in Hindustan, 
Northwest Provinces, administrative 
headquarters of a district and division 
of the same name, on the left bank of 
the Ganges, from which it rises like 
an amphitheater, presenting a splen¬ 
did panorama of temples, mosques, 
palaces, and other buildings, with 
their domes, minarets, etc. Fine 
ghauts lead down to the river. It is 
one of the most sacred places of pil¬ 
grimage in all India, being the head¬ 
quarters of the Hindu religion. The 
principal temple is dedicated to Siva, 
whose sacred symbol it contains. It 
is also the seat of government and 
other colleges, and of the missions of 
various societies. Benares carries on 
a large trade in the produce of the 
district and in English goods, and 
manufactures silks, shawls, embroid¬ 
ered cloth, jewelry, etc. The popula¬ 
tion in 1901, was 203,100. 

Benbow, John, an English admi¬ 
ral, born in Shrewsbury about 1650, 
died 1702. For his skill and valor in 
an action with a Barbary pirate he 
was promoted by James II. to the com¬ 
mand of a ship of war. William III. 
employed him in protecting the En¬ 
glish trade in the Channel, which he 
did with great effect, and he was soon 
promoted to the rank of rear-admiral. 
In 1701 he sailed to the West Indies 
with a small fleet, and in August of 
the following year he fell in with the 
French fleet under Du Casse, and in 
the heat of action a chain-shot carried 


away one of his legs. At this critical 
instant, being most disgracefully aban¬ 
doned by several of the captains under 
his command, the whole fleet effected 
its escape. Benbow, on his return to 
Jamaica, brought the delinquents to a 
court-martial, by which two of them 
were condemned to be shot. He him¬ 
self died of his wounds. 

Bench Warrant, a warrant is¬ 
sued by the court before which an in¬ 
dictment has been found to arrest the 
accused, that he may appear and find 
bail for his appearance at the trial. 
It is used extensively in the United 
States to bring into court persons who 
have neglected to obey an order of 
court, such as delinquent jurymen. 

Bencoolen, a seaport on the W. 
coast of Sumatra Island, Dutch East 
Indies; capital of a Residency of the 
same name. It was founded in 1685 
by the English and ceded to the Dutch 
in 1824. Area of Residency, 9,690 
square miles; pop. of Residency, 140,- 
126; of town, 5,000. 

Bendemann, Eduard, a German 
painter, born in Berlin, Dec. 3, 1811; 
died in Dusseldorf, Dec. 27, 1889. 

Bendire, Charles Emil, a Ger- 
man-American military officer and or¬ 
nithologist, born in Darmstadt, Ger¬ 
many, April 27, 1836, came to the 
United States in 1852, and entered 
the army in 1854. He served through 
the Civil War, becoming a Captain in 
the 1st Cavalry. After the war he 
was transferred to the West, and was 
retired April 24, 1886. During his 
stay in the West he applied himself to 
the study of ornithology, and collected 
a vast amount of material in various 
branches of natural history. In 1870 
he began to collect the eggs of North 
American birds, which finally number¬ 
ed more than 8,000 specimens, and 
this collection he presented to the 
United States National Museum. He 
is the author of “ The Life Histories 
of North American Birds, with Spe¬ 
cial Reference to their Breeding Hab¬ 
its and Eggs.” 

Benedetti, Vincent, Count de, 

a French diplomatist of Italian ex¬ 
traction, born in Bastia, Corsica, 
April 29, 1817; died in Paris, March 
28, 1900. 

Benedict, a married man; from 
the Latin benedictus (a happy man). 





Benedict VII. 


Benevolence 


Benedict VII., Pope, succeeded 

John XIII. in 972. After the death 
of the Emperor Otho I., the Romans 
imprisoned Benedict, who was stran¬ 
gled in the castle of St. Angelo, in 
974. 

Benedict XIV., Pope, was born 
at Bologna in 1675, of the noble fam¬ 
ily of Lambertini. Benedict was 
learned, not only in theology, but in 
history and literature, and had also 
a taste for the fine arts. His works 
were published at Rome, in 12 vol¬ 
umes quarto. He died in 1758, and 
was succeeded by Clement XIII. 

Benedict, St., the founder of the 
Order of the Benedictine Monks, was 
born at Nursia, in the Dukedom of 
Spoleto, in Italy, in 480 A. D. Authors 
are not agreed upon the time and 
place of his death. 

Benedict, David, a Baptist cler¬ 
gyman and historian, born at Nor¬ 
walk, Conn., in 1779; was pastor at 
Pawtucket, R. I., for 25 years, and 
preached till over 90 years of age. 
He died in 1874. 

Benedict, Frank Lee, an Amer¬ 
ican novelist and poet, born in New 
York in 1834. 

Benedictine, a follower of St. 
Benedict (q. v.). From the pre¬ 
dominantly black color of their attire, 
they were sometimes called Black 
Monks. They must not be confound¬ 
ed with the Black Friars, who were 
Dominicans. 

Benediction (from the Latin be- 
nedicere, literally, “to speak well of;” 
“to commend”), a solemn invocation 
of the Divine blessing upon men or 
things. The ceremony in its simplest 
form may be considered almost coeval 
with the earliest expressions of religi¬ 
ous feeling. The Sabbath is said to 
have been blessed. Christ “ took bread 
and blessed it,” and “ lifting up His 
hands,” blessed His disciples. In the 
primitive Church the custom gradual¬ 
ly developed itself in various liturgi¬ 
cal forms. In Protestant churches a 
form of benediction is used at the 
close of religious services. In the Ro¬ 
man Church a priestly benediction has 
been defined as a formula of impera¬ 
tive prayer, which, in addition to the 
desire which it expresses, transmits a 
certain grace or virtue to the object 
over which it is pronounced. 


Benedictus, the name given to 
the hymn of Zacharias (Luke i: 68), 
used as a canticle in the morning ser¬ 
vice of the Episcopal Church to fol¬ 
low the lessons. This position it has 
occupied from very ancient times. It 
is also used in the Church of Rome. 

Benefice, under the feudal sys¬ 
tem, an estate held by feudal tenure. 
Formerly, and even sometimes yet, 
the word was applied to an ecclesiasti¬ 
cal living of any kind, any church en¬ 
dowed with a revenue, whether a dig¬ 
nity or not. 

Benefit of Clergy, the advantage 
derived from the preferment of the 
plea “ I am a clergyman.” When in 
medieval times, a clergyman was ar¬ 
raigned on certain charges he was 
permitted to put forth the plea that 
with respect to the offense of which 
he was accused, he was not under the 
jurisdiction of the civil courts, but, 
being a clergyman, was entitled to be 
tried by his spiritual superiors. The 
cases in which the benefit of clergy 
might be urged were such as affected 
the life or limbs of the offender, high 
treason, however, excepted. The ex¬ 
emption has never been recognized in 
America, and is abolished in Great 
Britain. 

Benevento (ancient Beneventum), 
a city of Southern Italy, 32 miles N. 
E. of Naples, and is the capital of a 
province of same name. Near Bene¬ 
vento, in 1266, was fought the great 
battle between Charles of Anjou and 
his rival, Manfred, in which the latter 
was killed, and his army totally de¬ 
feated. During the reign of Napo¬ 
leon I., Benevento was formed into a 
principality conferred on Talleyrand. 
In 1815, it again reverted to the Pope. 
In 1860, it was annexed to the king¬ 
dom of Italy. Population est. 245,- 
834. 

Benevolence, in the history of 
the law of England, was a species of 
forced loan or contribution, levied by 
kings without legal authority. It was 
first so called in 1473, when asked 
from his subjects by Edward IV. as a 
mark of good will toward his rule. 
James I. tried, but with little success, 
to raise money by this expedient, and 
it was never again attempted by the 
crown; Charles I. expressly declining 
to have recourse to it. 




Benezeth 


Ben ham 


Benezeth, Anthony, a French- 
American philanthropist, was born in 
St. Quentin’s, France, Jan. 31, 1713; 
lived from infancy in England and the 
United States. The greater part of 
his writings were in the form of tracts 
against the slave trade and in favor 
of the American Indians. He died in 
Philadelphia, Pa., May 3, 1784. 

Benfey, Theodor, a German Ori¬ 
entalist and comparative philologist, 
born of Jewish parents near Got¬ 
tingen, Jan. 28, 1809. In 1862 he 
was appointed to the chair of San¬ 
skrit and Comparative Philology in 
the University of Gottingen, which he 
held till his death, June 26, 1881. 

Benga, an African tribe, living on 
the Spanish island, Corisco, off the 
W. coast, having moved from the in¬ 
terior within a few generations. The 
American Presbyterian Board of Mis¬ 
sions have Christianized many of the 
Bengas and translated books into their 
language, which closely resembles the 
Kamerun and Dualla. 

Bengal. In the widest applica¬ 
tion the name presidency of Bengal is 
extended to the whole of British In¬ 
dia, except what is under the gover¬ 
nors of Madras and Bombay. But the 
name is now usually restricted to that 
portion which is under the lieutenant- 
governor of Bengal. The total popu¬ 
lation in 1901 amounted to 74,713,020. 

The English first got a firm footing 
in Bengal about 1644, and in 
1707, Calcutta was erected into a 
presidency, and the foundation of 
British power in India laid. A bill 
conferring upon agricultural tenants 
a transferable interest in their hold¬ 
ings and protecting them against evic¬ 
tion was passed in 1885. 

Bengal, Bay of, that portion of 
the Indian Ocean which lies between 
Hindustan and Farther India, or Bur¬ 
ma, Siam, and Malacca, and may be 
regarded as extending S. to Ceylon 
and Sumatra. It receives the Ganges, 
Brahmaputra, and Irrawadi. 

Bengal, or Bengola, Light, a 
kind of firework, giving a vivid and 
sustained blue light. It is used for 
signals at sea. 

Bengough, John Wilson, a Ca¬ 
nadian poet, born in Toronto, April 5, 
1851; studied in the Whitley District 
and Grammar School. In 1873 he es¬ 


tablished the “ Grip,” a humorous 
weekly, in Toronto. His political car¬ 
toons in this paper were highly artis¬ 
tic. He is also widely known as a 
lecturer and a poet. 

Benguela, a district belonging to 
the Portuguese on the W. coast of 
South Africa; bounded N. by Angola, 
and S. by the Cunene river, which 
may be said to constitute also the un¬ 
certain E. frontier; area, perhaps 
150,000 square miles. It was founded 
by the Portuguese in 1617, and was 
formerly an important center of the 
slave trade, but has now only a spas¬ 
modic trade in ivory, wax, gum, copal, 
etc. Pop. about 3,000. 

Ben-Hadad, or Benhaddad, the 
name of three kings of Syria. The 
first was a contemporary of Asa, King 
of Judah (929-873 b. c.), I Kings, 
xv. The second (860-824 b. C.) of 
the time of Ahab, King of Israel, I 
Kings, xx. The third at the time of 
Jehoahaz, King of Israel (856-839 
b. c.), II Kings, xiii. 

Benham, Andrew Ellicott 
Kennedy, an American naval officer, 
born in New York, April 10, 1832; 
entered the navy in 1847; was com¬ 
missioned Rear-Admiral in 1890, and 
was retired in 1894. During the Civil 
War he served in the South Atlantic 
and West Gulf Blockading Squadrons. 
In April, 1893, he commanded one of 
the divisions in the great naval display 
at New York; in 1894, as commander 
of a squadron at Rio de Janeiro, Bra¬ 
zil, he forced the commander of the in¬ 
surgents’ squadron to raise the block¬ 
ade of the city and to discontinue fir¬ 
ing on American merchant vessels; 
and in 1898 was naval prize commis¬ 
sioner in Savannah, Ga. 

Benham, Henry W., an Ameri¬ 
can military engineer, born in Ches¬ 
hire, Conn., in 1816; was graduated 
at the United States Military Academy 
in 1837; and became Colonel of the 
United States Engineers, and Brevet 
Major-General, United States army. 
He commanded the engineer brigade 
and laid several pontoon bridges under 
fire during the Chancellorsville bat¬ 
tles ; constructed and commanded the 
defenses at City Point; devised the 
picket shovel; and made many im¬ 
provements in the construction of 
pontoon bridges, in which he was a 




Beni 


Bennett 


recognized expert. He died in New 
York, June 1, 1884. 

Beni, a river of Bolivia, South 
America: formed by the union of all 
the streams flowing down the Eastern 
Cordillera. 

Beni-Hassan, a village of Mid¬ 
dle Egypt, on the E. bank of the Nile, 
remarkable for the grottoes or cata¬ 
combs in the neighborhood. 

Beni-Israel, a race in the W. of 
India (the Konkan sea board, Bom¬ 
bay, etc.) who keep a tradition of 
Jewish origin, and whose religion is a 
modified Judaism; supposed to be a 
remnant of the ten tribes. 

Benin, a former negro kingdom of 
West Africa, on the Bight of Benin, 
extending along the coast on both sides 
of the Benin river, W. of the lower 
Niger, and to some distance inland. 
The chief town is Benin (pop. 15,- 
000), situated on the river Benin, 
one of the mouths of the Niger. 

In February, 1897, the Benin coun¬ 
try was included within the Niger 
Coast Protectorate, and a British 
Resident was installed in the chief 
town. The whole territory was then 
between 3,000 and 4,000 square miles 
in extent, contained about 400 towns 
and villages, and had a population of 
which no trustworthy estimate could 
be formed. 

Benin, Bight of, part of the 
Gulf of Guinea, West Africa, which 
extends into the land between the 
mouth of the river Volta and that of 
the Nun. 

Benjamin, the youngest son of 
Jacob and Rachel (Gen. xxxv: 16- 
18). Rachel died immediately after 
he was born, and with her last breath 
named him Ben-oni, the “ son of my 
sorrow;” but Jacob called him Ben¬ 
jamin, “ son of my right hand.” 

The tribe of Benjamin, small at first, 
was almost exterminated in the days 
of the Judges, but afterward it great¬ 
ly increased. On the revolt of the 
ten tribes, Benjamin adhered to the 
camp of Judah; and the two tribes 
ever afterward closely united. King 
Saul and Saul of Tarsus were both 
Benjamites. 

Benjamin, Judah Philip, an 

American lawyer, born in St. Croix, 
West Indies, Aug. 11, 1811; was of 

E. 17. 


English parentage and of Jewish 
faith. He was educated at Yale Col¬ 
lege; admitted to the bar in New Or¬ 
leans, in 1832; and elected to the 
United States Senate in 1852 and 
1858. At the beginning of the Civil 
War, he resigned from the Senate and 
declared his adhesion to the State of 
Louisiana. In 1861 he accepted the 
office of Attorney-General in the Cab¬ 
inet of Jefferson Davis, and afterward 
became successively Confederate Sec¬ 
retary of War and Secretary of State. 
After the war he went to London, 
England, where he was admitted to 
the bar in 1866. He gained a suc¬ 
cessful practice, and in 1872 was for¬ 
mally presented with a silk gown. He 
wrote a “ Treatise on the Law of Sale 
of Personal Property” (1868). He 
died in Paris, May 7, 1884. 

Benjamin, Park, an American 
journalist, poet, and lecturer, born at 
Demerara, British Guiana, Aug. 14, 
1809. He studied law originally. His 
poems, of a high order of merit, have 
never been collected. He died in New 
York, Sept. 12, 1864. 

Benjamin, Park, an American 
lawyer, editor, and miscellaneous 
writer, son of the preceding, bom in 
New York, May 11, 1849. A gradu¬ 
ate of the United States Naval Acad¬ 
emy (1867), he served on Admiral 
Farragut’s flagship, but resigned in 
1869. As a lawyer he has been a 
patent expert. He edited the “ Scien¬ 
tific American ” (1872-1878). 

Benjamin, Samuel Green 
Wheeler, an American traveler, 
artist, and miscellaneous writer, born 
at Argos, Greece, Feb. 13, 1837. * He 
was United States Minister to Persia 
(1883-1885). 

Bennett, Charles Wesley, an 

American Methodist clergyman and 
educator, born at East Bethany, N. 
Y., July 18, 1828; was Principal of 
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (1869- 
1871), Professor of History and 
Logic at Syracuse-University (1871- 
1885), Professor of Historical Theol¬ 
ogy at Garrett Biblical Institute, 
Evanston (1885-1891). He died at 
Evanston, Ill., April 17, 1891. 

Bennett, Edmund Hatch, an 
American lawyer, born in Manches¬ 
ter, Vt., April 6, 1824; was graduated 
at the University of Vermont in 1843, 





Bennett 


Benoit 


and admitted to the bar in 1847. 
From 1871 he was Professor and Dean 
at the Law School of Boston Univer¬ 
sity. 

Bennett, Janies Gordon, a 

Scotch-American journalist; founder 
and proprietor of the New York 
“ Herald,” born in Newmill, Keith, 
Sept. 1, 1795. Trained for the Ro¬ 
man Catholic priesthood, he emigrated 
to the United States in 1819, where 
he became in turn teacher, proof read¬ 
er, journalist, and lecturer; he 
founded the New York “ Herald,” 
May 6, 1835, price one cent. He 
spared no effort and expense in se¬ 
curing news, and laid the foundation 
of its after enormous success. It was 
the first newspaper to publish the 
stock lists and a daily money article. 
He died in New York, June 1, 1872. 

Bennett, Janies Gordon, an 
American journalist, born in New 
York city, May 10, 1841; son of 
James Gordon Bennett, founder of the 
New York “ Herald,” of which he 
became managing editor in 1866, and 
from that time largely controlling, 
and becoming proprietor on the death 
of his father in 1872. In 1870 he 
sent Henry M. Stanley on the explor¬ 
ing expedition which resulted in the 
finding of Dr. Livingstone, and, in 
conjunction with the London “ Daily 
Telegraph,” supplied the means for 
his journey across Africa by way 
of the Kongo in 1874-1878. He 
founded the “Evening Telegram ” 
in New York, and established daily 
editions of the “ Herald ” in Paris 
and London. He early gave much 
attention to yachting. He resides 
mainly in Paris, collecting foreign 
news', and directing by telegraph 
the management and policy of his 
newspapers. The New York “ Her¬ 
ald ” was incorporated in 1899. 

Bennett, Joseph H., an Amer¬ 
ican philanthropist, born in Julius- 
town, N. J., Aug. 16, 1816. He en¬ 
gaged in the clothing business in Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa., when 16 years old. His 
property was said to be worth $3,000,- 
000, and it is estimated that he gave 
$1,000,000 to charity. He bequeathed 
$500,000 to the University of Penn¬ 
sylvania for its proposed college for 
women. He died in Philadelphia, 
Sept. 29, 1898. 


Bennett, Sanford Fillmore, an 

American hymnologist, born in Eden, 
N. Y., in 1836.. He settled in Elk- 
horn, Wis., in 1860, and became editor 
of the “ Independent.” Resigning this 
place, he entered the 40th Wisconsin 
Volunteers and served with them 
throughout the war. In 1867 he 
aided J. P. Webster, the composer, in 
preparing “ The Signet Ring,” a Sun¬ 
day School hymn book, to which he 
contributed about 100 hymns. “ The 
Sweet Bye and Bye ” was one of the 
first of these. Many of Mr. Bennett’s 
hymns and songs have been published 
in sheets. He died in Richmond, Ill., 
June 12, 1898. 

Ben-Nevis, the most lofty moun¬ 
tain in Great Britain, in Invernes- 
shire, immediately E. of Fort William 
and the opening of the Caledonian 
canal, at the S. W. extremity of Glen- 
more. It rises to the height of 4,406 
feet, and in clear weather yields a 
most extensive prospect. An observa¬ 
tory was established on its summit in 
May, 1881, by the Scottish Meteoro¬ 
logical .Society. 

Benningsen, or Bennigsen, 
Levin August, Baron, a Russian 
general, born in Hanover in 1745. He 
entered the service of Catherine II., 
and distinguished himself by great 
gallantry. He died in 1826. 

Bennington, town and county- 
seat of Bennington co., Vt.; on the 
Bennington and Rutland and the Leb¬ 
anon Springs railroads; 36 miles E. 
of Troy, N. Y. Bennington is histor¬ 
ically famous on account of the battle 
fought Aug. 16, 1777, when General 
Stark with his “ Green Mountain 
Boys ” defeated a large British detach¬ 
ment sent from* General Burgoyne’s 
army to capture the public stores near 
North Bennington. Pop. (1900) 
8,033. 

Bennington, The, a twin-screw, 
steel gunboat of the United States 
navy. 

Benoit, Pierre Leopold Leon¬ 
ard, a Flemish musician and com¬ 
poser, born in Harelbeke, Belgium, 
Aug. 17, 1834; a pupil of Fetis. He 
has held the position of Director of 
the Flemish School of Music in Ant¬ 
werp since 1867; and has written a 
number of oratorios, cantatas, and 
operas. 





Benteen 


Berbera 


Benteen, Frederick William, 

an American military officer, born in 
Petersburg, Va., Aug. 24, 1834; was 
educated in his native State; and at 
the outbreak of the Civil War went to 
Missouri and organized a company of 
Union volunteers. His most brilliant 
service after the war was in his cam¬ 
paigns against the Indians. He died 
in Atlanta, Ga., June 22, 1898. 

Bent Grass, a genus of grasses, 
distinguished by a loose panicle of 
small, flowered, laterally compressed 
spikelets. The species are numerous 
and are found in almost all countries 
and climates. 

Bentham, Jeremy, an English 
jurist, born in London, Feb. 15, 1748; 
educated at Westminster and Oxford; 
entered Lincoln’s Inn, in 1763. He 
was called to the bar, but did not 
practice, and, having private means, 
devoted himself to the reform of civil 
and criminal legislation. He died in 
London, June 6, 1832, leaving his body 
for dissection. His remains are to be 
seen at University College, London. 

Bentley, Richard, a celebrated 
English divine and classical scholar, 
distinguished as a polemical writer; 
born near Wakefield, in Yorkshire, 
Jan. 27, 1662. He died at the mas¬ 
ter’s lodge at Trinity, July 14, 1742. 

Benton, Thomas Hart, an Amer¬ 
ican statesman, born near Hillsboro, 
N. C., March 14, 1732; settled in Ten¬ 
nessee, where he studied law, and was 
elected to the Legislature. In 1812 
he raised a regiment of volunteers, 
and also served on General Jackson’s 
staff. After the war, he started a 
newspaper in St. Louis, by which he 
became involved in several duels. On 
the admission of Missouri as a State, 
he was chosen United States Senator 
in 1820, and, in this post, during 30 
years’ continuous service, took a lead¬ 
ing part in public affairs. A deter¬ 
mined opponent of Calhoun’s nullifica¬ 
tion scheme, he afterward supported 
Jackson in his war on the United 
States bank, and earned the sobriquet 
of “ Old Bullion ” by his opposition 
to the paper currency. He died in 
Washington, April 10, 1858. 

Benzene, or Benzol (C« H 6 ), a 
carbon compound, best obtained from 
the destructive distillation of coal-tar. 
It is the source from which is derived 


all the aniline colors, and artificial 
flavors. 

Benzine (C<j H 14 ), a liquid hydro¬ 
carbon obtained from a fractional dis¬ 
tillation of petroleum. It may also 
be got by distilling 1 part of crystal¬ 
lized benzoic acid intimately mixed 
with 3 parts of slacked line. It is 
quite colorless, of a peculiar, etheral, 
agreeable odor, is used by manfactur- 
ers of india-rubber and gutta-percha, 
on account of its great solvent powers, 
in the preparation of varnishes, and 
for cleaning gloves, removing grease- 
spots from woollen and other cloths, 
etc., on account of its dissolving fats 
and resins. It is highly inflammable, 
and must be used with great caution. 
It must not be confounded with ben¬ 
zene. 

Benzoin, a solid, fragile, vegeta¬ 
ble substance, of a reddish-brown 
color. Benzoin is obtained from the 
tree called Styrax benzoin, and per¬ 
haps from some others. On making 
incisions into the bark, it flows out 
in the form of a balsamic juice, having 
a pungent taste and an agreeable odor. 

Beothukan, (red man, or Indian), 
a linguistic stock of North American 
Indians, inhabitants of the region of 
the Exploits river in Northern New¬ 
foundland, and believed to have been 
limited to a single tribe, the last known 
survivor of which died in 1829. 

Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic, the 
only manuscript of which belongs to 
the 8th or 9th century, and is in the 
Cottonian Library (British Museum). 
The poem, which is the longest and 
most important in Anglo-Saxon liter¬ 
ature, is in many points obscure, and 
the manuscript is somewhat imperfect. 

Beranger, Pierre Jean de, the 
national poet of France; born in 
Paris, Aug. 19, 1780. He died in 
Paris, July 16, 1857, and received the 
honor of a public funeral, at which 
the most eminent men in France, both 
of the world of literature and politics, 
attended. 

Beraud, Jean, a painter of great 
power, born in St. Petersburg, of 
French parentage, in 1845. His sub¬ 
jects are usually chosen from Parisian 
life. His latest works have been modern¬ 
ized scenes from the New Testament. 

Berbera, a seaport of British 
Somaliland, Eastern Africa, with a 





Berbers 


Beresford 


good harbor, on a bay of the Gulf of 
Aden. It was conquered by Egypt in 
1875, but in July, 1884, the British 
Government took possession of it, and 
a small Indian force is now stationed 
here. It is the scene of a large an¬ 
nual fair, which brings over 30,000 
people together from all quarters in 
the East. Coffee, grains, ghee, gold 
dust, ivory, gums, cattle, ostrich 
feathers, etc., are brought hither from 
the interior, and exchanged for cot¬ 
ton, rice, iron, Indian piece goods, etc. 

Berbers, a people spread over 
nearly the whole of Northern Africa, 
from whom the name Barbary is de¬ 
rived. The chief branches into which 
the Berbers are divided are, first, the 
Amazirgh, or Amazigh, of Northern 
Morocco, numbering from 2,000,000 to 
2,500,000. They are for the most part 
quite independent of the Sultan of 
Morocco, and live partly under chief¬ 
tains and hereditary princes and part¬ 
ly in small republican communities. 
Second, the Shuluh, Shillooh, or Shel- 
lakah, who number about 1,450,000, 
and inhabit Southern Morocco. They 
are more highly civilized than the Am¬ 
azirgh. Third, the Kabyles in Algeria 
and Tunis, who are said to number 
900,000; and fourth, the Berbers of 
the Sahara, who inhabit the oases. 
Their language has affinities to the 
Semitic group, but Arabic is spoken 
along the coast. They are believed to 
represent the ancient Mauritanians, 
Numidians, Gaetulians, etc. 

Berbice, a river of British Guia¬ 
na ; flows generally N. E. into the At¬ 
lantic. It is navigable for small ves¬ 
sels for 165 miles from its mouth, but 
beyond that the rapids are numerous 
and dangerous. 

Berea College, a co-educational 
(non-sectarian) institution, in Berea, 
Ky.; organized in 1858. Under the 
guidance of the able men who directed 
its course, this institution did an al¬ 
most incredible work among the moun¬ 
taineers both black and white in the 
Southern States. In the winter of 
1903-1904, the Kentucky legislature 
forbade co-education of white and 
blacks, and Berea was obliged to estab¬ 
lish branch for its colored students. 

Berean, a Scottish religious sect 
founded by the Rev. J. Barclay in 
1773, and also called Barclayans, 


Berengarius, of Tours, a theo¬ 
logian of the 11th century. He was 
born at Tours in 908, long held an ec¬ 
clesiastical office there, and was after¬ 
ward archdeacon of Angers. He was 
thoroughly versed in the philosophy 
of his age, and did not hesitate to ap¬ 
ply reason to the interpretation of the 
Bible. He denied the dogma of tran- 
substantiation, and was charged with 
heresy. He died on the Isle of St. 
Cosmos, near Tours, in 1088. 

Berenice, a daughter of Herod 
Agrippa I., who was the son of Aristo- 
bulus, who was the son of Herod the 
Great (Acts xii; Matthew ii). She 
was the sister of Herodes Agrippa II., 
before whom Paul preached A. D. 63 
(Acts xxv: 13), and the wife of Hero¬ 
des of Chalcis, who seems to have 
been her uncle, and left her a young 
widow. After the capture of Jerusa¬ 
lem she went to Rome (a. d. 75), and 
Titus is said to have been so much at¬ 
tached to her that he promised to mar¬ 
ry her; but on the death of his father 
he sent Berenice from Rome, much 
against his will and hers, when he 
found that the proposed match was 
disagreeable to the people. 

Beresford, Lord Charles de la 
Poer, an English naval officer, born 
in Ireland, Feb. 10, 1846; became a 
Cadet in 1857; Lieutenant, 1868; 
Captain, 1882; and Rear-Admiral, 
1897. In 1882 he commanded the 
“ Condor ” in the bombardment of 
Alexandria, and was especially men¬ 
tioned and honored for his gallantry. 
In December, 1899, was appointed 
the second in command of the 
British squadron mobilized in the 
Mediterranean Sea. Lord Beres¬ 
ford accompanied the Prince of 
Wales on his visit to India in 
1875-1876, as naval aide-de-camp, 
and held the same relation to the 
Queen in 1896-1897. He has served 
several terms in Parliament. Besides 
the numerous honors for gallantry as 
an officer he has received three med¬ 
als for saving life at sea under trying 
circumstances. In 1898 he visited 
China at the request of the Associated 
Chambers of Commerce of Great Brit¬ 
tain to make a study of the compli¬ 
cated commercial conditions existing 
there; and on his return, in 1899, he 
passed through the United ►States 




Beresina 


Beriberi 


and was received with distinguished 
honors by official and commercial bod¬ 
ies. He has done much to promote 
the “ open door ” policy as a condi¬ 
tion of international commerce in 
China. 

Beresina, or Berezina, a river of 
Russia in Europe; rendered famous 
on account of its disastrous passage 
by the French army during the retreat 
of Napoleon I. from Russia, in 1812. 

Berezovsk, a village in the Rus¬ 
sian province of Perm, near Ekaterin¬ 
burg, gives name to a famous gold 
field, wrought since 1744. 

Berg, Frederick William 
Rambert, a Russian general, chiefly 
notorious for the severity with which 
he treated the unfortunate population 
of ^Poland during the insurrection of 
1803, and which excited the horror 
and indignation of the civilized world. 

Bergamot, a fruit tree, a variety 
or species of the genus citrus, various¬ 
ly classed with the orange, citrus au- 
rantium, the lime, atrus limetta, or 
made a distinct species as citrus ber- 
gamia. It is probably of Eastern ori¬ 
gin, though now grown in Southern 
Europe, and bears a pale yellow, pear- 
shaped fruit with a fragrant and 
slightly acid pulp. Its essential oil 
is in high esteem as a perfume. Ber¬ 
gamot is also a name given to a num¬ 
ber of different pears. 

Bergen, a seaport on the W. coast 
of Norway, the second town of the 
kingdom, about 25 miles from the 
open sea, on a bay of the Byford. 
The trade is large, timber, tar, train 
oil, cod liver oil, hides, and particular¬ 
ly dried fish (stock fish) being export¬ 
ed in return for corn, wine, brandy, 
coffee, cotton, woolens, and sugar. In 
1445 a factory was established here 
by the Hanseatic cities of Germanv. 
Pop. (1900 ) 72,251. 

Bergerac, Savinien Cyrano de, 
a French author, born in Paris in 
1619, distinguished for his courage in 
the field, and for the number of his 
duels, more than a thousand, most of 
them fought on account of his mon¬ 
strously large nose. He died in 1655. 
His writings are often crude, but full 
of invention, vigor, and wit. He was 
made the hero of a drama bearing his 
name, written by Edmond Rostand, 
the French playwright, which had a 


phenomenal success in the United 
States in 1899—1900, and was the oc¬ 
casion of a suit for plagiarism. 

Bergerat, Auguste Emile, a 
French journalist, playwright and 
novelist, born in Paris, April 29, 1845, 
son-in-law of Theophile Gautier, and 
since 1884, particularly known as the 
amusing chronicler of the “ Figaro ” 
under the pseudonym of “ Caliban.” 
He also wrote two novels. 

Bergk, Henry, an American phi¬ 
lanthropist, born in New York in 
1823; was founder and President of 
the American Society for the Preven¬ 
tion of Cruelty to Animals (1866), 
founder of the American Society for 
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 
(1881), Secretary of Legation and 
acting Vice-Consul at St. Petersburg 
(1862-1864). He died in New York 
city, March 12, 1888. 

Bergh, Pieter Tbeodoor Hel- 
vetius van den, a Dutch dramatist 
and poet, born in 1799; died in 1873. 

Bergbaus, Heinricb, a German 
geographer, born in Cleves, Prussia, 
May 3, 1797; died in Stettin, Feb. 17, 
1884. 

Bergman, Ernest von, a Ger¬ 
man surgeon, born in Riga, Dec. 16, 
1836. He was educated at Vienna, 
Dorpat, and Berlin. He served in 
the Prussian army during 1866-1870; 
was Professor of Surgery in the Uni¬ 
versity of Wurzburg in 1878-1882; 
and became Director of the Surgical 
Clinic at Berlin University in 1882. 
He died March 25, 1907. 

Bergman, Torbern Olof, a Swe¬ 
dish physicist and chemist, born in 
C'atherineberg, March 20, 1735. His 
theory of chemical affinities greatly in¬ 
fluenced the subsequent development 
of chemistry. He died July 8, 1784. 

Bergmann, Carl, a German mu¬ 
sician, born in Ebersbach, Saxony, 
April 11, 1821. Being implicated in 
the Revolution of 1848, he left Ger¬ 
many for the United States in 1849. 
An enthusiastic Wagnerite, he was 
himself the composer of an opera, a 
symphony and many concert pieces. 
He^ died in New York city, in August 
1876. 

Beriberi, Beriberia, Berriber- 
ri, or Barbiers, an acute disease 
characterized by oppression of breath¬ 
ing, by general oedema, by paralytic 







Bering 


Berlin 


weakness, and by numbness of the 
lower extremities. It is generally fatal 
It occurs frequently in Ceylon among 
the colored troops, and on some por¬ 
tions of the Indian coast. 

Bering, or Behring, Vitus, a 
Danish explorer, born in Jutland, in 
1680. After making several voyages 
to the East and West Indies, he en¬ 
tered the service of Russia, while still 
young; became a captain-commander 
in 1772; and was sent by the Empress 
Catharine in charge of an expedition 
(planned by Peter the Great before 
his death), the object of which was to 
determine if Asia and America were 
united. Crossing Siberia he sailed 
from the river Kamchatka in July, 
1728; and reached lat 67° 18' N., 
having passed through the strait since 
called after him, without knowing it. 
Discovering that the land trended 
greatly to the W. he concluded that 
the continents were not united, and 
returned; without, however, seeing 
America. In another voyage, in 1774, 
he touched upon the American coast, 
in lat 58° 21' N.; and gave name to 
Mount St. Elias. In returning his 
ship was cast upon an island, since 
named after him, an outlier of the 
Aleutian group, and here he perished, 
in December, 1741. 

Bering Sea, that part of the North 
Pacific Ocean between the Aleutian 
Islands, in 55°, and Bering Strait, in 
66° N., by which latter it communi¬ 
cates with the Arctic Ocean. The 
United States having claimed the ex¬ 
clusive right of seal fishing in the Ber¬ 
ing Sea in virtue of the purchase of 
Alaska from Russia, and this right 
having been disputed by the British, 
it was decided in August, 1893, by an 
arbitration tribunal, to which the 
question was referred, that no such 
right existed, but at the same time 
regulations for the protection of the 
fur seal were drawn up and agreed to 
between the two powers, the chief 
being the prohibition of seal fishery 
within the zone of 60 miles round the 
Pribilof Islands, inclusive of the terri¬ 
torial waters, and the establishment 
of a close season for the fur seal from 
May 1 to July 31 inclusive, applying 
to the part of the Pacific and Bering 
Sea, N. of 35° and E. of the 180th 
meridian from Greenwich. 


Bering Strait, the channel which 

separates Asia and America at their 
nearest approach to each other. It 
was discovered by Bering in 1728, and 
first explored by Cook in 1788. The 
project agitated during the last dec¬ 
ades of the 19th cent, to bridge and 
tunnel the 35 m. stretch of Bering 
Strait for the Trans-Siberian-Alaska 
R. R. to give New York through con¬ 
nection with European capitals was 
revived with increased activity in 1906. 

Berkeley, Dr. George, Bishop of 
Cloyne, born in Ireland in 1685; be¬ 
came fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, 
in 1707; in 1724 Dean of Derry. He 
published proposals for the conversion 
of the American savages to Chris¬ 
tianity by the establishment of a col¬ 
lege in the Bermuda Islands. He 
arrived at Rhode Island in 1728, but, 
the plan lacking support, he returned 
and became Bishop of Cloyne. He 
died suddenly at Oxford in 1753. 
Berkeley holds an important place in 
the history of philosophy. His most 
celebrated philosophical work is : Trea¬ 
tise on the Principles of Human 
Knowledge, 1710, in which his philo¬ 
sophical theory is fully set forth. 

Berkeley, Sir Jokn, one of the 
proprietors of New Jersey, born in 
1607. He was a prominent Royalist 
during the contest of Charles I. with 
Parliament. Charles II. granted him, 
with Sir George Carteret, a proprie¬ 
tary interest in New Jersey and Caro¬ 
lina. He died Aug. 28, 1678. 

Berkeley, Sir William, an Eng¬ 
lish colonial Governor, born near Lon¬ 
don, about 1610. In 1632 he was a 
Commissioner of Canada, and in 1641 
became Governor of Virginia. He op¬ 
posed the power of Cromwell and was 
forced to resign, but at the Restora¬ 
tion was reappointed Governor. In 
1676 he resigned and returned to Eng¬ 
land. He was author of “ The Lost 
Lady, a Tragi-Comedy ” (1638). He 
died in England, July 13, 1677. 

Berkskires, Tke, or Berkshire 
Hills, a range of mountains in the 
N. W. of Massachusetts; in Berkshire 
county; stretching 16 miles N. and S., 
on the E. of the valley of the Upper 
Hoosic river. 

Berlin (anciently Berle —uncul¬ 
tivated land), the capital of the Prus¬ 
sian dominions and of the German em- 




Berlin 


Bermudas 


pire, the residence of the Emperor of 
Germany and foreign ambassadors; 
in the province of Brandenburg; the 
largest city in Germany, and, for the 
beauty and size of its buildings, the 
regularity of its streets, the impor¬ 
tance of its institutions of science and 
art, and its activity, industry, and 
trade, one of the first in Europe. It 
is situated on a dreary sandy plain, 
about 126 feet above the level of the 
sea, on both sides of the Spree, a slug¬ 
gish stream, here about 200 feet broad, 
which winds through the city from S. 
E. to N. W., and divides into several 
branches f and canals. The main 
stream and its branches are spanned 
by a large number of bridges. 

The literary institutions of the city 
are numerous and excellent. They in¬ 
clude the university, the academy of 
sciences; the technical high school, the 
mining academy, the high school of 
agriculture, the academy of arts, the 
school of music, the seminary for 
Oriental languages, the military acad¬ 
emy and school of engineering, many 
gymnasia and real-schools; an institu¬ 
tion for instructing the deaf and 
dumb, etc. The chief libraries are the 
royal library, founded in 1659, and 
now containing 900,000 volumes and 
25,000 manuscripts; and the univer¬ 
sity library, with about 300,000 vol¬ 
umes. The public museums and pic¬ 
ture galleries are on a scale adequate 
to the importance of the city. The 
Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral dedi¬ 
cated 1905, in the presence of Kaiser 
Wilhelm II., is one of the finest modern 
churches in the world. 

The most important branches of 
manufacturing industries are steam 
engines and other machinery; brass¬ 
founding, the making of lamps and 
other articles of metal; printing 
and the kindred arts, spinning and 
weaving, the making of sewing 
machines, paper, tobacco and cigars, 
pottery and porcelain, pianos and 
harmoniums, artificial flowers, brew¬ 
ing, etc. A considerable quantity 
of the manufactures are exported. In 
the royal iron-foundry, busts, statues, 
bas-reliefs, etc., are cast, together with 
a great variety of ornaments of un¬ 
rivaled delicacy of workmanship. Ber¬ 
lin is well supplied with city and 
other railways. Berlin has rapidly 
risen to be the first city in Germany 


in respect of population, architecture, 
and political influence. Pop. (1900) 

I, 888,326. 

Berlin, University of, a cele¬ 
brated institution of learning in Ber¬ 
lin, Germany. It is, with the excep¬ 
tion of Bonn, the youngest of the Ger¬ 
man universities, but is probably the 
most famous of them all. 

Berlioz, Hector, a French com¬ 
poser, born in La Cote St. Andre, Dec. 

II, 1803. He forsook medicine to 
study music at the Paris Conserva¬ 
toire, where he gained the first prize 
in 1830 with his cantata, “ Sardan- 
apale.” He died in Paris, March 9, 
1869. After his death appeared “ Me- 
moires,” written by himself. 

Berm, or Berme, in fortification, 
a narrow, level space at the foot of 
the exterior slope of a parapet, to keep 
the crumbling materials of the para¬ 
pet from falling into the ditch. 

In engineering, a ledge or bench on 
the side or at the foot of a bank, para¬ 
pet, or cutting, to catch earth that 
may roll down the slope or to 
strengthen the bank. In canals, it is 
a ledge on the opposite side to the tow- 
path, at the foot of a talus or slope, 
to keep earth which may roll down the 
bank from falling into the water. 
Slopes in successive benches have a 
berme at each notch, or, when a change 
of slope occurs, on reaching a different 
soil. 

Bermuda Cedar, a species of ce¬ 
dar which covers the Bermuda Is¬ 
lands. The timber is made into ships, 
boats and pencils. 

Bermuda Grass, a species of 
grass, called in Bermuda, devil grass. 
It grows in the American Southern 
States and in Southern Europe. It is 
much esteemed for pasture. 

Bermuda Hundred, a locality in 
Chesterfield county, Va.; the scene of 
a battle in the Civil War between the 
Union troops under General Butler, 
and the Confederates under General 
Beauregard. The battle was fought 
May 16, 1864, and resulted in a de¬ 
feat for Butler. 

Bermudas, The, or Somer’s 
Islands, a group of small islands, 
about 300 in number, in the North 
Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Great 
Britain, stretching N. E. by E. and 
S. W. by W. about 20 miles, the light- 





Bermudez 


Bernard 


house on Gibb’s Hill being 580 miles 
S. E. of Cape Hatteras; area, about 
30 square miles. The principal islands 
are those of Bermuda, St. George, Ire¬ 
land, and Somerset. The protection af¬ 
forded to shipping by their numerous 
bays, and their position in the track of 
the homeward bound West India ves¬ 
sels, have led to the conversion of the 
Bermudas into a maritime rendezvous, 
and likewise, into a British naval sta¬ 
tion for West Indian fleets. The har¬ 
bor of St. George’s Island has been 
greatly improved, is fortified, protected 
by a breakwater, and has water and 
space enough to float the largest fleet. 
The principal productions are fruits, 
vegetables, maize, and tobacco. Pineap¬ 
ples are very abundant and largely ex¬ 
ported. The climate is mild and salu¬ 
brious ; almost realizing the idea of a 
perpetual spring. Fish abounds, and 
forms a profitable source of industry 
to the inhabitants. Breadstuffs, etc., 
are imported from the United States, 
and manufactured goods from Eng¬ 
land. Hamilton, on Bermuda Island, 
is the seat of the colonial government. 
Pop. (1901) 17,535. These islands 

were discovered by Bermudez, a Span¬ 
iard, in 1522, and settled by the Eng¬ 
lish in 1607, and are supposed to be 
the “ still vexed Bermoothes,” men¬ 
tioned in Shakespeare’s “ Tempest.” 
They are a favorite winter resort. 

Bermudez, Remigio Morales, a 
Peruvian statesman, born in Tarapaca 
Province, Sept. 30, 1836; began busi¬ 
ness in the nitrate trade in his native 
province. In 1854, as a lieutenant, 
he joined the revolutionary army, 
which finally overthrew General Ech- 
inique’s government. In 1864 he 
joined the revolution against Presi¬ 
dent Castilla. In the war with Chile, 
he led the force that marched to 
Africa. When Caceres was elected 
President, in 1886, Bermudez was 
chosen Vice-President, and was elect¬ 
ed President in 1890. He died in 
Lima, March 31, 1894. 

Bern, or Berne, a Swiss canton, 
bounded on the N. by France. It is 
the most populous, and next to the 
Grisons, the most extensive canton of 
Switzerland, its area being nearly 
2,650 square miles, and its pop. 
(1900) 589,433, more than one-sixth 
©f the Swiss people. 


Bern, the chief city of the above 
canton, was, by the decision of the 
Council of the Confederation, in 
1848, declared to be the political cap¬ 
ital of the Commonwealth. Pop. 
(1901) 64,864. Bern was founded by 
Duke Berthold V., of Zahringen, in 
1191, and was made a free and im¬ 
perial city by a charter from the Em¬ 
peror Frederick II., dated May, 1218. 

Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste 
Jules, a French general, afterward 
raised to the Swedish throne, was the 
son of an advocate of Pau, born Jan. 
26, 1764. He enlisted at 17, became 
sergeant-major in 1789, and subaltern 
in 1790. In 1794 he was appointed 
a General of Division, and distin¬ 
guished himself greatly in the cam¬ 
paign in Germany, and on the Rhine. 
In 1798 he married Mademoiselle 
Clary, sister-in-law of Joseph Bona¬ 
parte. The following year he became 
for a short time Minister of War, and 
on the establishment of the Empire 
was raised to the dignity of Marshal 
of France, and the title of Prince of 
Ponte-Corvo. On the death of the 
Prince of Holstein-Augustenburg, the 
heir apparency to the Swedish crown 
was offered to the Prince of Ponte- 
Corvo, who accepted with the consent 
of the Emperor, went to Sweden, ab¬ 
jured Catholicism, and took the title 
of Prince Charles John. In the main¬ 
tenance of the interests of Sweden, a 
serious rupture occurred between him 
and Bonaparte, followed by his acces¬ 
sion, in 1812, to the coalition of sov¬ 
ereigns against Napoleon. At the bat¬ 
tle of Leipsic, he contributed effectual¬ 
ly to the victory of the allies. At the 
close of the war strenuous attempts 
were made by the Emperor of Austria 
and other sovereigns to restore the 
family of Gustavus IV. to the crown; 
but Bernadotte, retaining his position 
as Crown Prince, became King of 
Sweden on the death of Charles XIII., 
in 1818, under the title of Charles 
XIV. During his reign agriculture 
and commerce made great advances, 
and many important public works 
were completed. He died March 8, 
1844, and was succeeded by his son 
Oscar. 

Bernard, Charles de (properly 
Bernard du Grail de la Villette), 
a French novelist, born in Besancon, 




Bernard 


Bernardino 


Feb. 25, 1804; died in Neuilly, March 
6, 1850. 

Bernard, Claude, a French phy¬ 
siologist, born in 1813; died in Paris 
in 1878. 

Bernard, Sir Francis, an Eng¬ 
lish administrator, born in Nettleham, 
in 1714; was Governor of New Jer¬ 
sey in 1758-1760, and of Massachu¬ 
setts Bay in 1760-1769. He did a 
great deal toward precipitating the 
Revolution by his aggressive attempts 
to strengthen the royal authority. He 
was finally recalled on account of the 
unpopularity resultant on his bring¬ 
ing troops into Boston. He died in 
Aylesbury, England, June 16, 1779. 

Bernard, Mountague, an Eng¬ 
lish lawyer, born in Gloucestershire, 
Jan. 28, 1820. In 1872 he assisted 
Sir Roundell Palmer in preparing the 
British case for the Geneva Arbitra¬ 
tion Tribunal. He died at Overross, 
Sept. 2, 1882. 

Bernard, Great St., a celebrated 
pass of the Pennine Alps in Switzer¬ 
land in the canton Valais, on the 
mountain road leading from Martigny 
to Aosta in Piedmont. 

The dogs kept at St. Bernard to as¬ 
sist the brethren in their humane la¬ 
bors are well known. In the midst 
of tempests and snowstorms the 
monks, accompanied by some of these 
dogs, set out for the purpose of track¬ 
ing those who have lost their way. 

Bernard, Little St., a mountain 
of Italy, belonging to what are called 
the Graian Alps, about 10 miles S. of 
Mont Blanc. The pass across it is 
one of the easiest in the Alps, and is 
supposed by many to be that which 
Hannibal used. The Hospice at the 
summit of the pass has an elevation 
of 7,192 feet. 

Bernard, St., Abbot of Clair¬ 
vaux, was born of a noble family in 
Burgundy, in 1091. He was educated 
at the University of Paris. At the 
age of 23 he entered the recently 
founded monastery of Citeaux, accom¬ 
panied by his brothers and 20 of his 
companions. He observed the strict¬ 
est rules of the Order, and so distin¬ 
guished himself by his ability and ac¬ 
quirements that he was chosen to lead 
the colony to Clairvaux, and was made 
abbot of the new house; an office 
which he filled till his death. In 1128 


he prepared the statutes for the Order 
of Knights Templar. He was founder 
of 160 monasteries; and was the chief 
promoter of the second crusade. St. 
Bernard died at Clairvaux in 1153, 
and was canonized in 1174. 

Bernard, Simon, a French engi¬ 
neer, born in Dole, April 28, 1779. 
He served under Napoleon as his aide- 
de-camp ; was wounded at the battle 
of Leipsic; superintended the defense 
of Torgau, and was present at Water¬ 
loo. In 1816 he came to the United 
States; was commissioned a Brigadier- 
General of Engineers; and planned an 
elaborate system of seacoast defenses, 
the most important of the works built 
by him being Fort Monroe. In 1831 
he returned to France; was made aide- 
de-camp to Louis Philippe, and de¬ 
signed the fortifications of Paris. In 
1834 he was appointed Minister of 
War. He died in Paris, Nov. 5, 1839. 

Bernard, William Bayle, an 
Anglo-American dramatist, born in 
Boston, Mass., Nov. 27, 1807. His 
first work was a nautical drama 
called the “ Pilot.” This proved suc¬ 
cessful and encouraged him to pursue 
a literary career. He wrote in all 114 
plays, of which the best known is 
“ Rip Van Winkle.” He died in 
Brighton, England, Aug. 5, 1875. 

Bernard Dog, St. The St. Ber¬ 
nard, as bred to modern ideas, is an 
immense red or orange colored dog, 
marked with white on muzzle, neck, 
chest, feet, and tip of tail. Many of 
the finest St. Bernards measure over 
30 inches high at the shoulder and 
weigh over 150 pounds. 

Bernard of Chartres, surnamed 
Sylvestris, a writer of the 12th cen¬ 
tury. 

Bernard of Treviso, an Italian 
alchemist, born in Padua in 1406; 
died in 1490. 

Bernardine, the name given to 
the Cistercian monks, a branch of the 
old Benedictines, from St. Bernard, 
who, entering the order, gave it such 
an impulse that he was considered its 
second founder. 

Bernardino, St., of Siena, born in 
1380 at Massa-Carrara, of a distin¬ 
guished family, made himself famous 
by his rigid restoration of their prim¬ 
itive rule among the degenerate order 
of the Franciscans, of which he be- 




Bernhard 


Berrien 


came a member in 1404. He died in 
1444, and was canonized in 1450. 

Bernhard, Karl, pseudonym of 
Nicolai de Saint Aubain, a cele¬ 
brated Danish novelist, born in Co¬ 
penhagen, Nov. 18, 1798; died in 
Copenhagen, Nov. 25, 1865. 

Bernhardi, Theodor von, a 
German historian and diplomat, born 
in Berlin, Nov. 6, 1802; died at Kun- 
ersdorf, Silesia, Feb. 12, 1887. 

Bernhardt, Rosine Sarah, a 
French actress, born in Paris, Oct. 22, 
1844. At an early age her Jewish 
parents placed her in a convent at 
Versailles. When 14 years old she 
left the convent, and entered the Paris 
Conservatoire, and there studied trag¬ 
edy and comedy. In 1862 she made 
her debut at the Theatre Francais, in 
Racine’s “ Iphigene ” and Scribe’s 
“ Valerie,” but, not achieving a suc¬ 
cess, she retired for a time from the 
stage. Her first great success was as 
Marie de Neuberg, in Victor Hugo’s 
“ Iluy Bias,” in January, 1867. Be¬ 
coming very popular by her represen¬ 
tations, notably in “ Andromaque ” 
and “ La Sphinx,” she was recalled to 
the Francais, and was soon recognized 
as the foremost actress in French 
tragedy. In 1879 she visited London 
with the company of the Comedie 
Francaise and was warmly received; 
in 1880, 1887, 1891, 1896, and 1900 
made successful appearances in the 
United States, and between and after 
these dates visited Switzerland, Hol¬ 
land, South America, Italy, Algeria, 
Australia, etc. In 1899 she appeared 
in a new rendering of “ Hamlet ” in 
Paris, and scored a most flattering tri¬ 
umph. She has also done consider¬ 
able work in painting, sculpture, and 
literature. 

Bernhardy, Gottfried, a Ger¬ 
man classical philologist, born in 
Landsberg-on-the-Warthe, March 20, 
1800; died in Halle, May 14, 1875. 

Bernier, Francois, a French 
physician and traveler, born in Angers 
about 1625; set out on his travels in 
1654, and visited Egypt, Palestine, 
and India, where he remained for 12 
years as physician to the Great Mogul 
Emperor Aurungzebe. He died in 
Paris in 1688. 

Bernina, a mountain of the Rhse- 
tian Alps, 13,290 feet high, in the 


Swiss canton of Grisons, with remark¬ 
able and extensive glaciers. Its sum¬ 
mit was first attained in 1850. 

Bernini, Giovanni Lorenzo 
(known also as II Cavaliere Ber¬ 
nini), an Italian painter, born in 
Naples in 1598, and obtained, among 
his contemporaries, the reputation of 
being the modern Michael Angelo, on 
account of his success as painter, stat¬ 
uary, and architect. He died in 1680. 

Bernouilli, or Bernoulli, a fam¬ 
ily which produced eight distinguished 
men of science. The family fled from 
Antwerp during the Alva administra¬ 
tion, going first to Frankfort, and af¬ 
terward to Basel. John, born in 
Basel, in 1667, wrote with his brother, 
James, a treatise on the differential 
calculus; developed the integral cal¬ 
culus, and discovered, indepently of 
Leibnitz, the exponential calculus. He 
died in 1748. 

BernstorfF, Andreas Peter, 
Count, born in 1735; in the service 
of the King of Denmark. He was ap¬ 
pointed Prime Minister in 1769, when 
he ceded to Russia the Gootorp part 
of Holstein in exchange for Oldenburg 
and Delmenhorst. He died in 1797. 

Berquin, Louis de, the first Prot¬ 
estant martyr in France, born in 1490. 
He was a gentleman of Artois, a 
friend of Badius, the savant. When, 
in 1523, the police began to seize Lu¬ 
ther’s works, with a view to suppress¬ 
ing Protestantism, they found among 
Berquin’s books some manuscripts of 
his own writing that were pronounced 
heretical. As he refused to retract, 
he was thrown into prison. Francis 
I., whose counselor he was, obtained 
for him his freedom. His fixed opinions 
and intrepid nature, however, having 
thrown him into prison three times, 
caused him to be condemned to death. 
He was burned alive in Paris, April 
17, 1529. 

Berrian, William, an American 

Episcopal clergyman and writer, born 
in New York in 1787; was rector of 
Trinity Church, New York (1830- 
1862). He died in New York city, 
Nov. 7, 1862. 

Berrien, John McPherson, an 

American statesman, born in New Jer¬ 
sey, Aug. 23, 1781; graduated at 
Princeton College in 1796, and was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in Georgia when 18 




Berro 


Bertillon System 


years old. He represented Geor¬ 
gia in the United States Senate in 
1825-1829 and 1810-1852; was Attor¬ 
ney-General of the United States in 
1829-1831, and a delegate to the Bal¬ 
timore Convention in 1844. In 1829 
he delivered a speech so clear and im¬ 
pressive against certain measures be¬ 
fore Congress that the title of “ Amer¬ 
ican Cicero ” was given him. He died 
in Savannah, Ga., Jan. 1, 1856. 

Berro, Bernardo Prudencio, an 
Uruguayan statesman, born in Monte¬ 
video about 1800. He was President 
of the republic in 1860-1864. The 
revolution ^of Flores was successful 
soon after the expiration of his term. 
In 1868 he stirred up a revolt against 
Flores, was imprisoned, and soon af¬ 
terward shot through a window in his 
cell, in April, 1868. 

Berry, a succulent fruit, in which 
the seeds are immersed in a pulpy 
mass inclosed by a thin skin. Popu- 
lary it is applied to fruits like the 
strawberry, bearing external seeds on 
a pulpy receptacle, but not strictly 
berries. 

Berryer, Antoine Pierre, a 

French advocate and statesman, born 
in Paris in 1790. In 1814 he pro¬ 
claimed at Rennes the deposition of 
Napoleon, and remained till his death 
an avowed Legitimist. In 1840 he 
was one of the counsel for the defense 
of Louis Napoleon after the Boulogne 
fiasco. He gained additional reputa¬ 
tion in 1858 by his defense of Monta- 
lembert, and was counsel for the Pat- 
terson-Bonapartes in the suit for the 
recognition of the Baltimore marriage. 
He died in 1868. 

Bersaglieri, a corps of riflemen or 
sharpshooters, introduced into the 
Sardinian army by Gen. Della Mar¬ 
mora, about 1849. They took part in 
the Russian War and also assisted at 
the battle of the Tchernaya, Aug. 16, 
1855. They were likewise employed 
in the Italian Wars of 1859 and 1866. 

Bersezio, Vittorio, an Italian 
novelist and playwright, born at Pev- 
eragno, Piedmont, in 1830. 

Bert, Paul, a French statesman 
and physiologist, born in Auxerre, Oct. 
17, 1833. While engaged in public 
life, M. Bert still pursued with ardor 
his scientific investigations, attracting 
world-wide attention by his experi¬ 


ments in vivisection. Appointed by 
the French Ministry to the governor¬ 
ship of Tonquin and Annam, he went 
out there in 1886, but died Nov. 11, 
of the same year. The anti-religious 
views of M. Bert excited much contro¬ 
versy. 

Berthelot, Pierre Eugene Mar- 
cellin, a French chemist, born in 
Paris, Oct. 25, 1827. In 1878 he be¬ 
came president of the committee on ex¬ 
plosives, which introduced smokeless 
powder. His labors also led to the 
discovery of dyes extracted from coal- 
tar. He died March 18, 1907. 

Berthier, Alexander, Prince of 
Neufchatel and Wagram, Marshal, 
Vice-Constable of France, etc.; born 
in Versailles, Nov. 20, 1753; killed 
himself, June 1, 1815. 

Berthold of Ratisbon, a cele¬ 
brated German preacher and Francis¬ 
can monk; ranked as the most power¬ 
ful preacher of his time in the Ger¬ 
man world. It is said that as many as 
60,000 people flocked to hear him in 
the open fields. His sermons have 
been preserved. He died in 1272. 

Bertillon, Alphonse, a French 
anthropologist, born in Paris in 1853; 
is widely noted as the founder of a 
system of identification of criminals. 
In 1880, while Chief of the Bureau of 
Identification in the Prefecture of Po¬ 
lice, he established his system of meas¬ 
urements which has given marvelous 
results for their precision. The sys¬ 
tem has since been adopted by the 
police authorities of the large cities of 
Europe and the United States. He 
was one of' the expert witnesses in 
handwriting in the trial of Capt. 
Dreyfus in 1899, and soon after its 
close was removed from his office. He 
was author of numerous works bear¬ 
ing upon his system, including “ Iden¬ 
tification anthropometrique ” (1893). 

Bertillon System, a system of 
identification of criminals, introduced 
into France by Alphonse Bertillon. 
The system depends upon accurate 
measurements of various portions of 
the human body, especially the bones, 
which in adults never change. The 
parts measured are the head, ear, foot, 
middle finger, the extended forearm, 
height, breadth, and the trunk. These 
measurements are placed upon a card, 
and together with photographs of the 





Bertrand 


Bessarion 


bodily features, take the place of the 
old portraits in the rogues’ gallery. 

Bertrand, Eugene, a French op¬ 
eratic manager, born in 1835; died in 
Paris, Jan. 21, 1900. 

Bertrand Henri G., Count, a 
French military officer, born in Cha- 
teauroux in 1773, and early entered 
the armies of the Revolution as engi¬ 
neer. He accompanied the expedition 
to Egypt, and directed the fortifica¬ 
tion of Alexandria. He distinguished 
himself at Austerlitz and became Na¬ 
poleon’s adjutant; and, after the bat¬ 
tle of Aspern, in 1809, for his share in 
saving the French army by bridges, he 
was created count and governor of Il¬ 
lyria. After serving with credit in 
the subsequent campaigns, he retired 
with the Emperor to Elba, was his 
confidant in carrying out his return to 
France, and finally shared his banish¬ 
ment to St. Helena. On Napoleon’s 
death, Bertrand returned to France, 
where, though sentence of death had 
been pronounced upon him — a sen¬ 
tence which Louis XVIII. had wisely 
recalled — he was restored to all his 
dignities, and, in 1830, appointed 
Commandant of the Polytechnic 
School. In 1840, he formed part of 
the expedition which brought back the 
remains of Napoleon to France. He 
died in Chateauroux, Jan. 31, 1844. 

Berwick, or more fully, Berwick- 
on-Tweed, a seaport town of Eng¬ 
land, formerly a Parliamentary bor¬ 
ough and (with small adjoining dis¬ 
trict) a county by itself, but now in¬ 
corporated with Northumberland, and 
giving name to a Parliamentary divi¬ 
sion of the county. 

Beryl, a colorless, yellowish, bluish 
or less brilliant green variety of em¬ 
erald, the prevailing hue being green 
of various shades, but always pale, the 
want of color being due to absence of 
chromium, which gives to the emerald 
its deep, rich green. 

Beryllium, a rare white malleable 
metal, the same as glucinum. 

Berzelius, Johann Jakob, Ba¬ 
ron, a Swedish chemist, born in Ost- 
gothland, Aug. 29, 1779. To him pre¬ 
eminently belongs the honor of apply¬ 
ing the great principles which had 
been established by Dalton, Davy, 
Gay-Lussac, and himself, in organic 
chemistry, to the study of the laws 


which regulate the combinations form¬ 
ing the structures of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms; and of thus open¬ 
ing the way for the discoveries of 
Mulder, Liebig, Dumas, and others. 
To him, chemistry is indebted for the 
discovery of several new elementary 
bodies, more especially selenium, thor¬ 
ium, and cerium; and to his skill as a 
manipulator may be traced many of 
the analytical processes at present in 
use. He died Aug. 7, 1848. All the 
scientific societies of the world enroll¬ 
ed his name among their members. 

Berzelium, (See Cabolinium). 

Besancon, a city in the N. E. of 
France, the capital of the Depart¬ 
ment of Doubs, on the river Doubs. 
It contains Roman remains, including 
an amphitheater, aqueduct and trium¬ 
phal arch of Mars, as well as a cathe¬ 
dral of diversified architectural style, 
and the Renaissance palace of Cardi¬ 
nal Granwelle, wffio was born in Bes¬ 
ancon. Victor Hugo was also a na¬ 
tive of Besancon. Watch-making is 
the principal industry. Pop. (1896) 
5 1 ,556. 

Besaut, Annie, an English the- 
osophist and author, born in London, 
Oct. 1, 1847; was married in 1867 to 
the Rev. Frank Besant, brother of Sir 
Walter Besant, but was legally sepa¬ 
rated from him in 1873. In 1889 she 
joined the Theosophical Society, and 
has since been active in theosophical 
propaganda in Great Britain and the 
United States. 

Besant, Sir Walter, an English 
novelist; born in Portsmouth, Eng¬ 
land, Aug. 14, 1836; was educated in 
London and at Christ’s College, Cam¬ 
bridge, where he graduated with math¬ 
ematical honors. He was for a time 
professor in the Royal College Mau¬ 
ritius. On May 24, 1895, he was 
knighted. He died in London, June 9, 
1901. 

Besika Bay, a bay on the N. W. 
coast of Asia Minor, opposite Tenedos, 
to the S. of the entrance of the Dar¬ 
danelles. The English fleet was sta¬ 
tioned here during crises in the East¬ 
ern question in 1853-1854 and 1877- 
1878. 

Bessarion, John, a Greek scholar, 
born in Trebizond in 1395, one of the 
most eminent restorers of learning in 
the 15th century, and founder of the 




Bessel 


Bethania 


library of St. Mark at Venice; was a 
monk of the Order of St. Basil. He 
died in Ravenna, Nov. 19, 1472. 

Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm, as¬ 
tronomer, born in Minden, Prussia, 
July 22, 1784. He died in Konigs- 
berg, March 17, 1846. 

Bessels, Emil, a German natural¬ 
ist, born in Heidelberg, June 2, 1847; 
died in Stuttgart, March 30, 1888. 

Bessemer, Sir Henry, an Eng¬ 
lish inventor, born in Charlton, Hert¬ 
fordshire, Jan. 19, 1813; began mod¬ 
eling and designing patterns when 18 
years old; chose engineering as a pro¬ 
fession, and, after long and costly ex¬ 
periments, announced, in 1856, his 
discovery of a means of rapidly and 
cheaply converting pig iron into steel, 
by blowing a blast of air through the 
iron when in a state of fusion. For 
this discovery the Institution of Civil 
Engineers awarded him the Gold Tel¬ 
ford Medal, and several foreign gov¬ 
ernments honored him with valuable 
tokens. In the United States appre¬ 
ciation of his great discovery took the 
form of creating industrial cities and 
towns under his name. He was elect¬ 
ed President of the Iron and Steel In¬ 
stitute of Great Britain in 1871; 
knighted by the Queen in 1879, and 
received the freedom of the city of 
London in 1880. He died in London, 
March 15, 1898. 

Bessemer Steel, steel made from 
pig iron, from which practically all 
the carbon, etc., has been removed by 
exposing the molten mass to a current 
of air. 

Bessey, Charles E., an American 
botanist, born in Wilton, O., May 
21, 1845; educated at Harvard Uni¬ 
versity ; Professor of Botany in the 
Iowa Agricultural College in 1879- 
1884; Professor of Botany in the Uni¬ 
versity of Nebraska since 1884. He 
was also President of the Society for 
the Promotion of Agricultural Science 
in 1883-1885; President of the Ne¬ 
braska Academy of Sciences in 1891; 
acting Chancellor of the University of 
Nebraska in 1888-1891; Fellow of the 
American Association for the Ad¬ 
vancement of Science. 

Bessieres, Jean Baptiste, Duke 
of Istria, a marshal of the French 
Empire, born of poor parents at Preis- 
sac, Aug 6, 1768. At the accession 


of Napoleon (1804) to the throne, be 
became Marshal of France. He showed 
his usual conspicuous courage at Aus- 
terlitz, Jena, Eylau, and Friedland, 
and, raised to the rank of Duke of Is- 
tria, commanded in Spain in 180&- 
1809. In the Russian campaign he led 
the cavalry of the Guard, and did 
much by his sleepless courage and 
presence of mind to save the wreck of 
the army in the disastrous retreat 
from Moscow. On the morning of the 
battle of Lutzen (May 1, 1813), he 
fell mortally wounded by a cannon 
ball. 

Bestiary, the name given to a class 
of written books of great popularity 
in the Middle Ages, describing all the 
animals of creation, real or fabled, 
composed partly in prose, partly in 
verse, and generally illustrated by 
drawings. 

Betauzos, Juan Jose de, a Span¬ 
ish historian and adventurer of the 
16th century; was author of an ac¬ 
count of the conquest of Peru by Pi- 
zarro. 

Betel, or Betle, the English name 
of the piper betle, a shrubby plant 
with evergreen leaves, belonging to the 
typical genus of the pepperworts. It 
is extensively cultivated in the East 
Indies. Its leaf is used as a wrapper 
to inclose a few slices of the areca 
palm nut with a little shell lime. The 
Southern Asiatics are perpetually 
chewing it to sweeten the breath, to 
strengthen the stomach, and, if hun¬ 
ger be present, to deaden its cravings. 

Betham-Edwards, Matilda, an 
English author, born in Suffolk, in 
1836; was educated privately; has 
published numerous works in poetry, 
fiction, and on French rural life. She 
was made an officer of public instruc¬ 
tion in France in 1891. 

Bethania, or Bethany, a town 
in Syria, about 2 miles S. E. of Jeru¬ 
salem, on the way to Jericho. It is 
now a small place, inhabited by a few 
Turkish families, by whom it is called 
Lazari, in memory of Lazarus, who 
dwelt here, and who was here raised 
from the dead. The inhabitants show 
the pretended sites of the houses of 
Lazarus, of Martha, of Simon the 
leper, and of Mary Magdalene. The 
alleged tomb of Lazarus, a large ex¬ 
cavation in the rock, is also shown. 




Bethany College 


Beveridge 


The situation of Bethania is extreme¬ 
ly picturesque. 

Bethany College, a co-education- 
al institution in Linsborg, Kan.; or¬ 
ganized in 1881; under the auspices of 
the Lutheran Church. 

Bethany College, a co-education- 
al institution in Bethany, W. Va.; or¬ 
ganized in 1841; under the auspices 
of the Church of the Disciples. 

Bethel, a town of Palestine, about 
10 miles from Jerusalem, now called 
Beitin, or Beiteen. The patriarch 
Jacob here had a vision of angels, in 
commemoration of which he built an 
altar. Interesting ruins abound in the 
vicinity. 

Bethel College, an educational in¬ 
stitution in Russellville, Ky.; organ¬ 
ized in 1854; under the auspices of the 
Baptist Church. 

Bethesda, a pool in Jerusalem, 
near St. Stephen’s Gate, and the Tem¬ 
ple of Omar. 

Bethlehem, the birthplace of Je¬ 
sus Christ and of King David, and 
the Ephratah of the history of Jacob; 
is now a small, unwalled village of 
white stone houses, in the midst of a 
most interesting country, 6 miles S. 
of Jerusalem. The population, about 
3,000, is wholly Christian — Latin, 
Greek, and Armenian. The Convent 
of the Nativity, a large, square build¬ 
ing, resembling a fortress, was built 
by the Empress Helena, in 327 A. d., 
but destroyed by the Moslems in 1236, 
and, it is supposed, restored' by the 
crusaders. Within it is the Church 
of the Nativity, which is subdivided 
among the Latins, Greeks, and Ar¬ 
menians, for devotional purposes. The 
Bethlehemites chiefly gain their sub¬ 
sistence by the manufacture and sale 
of crucifixes, beads, boxes, shells, etc., 
of mother-of-pearl and olive wood. 

Bethlehemites, a name applied 
(1) to the followers of Jerome Huss, 
from Bethlehem Church, where he 
preached; (2) to an order of monks, 
established, according to Matthew 
Paris, in 1257, with a monastery at 
Cambridge; (3) to an order founded 
in Guatemala about 1655 by Fray Pe¬ 
dro*_ a Franciscan tertiary, a native 
of Teneriffe. It spread to Mexico, 
Peru, and the Canary Islands. An 
order of nuns founded in 1667 bore 
the same name. 


Bethsaida, a village on the W. 
shore of the Lake of Galilee, the birth¬ 
place of Peter and Andrew and Philip. 

Bethune, Charles James Stew¬ 
art, a Canadian educator, born in 
West Flamboro, Ont., Aug. 11, 1838. 
In 1892 he was elected a Fellow of the 
Royal Society of Canada. 

Bethune, George Washington, 
an American Dutch Reformed clergy¬ 
man and poet, born in New York, 
March 18, 1805. He died in Florence, 
Italy, April 27, 1862. 

Betterton, Thomas, English act¬ 
or, born in 1635; excelled in Shake¬ 
speare’s characters of Hamlet, Othello, 
Brutus, and Hotspur, and was the 
means of introducing shifting scenes 
instead of tapestry upon the English 
stage. Mrs. Sanderson, whom he mar¬ 
ried in 1670, was also an actress of 
repute. He died in 1710, and was 
buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Betting, or Wagering, a con¬ 
tract by which two or more parties 
agree that a certain sum of money or 
other thing shall be paid or delivered 
to one of them on the happening or 
not happening of an uncertain event. 
At common law, wagers are not per 
se, void, but statutes prohibiting bet¬ 
ting have been passed by many of the 
States. 

Betts, Craven Langstrath, an 

American poet and story writer, born 
in New Brunswick, in 1853. 

Betty, William Henry West, 
better known as the Young Roscius, 
an English actor, born at Shrewsbury 
in 1791; died in London, Aug. 24, 
1874. 

Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand, 
Count von, an Austrian statesman, 
born in Dresden, Jan. 13, 1809. He 
entered the service of Austria as Min¬ 
ister of Foreign Affairs, became Presi¬ 
dent of the Ministry, Imperial Chan¬ 
cellor, and, in 1868, was created 
Count. In 1871-1878 he was Ambas¬ 
sador in London, in 1878-1882, in 
Paris. He died near Vienna, Oct. 24, 

Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah, an 

American lawyer, born in Highland 
county, O., Oct. 6, 1862; was brought 
up on a farm; graduated at De Pauw 
University; and engaged in law prac¬ 
tice in Indianapolis He entered po¬ 
litical life in 1883, and soon won a 






Bewick 


Biberach 


reputation as an effective orator. On 
Jan. 17, 1899, he was elected United 
States Senator for Indiana, as a Re¬ 
publican. Soon after his election he 
went to the Philippine Islands; made 
a thorough study of political and ma¬ 
terial conditions there, and, on the 
assembly of Congress in December, 
following, delivered a thrilling speech 
in the Senate in support of the Ad¬ 
ministration’s policy concerning the 
new possessions in the East. 

Bewick, Thomas, an English 
wood engraver, born in Northumber¬ 
land in 1753. He died in 1828. 

Beyle, Marie-Henri, better known 
under the pseudonym of “ Stendhal,” 
a French novelist and critic, born in 
Grenoble, Jan. 23, 1783; died in Paris, 
March 23, 1842. 

Beyrout, or Beirut, a flourishing 
commercial town, situated in a most 
picturesque position on the coast of 
Syria, and at the foot of Lebanon, 55 
miles from Damascus, and 147 from 
Jerusalem. It is the chief seaport, 
market-town, and emporium of all the 
trade with the shores of Syria, Pales¬ 
tine, and Cilicia, with a regular ser¬ 
vice of Egyptian, French, and British 
steamers. The American vice-consul 
at this place was shot at in September, 
1903, and President Roosevelt ordered 
American war-vesSels to go there. 

Bezants, or Byzantines, coins of 
the old Byzantine empire. 

Beza, or Beze, Theodore de, a 
French Protestant theologian and re¬ 
former, born in Vezelai, in 1519. 
In 1558, he was sent to ask 
the intercession of several German 
princes in behalf of the persecuted 
Huguenots in France. The next year 
he settled at Geneva, and was thence¬ 
forth the associate of Calvin till his 
death, and his successor as Professor 
of Theology and head of the Protes¬ 
tant party. IBs energy and activity 
of mind, like his bodily health, con¬ 
tinued unabated till he was nearly 80 
years of age, and he only ceased 
preaching in 1600. He died in 1605. 

Bezique, or Besique, a game of 
cards of French origin. 
f Bhagavatgita, or Bhagavadgi- 
ta, in Sanskrit literature, a song re¬ 
lating a discourse between Krishna 
and his pupil Arjun in the midst of a 
battle. Schlegel considers it the most 


beautiful and perhaps the only true 
philosophical poem in the whole range 
of known literature. Its teaching is 
pantheistic. It consists of 18 lec¬ 
tures. It has been translated into 
many languages. 

Bhamo, a town of Burma on the 
Upper Irrawaddy, about 40 miles from 
the Chinese frontier. It is the start¬ 
ing-point of caravans to Yunnan. 

Bkeels, or Bhils, a Dravidic race 
inhabiting the Yindhya, Satpura, and 
Satmala Hills, a relic of the Indian 
aborigines driven from the plains by 
the Aryan Rajputs. Their total num¬ 
bers are about 750,000. 

Bhutan, an independent State in 
the Eastern Himalayas, with an area 
of about 16,800 square miles. Pop. 
over 30,000. The Bhutanese are a 
backward race, governed by a Dharm 
Rajah, regarded as an incarnation of 
deity, and by a Deb Rajah, with a 
council of eight. They are nominally 
Buddhists. 

Biafra, Bight of, a large bay on 
the W. coast of Africa, at the head of 
the Gulf of Guinea, between Capes 
Formosa and Lopez. 

Bianchini, Francesco, an Ital¬ 
ian astronomer, born in Verona, in 
1662. He died in 1729. 

Biard, Auguste Francois, a 
French genre painter, born in 1798; 
died in 1882. 

Biarritz, a watering-place and 
noted winter resort in France; on the 
Bay of Biscay in the Department of 
the Basses-Pyrenees; 4 miles S. W. of 
Bayonne. It was the royal summer 
residence during the Second Empire. 

Biart, Lucien, a French novelist, 
poet and writer of travels, born in 
Versailles, June 21, 1829. He pub¬ 
lished a number of novels, containing 
masterly descriptions of Mexican and 
South American nature and customs. 

Bias, one of the seven- sages of 
Greece; a native of Priene, in Ionia; 
celebrated for his practical knowledge 
and strict regard to justice. He flour¬ 
ished about 550 b. c., and died at a 
very advanced age. 

Biberach, a town of Wurtemberg, 
delightfully situated on the Reiss, 23 
miles S. S. W. of Ulm. It retains its 
old ramparts and towers, and in front 
of the theater is a monument to Wie- 




Bible 


Bible 


land, who was born in the neighbor¬ 
hood. 

Bible (French bible, with similar 
forms in other languages, from Greek 
biblia, books, from biblos, the inner 
bark of the papyrus, used for writing 
on, hence a book), the collection of 
Sacred Writings or Holy Scriptures 
of the Christians. The older and 
larger division of these writings is 
also received by the Jews as embody¬ 
ing their faith, and is called the Old 
Testament, or Scriptures of the Old 
Covenant, because the Jewish religion 
was represented as a compact or cove¬ 
nant between God and the Jews, and 
the Greek word for covenant signifies 
also last will or testament. The same 
figure was applied to the Christian re¬ 
ligion, which was considered as an ex¬ 
tension of the old covenant, or a cove¬ 
nant between God and the whole hu¬ 
man race. The sacred writings 
peculiar to the Christians are, there¬ 
fore, called the Scriptures of the New 
Covenant, or the New Testament. 
Protestants and Roman Catholics do 
not altogether agree as to the books 
that ought to be admitted into the 
canon or list of writings belonging to 
the Old Testament. A certain num¬ 
ber of books classed by the former 
upder the head of Apocrypha are 
cajled by the latter “ deutero-canoni- 
qjl,” as being admitted into the canon 
at a later date than the rest, but are 
held to be of equal authority. 

The scriptures were, no doubt, orig¬ 
inally written on skins or parchments 
rolled up into rolls or volumes. 

The earliest and most famous ver¬ 
sion of the Old Testament is the Sep- 
tuagint, or Greek translation, complet¬ 
ed it is believed in the 2d century b. c. 
The Syriac version, called the Peshito, 

S as made in the 2d century after 
brist, and is celebrated for its fideli¬ 
ty. The famous Latin version of St. 
Jerome, known as the Vulgate, was 
finished in 405. 

The New Testament, besides being 
originally written in Greek, also dif¬ 
fers remarkably from the Old in this 
respect, that while the writings com¬ 
prehended in the earlier collection 
range over a period of 1,000 years, 
those included in the latter were pro¬ 
duced almost contemporaneously — 


most of them probably between A. D. 
50 and a. d. 70. The collection con¬ 
sists of 27 writings, ascribed either to 
apostles or to persons intimately asso¬ 
ciated with them. Five of the works 
are in the form of historical narra¬ 
tives, four of which relate from dif¬ 
ferent points of view the story of 
Christ’s life, while the fifth describes 
the formation and extension of the 
Church by the ministry of the leading 
apostles. Twenty-one are epistolary. 
Thirteen of these bear the name of St. 
Paul as their author, nine being ad¬ 
dressed to various Christian communi¬ 
ties, three (I and II Timothy, and 
Titus) —called the pastoral epistles 
— to office-bearers in the Churcn, 
and one to a private individual 
(Philemon). The epistle to the 
Hebrews formerly ascribed to Paul is 
believed to have been written by Apol- 
los. Seven other letters—one ascribed 
to James, two to Peter, three to 
John, and one to Jude — are often 
known as the catholic (that is, gen¬ 
eral) epistles, as having been intended 
for the use of Christians in general. 
The only remaining work is the Apoc¬ 
alypse or Revelation of St. John. Of 
these writings the epistles are the ear¬ 
liest in date and were written to va¬ 
rious Christian communities to give 
advice in special circumstances, to ex¬ 
plain points of doctrine, or to warn 
against mistaken beliefs. They are 
adapted to the special conditions and 
mental attitude of those to whom they 
were addressed; thus in the letters to 
the Corinthian Christians, who dwelt 
in Greece, various speculative ques¬ 
tions are discussed. The first three 
Gospels, called the synoptic Gospels, 
were probably written in or near a. d. 
70, that of Mark being perhaps the 
earliest. The fourth Gospel is of 
much later date (about A. D. 
100), and has a markedly different 
character. It gives an account of 
Christ’s life not so much from an ob¬ 
jective and historical as from a sub¬ 
jective and personal point of view. 

All the books of the New Testament 
have come down to us as originally 
written in the Greek language. The 
writers of the New Testament 
were all, or nearly all, Jews; and 
while employing the Greek language, 




Bible Societies 


Bible Societies 


they exhibit many traces of their na¬ 
tive idiom, so that their writings pre¬ 
sent more or less of a Hebraic color¬ 
ing. The body, as has been well said, 
is Greek; the spirit is Hebrew. The 
first translation of the whole Bible into 
English was by Wycliffe and his co¬ 
adjutors, who translated from the Lat¬ 
in and published their work in 1382. 
William Tyndale made a translation 
from the original tongues of the New 
Testament and part of the Old, which 
he printed at Worms in 1525. It was 
proscribed and burned in England, 
but copies were smuggled over and 
used in secret. The Pentateuch was 
published by Tyndale in 1530. He also 
translated some of the prophetical 
books. His translation was superior 
to all previous versions in purity, 
perspicuity, and accuracy, and it 
formed the basis of all subsequent 
translations. 

Tyndale suffered martyrdom in 1536, 
but his work was taken up by Miles 
Coverdale. He and his coadjutors com¬ 
pleted the translation and the whole 
Bible was issued in one large volume. 
In 1537 a new and revised edition was 
published. Another version appeared 
in 1560 known as the Genevan Bible, 
or more familiarly as the Breeches 
Bible, from its rendering of Genesis 3: 
7. This, however, was not popular 
with the Church of England, and in 
1568 a revision of Coverdale’s version 
was made. This was known as the Bish¬ 
op’s Bible, because of the number of 
bishops who assisted in its production. 

In the reign of James I. a demand 
was made for a new translation, 
and at the Hampton Court Confer¬ 
ence (1604) the suggestion was made 
by Dr. Rainolds of Oxford, as spokes¬ 
man of the Puritan representatives, 
and accepted by the king. The work 
was committed to 54 scholars, but 
only 47 took part in it. They were 
divided into six companies, who had 
their respective tasks assigned them 
and met apart. The revision was be¬ 
gun in 1607, ahd occupied three years. 
The whole work was revised by 12 of 
the translators, two out of each com- 
any, and a final revision was made 
y Dr. Myles Smith, the writer of 
the preface, and Dr. Bilson, Bishop of 
Winchester. The completed work was 
published in a folio volume in 1611. 

E 18 , 


The translators were enjoined to fol¬ 
low the ordinary Bible read in the 
churches commonly called the Bish¬ 
ops’ Bible, and not to make altera¬ 
tions unless the meaning of the origi¬ 
nal could be more accurately con¬ 
veyed. The general accuracy of this 
translation, which is usually known 
as the Authorized Version, and the 
purity of its style, so won the appro¬ 
bation of scholars and commended it 
to readers generally that from the 
time of its adoption it has superseded 
all other versions. Latterly, however, 
the advances made in Hebrew scholar¬ 
ship and biblical criticism gave rise to 
a general demand among those inter¬ 
ested in the study of the Bible for a 
revision of the Authorized Version, 
and the task was undertaken by a 
number of the Anglican clergy, with 
the aid of associates from various 
other bodies. The work was set afoot 
by the convocation of Canterbury, 
which in 1870 appointed a committee 
to consider the question of revision. 
The committee in a few months re¬ 
ported favorably on the scheme, rec¬ 
ommending that “ the revision be so 
conducted as to comprise both margi¬ 
nal renderings and such emendations 
as it may be found necessary to insert 
in the text of the authorized version ”; 
stating also “ that in the above reso¬ 
lutions we do not contemplate any 
new translation of the Bible, or any 
alteration of the language, except 
where in the judgment of the most 
competent scholars such change is 
necessary.” Two companies were soon 
formed — one for the Old, the other 
for the New Testament, including a 
number of scholars belonging to the 
United States — and the revised ver¬ 
sion of the New Testament was issued 
in 1881, while that of the Old Testa¬ 
ment appeared in 1885. In accuracy 
at least the revised version is greatly 
superior to the old, on which it made 
10,000 emendations. Of other trans¬ 
lations than the English Authorized 
Version, that of Luther, which formed 
an epoch in the history of the German 
language, is the most remarkable. It 
was finished in 1534. 

Bible Societies, societies formed 
for the distribution of the Bible or 
portions of it in various languages, 
either gratuitously or at a low rate. 
A clergyman of Wales, whom the 





Bible Statistics 


Bible 


want of a Welsh Bible led to London, 
occasioned the establishment of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, 
which was founded in London, March 
7, 1804. 

In the United States the great 
American Bible Society, formed in 
1816, acts in concert with the aux¬ 
iliary societies in all parts of the 
Union. The annual income of the 
society is now over $500,000, and its 
total issue has amounted to about 
64,000,000 copies. These have been 
mostly in English, Spanish, and 
French, from the society’s plates. The 
managers have occasionally purchased 
Bibles in Europe, and issued them to 
applicants, in German, Dutch, Welsh, 
Gaelic, Portuguese, modern Greek, 
and some other European languages. 
They have also furnished money to 
print translations into pagan lan¬ 
guages, by American missionaries. It 
is the object of the society to supply 
every one who can read in the United 
States, before devoting much attention 
to distribution abroad. Yet Spanish 
America and Ceylon, Greece, and the 
Sandwich Islands have been furnished 
with Bibles by the society. Other 
American societies are the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Bible Society, the American and 
Foreign Bible Society, and the Amer¬ 
ican Bible Union. 

Bible Statistics, an interesting 
compilation, said to be the fruits of 
three years’ labor by the indefatigable 
Dr. Horne, and given by him in his 
introduction to the study of the Scrip¬ 
tures. The basis is an old English Bi¬ 
ble of the King James version. 

Old Testament.— Number of books, 
39; chapters, 929; verses, 23,214; 
words, 593,493; letters, 2,728,100. 

New Testament.—Number of books, 
27; chapters, 260; verses, 7,959; 
words, 181,253; letters, 838,380. 

The Bible.— Total number of books, 
66; chapters, 1,189; verses, 31,173 ; 
words, 773,746; letters, 3,566,480. 

Apocrypha.— Number of books, 14; 
chapters, 184; verses, 6,031; words, 
125,185. 

Old Testament.— The middle book 
of the Old Testament is Proverbs. The 
middle chapter is Job xxix. The mid¬ 
dle verse is II Chronicles xx, between 
verses 17 and 18. The shortest book 
is Obadiah. The shortest verse is 
I Chron. i: 25. The word “ and ” 


occurs 35,543 times. Ezra vii: 21 
contains all the letters of our - alpha¬ 
bet. The word “ Selah ” occurs 73 
times and only in the poetical books. 
II Kings xix and Isaiah xxxvii are 
alike. The Book of Esther does not 
contain the words God or Lord. The 
last two verses of II Chronicles and 
the opening verses of the Book of 
Ezra are alike. Ezra ii and Nehe- 
miah vii are alike. There are nearly 
30 books mentioned, but not found in 
the Bible, consisting of civil records 
and other ancient writings now nearly 
all lost. About 26 of these are al¬ 
luded to in the Old Testament. 

New Testament.— The middle book 
is II Thessalonians. The middle chap¬ 
ter is between Romans xiii and xiv. 
The middle verse is Acts xvii: 17. 
The smallest book is II John. The 
smallest verse is John xi: 35. The 
word “ and ” occurs 10,684 times. The 
name Jesus occurs nearly 700 times in 
the Gospels and Acts, and in the Epis¬ 
tles less than 70 times. The name 
Christ alone occurs about 60 times in 
the Gospels and Acts, and about 240 
times in the Epistles and Revelation. 
The term Jesus Christ occurs 5 times 
in the Gospels. 

The Bible.— The middle book is Mi- 
cah. The middle (and smallest) chap¬ 
ter is Psalm cxvii. The middle verse 
is Psalm cxviii: 8. The middle line is 
II Chronicles iv: 16; the largest book 
is that of the Psalms; the largest 
chapter is Psalm cxix. The word Je¬ 
hovah (or Lord occurs 6,855 times. 
The word “ and ” occurs 46,227 times. 
The number of authors of the Bible is 
50. The Bible was not until modern 
times divided into chapters and verses. 
The division of chapters has been at¬ 
tributed to Lanfrank, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, in the reign of William 
I.; but the real author of this division 
was Cardinal Hugo de Sancto-Caro, 
about 1236. The number of languages 
on earth is estimated at 3,000; the 
Bible or parts of it have been ren¬ 
dered into only about 180, or, lan¬ 
guages and dialects together, 345. The 
first English translation complete of 
the Bible was by Wyclif in 1380. The 
first American edition was printed in 
Boston in 1752. 

Bible, The Seven, the seven prin¬ 
cipal Bibles of the world are the Ko¬ 
ran of the Mohammedans, the Eddas 




Biblical Archaeology 


Biddle 


of the Scandinavians, the Tripitikes of 
the Buddhists, the Five Kings of the 
Chinese, the three Vedas of the Hin¬ 
dus, the Zend Avesta and the Scrip¬ 
tures of the Christians. The Koran 
is, except the Eddas, the most recent 
of these seven Bibles and not older 
than the 7th century of our era. It 
is a compound of quotations from the 
Old and New Testaments, the Tal¬ 
mud and the gospel of St. Barnbas. 
The Eddas of the Scandinavians was 
first published in the 14th century. 
The Tripitikes of the Buddhists con¬ 
tain sublime morals and pure aspira¬ 
tions: their author lived and died in 
the 6th century before Christ. 

The sacred writings of the Chinese 
are called the Five Kings, king mean¬ 
ing web of cloth or the warp that 
keeps the threads in their place. They 
contain the best sayings of the best 
sages on the ethico-political duties of 
life. These sayings cannot be traced 
to a period earlier than the 11th cen¬ 
tury before Christ. The three Vedas 
are the most ancient books of the Hin¬ 
dus* and it is the opinion of Max Mul¬ 
ler, Wilson, Johnson and Whitney 
that they are not older than 11 cen¬ 
turies before Christ. The Zend Aves¬ 
ta of the Persians is the grandest of 
all these sacred books next to our 
Bible. Zoroaster, whose sayings it 
contains, was born in the 12th century 
before Christ. It is the sacred book 
of the fire worshippers. 

Biblical Archaeology, Society 
of, a society founded in London Dec. 
9, 1870, “ for the investigation of the 
archaeology, history, arts, and chron¬ 
ology of ancient and modern Assyria, 
Palestine, Egypt, Arabia, and other 
Biblical lands; the promotion of the 
study of the antiquities of those coun¬ 
tries, and the record of discoveries 
hereafter to be made in connection 
therewith.” 

Biblical Criticism, the science 
which deals with the text of the Bible. 
It is of two kinds: the Lower, or 
Textual Criticism, which is concerned 
with the accuracy and meaning of the 
passages; and the Higher or Literary 
Criticism, which seeks to discover the 
origin, date, authorship and relations 
of the various books, and to find out 
by internal evidence whether they are 
based on earlier documents and wheth¬ 


er they have undergone revision since 
they were first composed. 

Bibliography, the science or 
knowledge of books, their authorship, 
the dates of their first publication, 
and of the several editions they have 
gone through, with all other points 
requisite for literary history. 

Bichloride of Gold, in chemis¬ 
try and pharmacy, a substance which 
has risen into notoriety on account of 
the use made of it in the cure of dip¬ 
somania and chronic alcoholism. Its 
employment by Dr. Keeley produced a 
profound impression on the medical 
world. 

Bicycle, a light-wheeled vehicle 
propelled by the rider, consisting of 
two wheels attached to a frame com¬ 
posed of tubing. Between these is ar¬ 
ranged an axle, attached to lower part 
of frame, to which are affixed two 
pedals, one on either side; to this axle 
is attached a sprocket-wheel over which 
runs an endless chain connecting with 
a smaller sprocket on the rear wheel. 
There are also chainless bicycles, in 
which a system of cogs takes the 
place of the chain. The frames are dis¬ 
tinguished as “diamond” and “drop 
the former used by men, the later by 
women cyclists. The rider sits upon a 
saddle attached to a seat-post affixed 
to the frame; he there steers the ma¬ 
chine by means of a handle-bar, which 
turns the front wheel in any direction 
required. The momentum of the vehi¬ 
cle, the action of the rider’s body and 
the proper use of the handle or steer¬ 
ing bar keeps it in an upright position. 
At one time the manufacture of bi¬ 
cycles in America employed millions 
of dollars, and thousands of men. When 
its use ceased to be a mere fad, the 
industry declined abnormally, but in 
1903-1904 a reaction set in, and the 
business became firmly established. 

Biddle, Anthony Joseph Drex- 
el, an American publisher, journalist 
and miscellaneous writer, born in 
Pennsylvania, in 1874. 

Biddle, Arthur, an American 
lawyer, born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
Sept. 23, 1852; graduated at Yale in 
1873; studied law and was admitted 
to the bar in 1878. Later he became 
a member of his father’s firm and de¬ 
voted much time to the study of cer¬ 
tain branches, the results of which 





Biddle 


Biela 


were published in his works. He died 
in Atlantic City, N. J., March 8, 1897. 

Biddle, Clement, the “ Quaker 
Soldier,” was born in Philadelphia, 
May 10, 1740. Although a strict 
Quaker, he identified himself with the 
Revolutionary cause even to the ex¬ 
tent of going to war. He was present 
at the battles of Princeton, Brandy¬ 
wine, Germantown and Monmouth. 
He also shared the sufferings of Val¬ 
ley Forge. He resigned active service 
in 1780, but assisted in the making 
of the Federal Constitution in 1787. 
After that he was United States mar¬ 
shal of Pennsylvania. He died in 
Philadelphia, July 14, 1814. 

Biddle, James, an American na¬ 
val officer, born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
in 1793; entered the navy as a mid¬ 
shipman on the “ Philadelphia ” in 
1800, and was on that frigate when 
she was wrecked on the Barbary coast 
in 1803. In the War of 1812 he 
served on the “ Wasp ” in the capture 
of the British sloop “ Frolic,” and 
was captain of the “ Hornet ” at the 
capture of the “ Penguin.” In 1845 
he was given command of the East 
India Squadron and concluded the 
first treaty between the United States 
and China. He died in Philadelphia, 
Oct. 1, 1848. 

Biddle, John, father of the mod¬ 
ern Unitarians, born in Wotton-under- 
Edge, in Gloucestershire, in 1615; 
was educated at Oxford, and became 
master of a free school at Gloucester. 
He was repeatedly imprisoned for his 
anti-Trinitarian views. A general act 
of oblivion restored him to liber¬ 
ty, when he immediately disseminat¬ 
ed his opinions both by preaching and 
by the publication of his “ Twofold 
Scripture Catechism.” He was again 
imprisoned, and the law of 1648 was 
to be put in operation against him 
when, to save his life, Cromwell ban¬ 
ished him to St. Mary’s Castle, Sicily, 
and assigned him 100 crowns annual¬ 
ly. Here he remained three years, un¬ 
til the Protector liberated him in 1658. 
He then continued to preach his opin¬ 
ions till the death of Cromwell, and 
also after the Restoration, when he 
was committed to jail in 1662, and 
died a few months after. 

Biddle, Nicholas, an American 
naval officer, born in Philadelphia, 


Pa., Sept. 10, 1750. After serving in 
the British navy and in the Arctic ex¬ 
ploring expedition led by Captain 
Phipps, he returned to his native 
country at the outbreak of the Revo¬ 
lution, and Tyas one of the five officers 
who received the rank of captain at 
the organization of the American 
navy in 1775. In command of the 
“ Andrea Doria ” he accompanied 
Fleet-Captain Hopkins to the Baha¬ 
mas, and was present at the capture 
of New Providence. In 1777 he took 
command of the 32-gun ship “ Ran¬ 
dolph,” the first American frigate 
ever launched. He met the British 
“ Yarmouth,” 64 guns, on March 7, 
1778, and in the ensuing action the 
“ Randolph ” blew up, causing the 
death of her captain and about 315 
others. 

Biddle, Nicholas, an American 
financier, born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
Jan. 8, 1786; became secretary to 
John Armstrong, United States Min¬ 
ister to France, in 1804, and subse¬ 
quently went to England as secretary 
to James Monroe, then United States 
Minister. He returned home in 1807, 
was elected to the Pennsylvania Legis¬ 
lature in 1810, and was appointed a 
director of the United States Bank in 
1819. He became president of the 
bank in 1823 and managed it ably 
down to the expiration of its charter. 
He died in Philadelphia, Feb. 27, 1844. 

Bidwell, John, an American po¬ 
litician, born in Chautauqua county, 
N. Y., Aug. 5, 1819. In 1831 his par¬ 
ents moved to Ashtabula county, O., 
where he acquired an academical edu¬ 
cation and taught school. He went 
to California in 1841; served in the 
Mexican War, reaching the rank of 
Major; was a member of the Consti¬ 
tutional Convention of 1849; and of 
the National Democratic Convention 
in Charleston, in 1860. In the Civil 
War he was brigadier-general of Cali¬ 
fornia militia. In 1864 he was elect¬ 
ed to Congress as a Republican; in 
1866 was a member of the Philadel¬ 
phia Convention; in 1890 was the un¬ 
successful Prohibition candidate for 
Governor of California; and, in 1892, 
unsuccessful candidate of his party 
for the Presidency. He died in Chico, 
Cal., April 5, 1900. 

Biela, Wilhelm, Baron von, an 
Austrian army officer, born in Roslau, 




Biela’s Comet 


Bigelow 


Prussia, March 19, 17S2; known from 
his discovery of the comet bearing his 
name. He died in Venice, Feb. 18, 

1856. 

Biela’s Comet, a comet which took 
its name from Major Biela of the Aus¬ 
trian army, who traced it out in 1826 
and furnished such data regarding its 
movements as to convince the other 
astronomers of his day that he had a 
proprietary right to it. The same 
comet had been noticed on March 8, 
1772, and again in 1805. 

Biehlesohle, a stalactite cavern in 
the Harz Mountains, on the right 
banks of the Bode. 

Biennial, a plant that requires 
two seasons to come to maturity, 

Bienville, Jean Baptiste le 
Moyne, a French colonist, born in 
Montreal, Feb. 23, 1680. In 1698, 
with his brother, Iberville, he left 
France to found a colony at the mouth 
of the Mississippi. In 1700 he con¬ 
structed a fort 54 miles above the 
mouth of the river, and in 1701, 
he succeeded to the direction of the 
colony, the seat of which became Mo¬ 
bile. In 1718 he received a commis¬ 
sion as governor of Mississippi, and 
about this time founded the city ot 
New Orleans. In 1724 he was sum¬ 
moned to France, and, on Aug. 9, 
1726, was removed from office. In 
1733 he was sent back to the colony 
as governor, with the rank of lieu¬ 
tenant-general. In 1743 he was again 
removed and returned to France, 
where he died in 1765. 

Bierstadt, Albert, an American 
painter, born near Dusseldorf, Ger¬ 
many, Jan. 7, 1830; removed with his 
parents to Salem, Mass., in 1831; be¬ 
gan to paint in oils in 1851; and in 
1853 returned to Dusseldorf to study 
his art, spending a winter in Rome, 
traveling in Italy and Switzerland, 
and returning to the United States in 

1857. In 1859 he accompanied Gen¬ 
eral Lander’s expedition to the Rocky 
Mountains, and spent several months 
in studies of mountain scenery. He 
was elected a member of the National 
Academy in 1860. In 1861 he finished 
his painting, “ Laramie Peak,” and in 
1863 “ View of the Rocky Mountains 
— Lander’s Peak.” These at once 
gave him a high reputation. He died 
in New York city, Feb. 18, 1902. 


Bies-Bosch, a marshy sheet of wa¬ 
ter interspersed with islands, between 
the Dutch Provinces of North Bra¬ 
bant and South Holland, formed in 
1421 by an inundation which destroy¬ 
ed 72 villages and 100,000 people. 

Bigamy, in civil law, the act of 
marrying a second time, while the first 
husband or wife is still known to be 
living, and not divorced. 

Big Bend Country, a volcanic 
plain near the center of the State of 
Washington. It covers 4,800 square 
miles, a third of it being gently roll¬ 
ing, brown loam prairie, suitable for 
farming, and the rest low hills and 
plateaus of bunch grass and sage 
brush, where livestock is ranged. The 
Columbia river curves round this re¬ 
gion, flowing in a ravine 1,500 feet be¬ 
low the general level. It is traversed 
by several remarkable chasms, many 
miles long, and from a furlong to half 
a league wide, with sheer walls ot 
black basalt 500 feet high. 

Big Bethel, a village in Virginia, 
on the peninsula between the York 
and James rivers; the scene of a bat¬ 
tle, June 10, 1861, between the Fed¬ 
eral and Confederate forces. It re¬ 
sulted in the defeat of the Federal 
army. 

Big Bone Lick, a salt spring, in 
Boone county, Ky., 11 miles S. of 
Burlington, where fossil remains of 
mastadons and other extinct fauna 
have been found. 

Bigelow, Frastus Brigham, an 

American inventor, born in Boylston, 
Mass., April 2, 1814; became a lead¬ 
ing manufacturer in Clinton, Mass.; 
invented looms for suspender weaving, 
for counterpanes, for coach lace and 
for carpets. He died in Boston, Dec. 
6, 1879. 

Bigelow, Frank Hagar, an 

American clergyman and meteorolo¬ 
gist, born in Concord, Mass., Aug. 28, 
1851; graduated at Harvard in 1873, 
and at the Episcopal Theological 
School at Cambridge, Mass.; was or¬ 
dained in 1880, and became assistant 
rector at St. John’s Church in Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. In 1873-1876 and 
1881-1883 he was Astronomer at the 
Cordoba Observatory, Argentine Re¬ 
public in 1884-1889, Professor of 
Mathematics at Racine College, Wis¬ 
consin ; and in 1893 became Professor 




Bigelow 


Big Trees 


of Meteorology in the United States 
Weather Bureau. 

Bigelow, Jacob, an American 
physician, born in Sudbury, Mass., 
Feb. 27, 1787; graduated at Harvard 
College in 1806, and began medical 
practice in Boston in 1810. He early 
became known as a botanist, and a 
number of plants were named for him 
by Sir J. E. Smith. He died in Bos¬ 
ton, Jan. 10, 1879. 

Bigelow, Jobn, an American au¬ 
thor, born in Malden, N. Y., Nov. 25, 
1817; graduated at Union College, in 
1835, and became first a lawyer and 
afterward a journalist. In 1845-1846 
he was inspector of Sing Sing pris¬ 
on ; in 1849-1861 one of the editors of 
the New York “ Evening Post; ” in 
1861-1864, United States Consul-Gen¬ 
eral at Paris; and in 1864-1867, Min¬ 
ister to France. He was Secretary of 
State of New York in 1875-1877. In 
his will Samuel J. Tilden appointed 
him his biographer and one of the 
three trustees of the bulk of his es¬ 
tate, set apart for the establishment 
of a public library in New York city. 

Bigelow, Jobn, Jr., an American 
military officer, born in New York, 
May 12, 1854; son of the preceding; 
was educated in Paris, Bonn, Berlin, 
Freiburg, and Providence, R. I.; grad¬ 
uated at the United States Military 
Academy in 1877; and w T as assigned 
to the 10th United States Cavalry. In 
1887-1889 was adjutant-general of the 
militia in the District of Columbia; 
and in 1894-1898, Professor of Mili¬ 
tary Science at the Masachusetts In¬ 
stitute of Technology. During the 
war with Spain he was wounded in 
the attack on San Juan, Cuba, July 
1, 1898. 

Bigelow, Poultney, an American 
author, born in New York, Sept. 10, 
1855; son of John Bigelow; graduated 
at Yale University and at the Colum¬ 
bia Law School in 1882, and was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar. In 1875-1876 he 
took a journey around the world in a 
sailing ship, which was wrecked on 
the coast of Japan. He traveled in 
China, Africa, the West Indies, and 
Demerara. He has made canoe voy¬ 
ages on the principal waters of Eu¬ 
rope, and Was the first person to take 
a canoe through the Iron Gates of 
the Danube. 


Bigelow, Timothy, an American 
military officer, born in Worcester, 
Mass., Aug. 12, 1739. On May 23, 
1775, he led a company of minute men 
to Cambridge, and became a Major in 
Ward’s regiment. He was under Ar¬ 
nold in the expedition to Quebec in 
1775, and was there captured, remain¬ 
ing a prisoner till 1776. He became 
a Colonel in 1777, and assisted in the 
capture of Burgoyne. He also saw 
service at Valley Forge, Monmouth, 
West Point, and Yorktown. He died 
in Worcester, Mass., March 31, 1790. 

Biggs, Asa, an American jurist, 
born in Williamston, N. C., Feb. 4, 
1811; died in Norfolk, Va., March 6, 
1878. 

Big Horn, the wild sheep of the 
Rocky Mountains, named from the 
size of its horns, which are 3% feet 
long, the animal itself being of the 
same height at the shoulder. 

Big Horn Mountains, a range 
of mountains beginning near the cen¬ 
ter of Wyoming and running N. into 
Montana, containing heights of from 
8,000 to 12,000 feet, and covering 7,- 
500 square miles. 

Big Horn River, a river of Mon¬ 
tana and Wyoming; rises in the 
Rocky Mountains near Fremont’s 
Peak, and flows N. E. into the Yel¬ 
lowstone. Along its course is some of 
the grandest mountain scenery in the 
world. 

Bignonia, a genus of plants (that 
of the trumpet flowers). It has four 
perfect stamina, two long and two 
short. The species, which are numer¬ 
ous, are nearly all of an ornamental 
character, owing to their fine, large, 
trumpet like, monopetalous corolla's, 
colored red, blue, yellow, or white. 

Big Trees, the sequoia gigantea, 
“ big tree ” of California, is found 
only on the _W. slope of the Sierra, 
while the “ redwood,” belonging to 
the same genus, is confined to the 
Coast Range. 

The Calaveras Grove of sequoia gi¬ 
gantea is the northernmost of the Cal¬ 
ifornia groves of big trees, and it is 
the nearest to San Francisco. It is, 
however, comparatively seldom visit¬ 
ed, as the Mariposa Grove is conven¬ 
iently included in the usual route to 
the Yosemite. The Calaveras Grove 
covers an area 1,100 yards long and 





Big Woods 


70 yards wide, 4,750 feet above the 
sea, and contains about 100 trees of 
large size, besides many smaller ones. 
The tallest now standing is the Key¬ 
stone State, which is 325 feet high 
and 45 feet in girth. The Mother of 
the Forest (denuded of its bark) is 
315 feet high and has a girth of 61 
feet, while the prostrate Father of 
the Forest measures 112 feet in cir¬ 
cumference. Two other trees are over 
300 feet high, and many exceed 250 
feet. A house has been built over a 
stump with a diameter of 24 feet. The 
bark is sometimes iy 2 feet in thick¬ 
ness. About 5 miles to the S. is the 
Stanislaus or South Grove, also con¬ 
taining many fine trees. 

The Mariposa Grove of big trees, so 
called from its situation in Mariposa 
county, occupies a tract of land (6,- 
500 feet above the sea) 4 square miles 
in area, reserved as a State Park, and 
consists of two distinct groves, one- 
half mile apart. The Lower Grove 
contains about. 100 fine specimens of 
the sequoia gigantea, including the 
Grizzly Giant, the largest of all, with 
a circumference of 94 feet and a diam¬ 
eter of 31 feet. Its main limb, 200 
feet from the ground, is 6% feet in 
diameter. In ascending to the Upper 
Grove, which contains 365 big trees, 
the road passes through a tunnel, 10 
feet high and 9% feet wide (at the 
bottom), cut directly through the 
heart of a living sequoia, 27 feet in 
diameter. About 10 of the trees in the 
Mariposa Grove exceed 250 feet in 
height (highest 272 feet) and about 
20 trees have a circumference of over 
60 feet, three of these being over 90 
feet. The Calaveras Grove has taller 
trees than any of the Mariposa Grove, 
but the latter has those of greater cir¬ 
cumference. The wood of the sequoia 
gigantea, like that of the sequoia sem- 
pervirens, is easily worked, durable, 
and susceptible of a high polish. The 
sequoia sempervirens, or redwoods, 
sometimes reach a height of 300 feet. 

The Santa Cruz Grove of big trees 
contains about a score of the genuine 
redwood with a diameter of 10 feet 
and upward. The largest is 23 feet 
across; one of the finest, named the 
Pioneer, has a girth of 70 feet. The 
redwood is one of the most prized va¬ 
rieties of lumber, and is shipped in 
great quantities to the Eastern States, 


Bilge 


where its ornamental qualities are 
fully appreciated. 

Big Woods, a forest region in the 
S. E. part of Minnesota, extending S. 
from St. Cloud to Le Sueur, where it 
crosses the Minnesota, and sends 
branches toward Faribault and Man¬ 
kato. 

Bihe, a fruitful district of South 
Africa, E. of Benguela, and under 
Portuguese influence. Bihe is an im¬ 
portant caravan center, as the only 
route across the continent passes 
through it. Area, 2,500 square miles. 
Pop. 95,000. 

Bijapur, a decayed city in the 
Bombay Presidency, 160 miles S. E. 
of Poona. It was for centuries the 
capital of a powerful kingdom. 

Bikaner, a native State of Raj- 
putana, India, under the superinten¬ 
dence of a political agent and the 
governor-general’s agent for Rajput- 
ana. Area, 23,173 square miles; pop. 
831,955. 

Bilaspur, a district in the chief 
commissionership of the Central Prov¬ 
inces of India. Area, 7,798 square 
miles; population, 1,017,327. 

Bilbao, a town of Northern Spain, 
the capital of the Basque Province of 
Vizcaya, is situated in a mountain 
gorge on the Nervion, 8 miles S. E. of 
its mouth at Portugalete, and 63 miles 
N. by E. of Miranda by rail. Bilbao 
is well built. The place, which is 
purely a trading town, prides itself on 
being kept exceptionally clean. Pop. 
(1887) 51,314. 

Bilberry, the name given to one 
or two species of a genus of plants 
belonging to the order cranberries. It 
is also called the whortleberry. It 
has angular stems, drooping, urceolate, 
almost waxy flowers, greenish with a 
red tinge, and black berries very pleas¬ 
ant to the taste. It grows in woods 
and healthy places. The great bil¬ 
berry or bog whortleberry is an allied 
species with rounded stems, smaller 
flowers, and less agreeably tasted 
fruit. It grows in mountain bogs. It 
is called also the bleaberry or blae¬ 
berry. The name is also applied to 
the fruit of the species described. 

Bilge, the breadth of a ship’s bot¬ 
tom, or that part of her floor which 
approaches to a horizontal direction, 
on which she would rest if aground. 







Bilguer 


Billingsgate 


Bilguer, Paul Rudolf von, a 

Prussian military officer, bom in 
Ludwigslust, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 
Sept. 21, 1815. He was a lieutenant 
in the army, and was best known as 
an authority on chess. He died in 
Berlin, Sept. 10, 1840. 

Biliary Calculus, a concretion 
which forms in the gall bladder or bile 
ducts; gall stone. It is generally 
composed of a peculiar crystalline 
fatty matter which has been called 
cholesterine. 

Bill, a written or printed paper 
containing a statement of any partic¬ 
ulars. In common use a tradesman’s 
account, or a printed proclamation 
or advertisement, is thus called a bill. 
In legislation a bill is a draft of a 
proposed statute submitted to a legis¬ 
lative assembly for approval, but not 
yet enacted or passed and made law. 
When the bill has passed and received 
the necessary assent, it becomes an 
act. 

Billaud-Vareuues, Jacques N., 

the son of a French advocate at Ro¬ 
chelle, born in 1756; was educated at 
the same college as Fouche, and 
proved himself one of the most vio¬ 
lent and sanguinary characters of the 
French Revolution. He bore a prin¬ 
cipal part in the murders and massa¬ 
cres which followed the destruction 
of the Bastille; voted immediate death 
to Louis XVI.; and officiated as pres¬ 
ident of the Convention on Oct. 18, 
1793. He was afterward deported to 
Cayenne, and subsisted on a small 
pension allowed him by Petion. He 
died in Haiti, in 1819. 

Bill Broker, a financial agent or 
money dealer, who discounts or nego¬ 
tiates bills of exchange, promissory 
notes, etc. 

Bille, Steeu Audersen, a Danish 
naval officer, born in Copenhagen, 
Dec. 5, 1797. He was a member of 
the expedition that went to South 
America in 1840, and had command 
of a scientific expedition round the 
world, in the corvette “ Galatea,” 
1845-1847, of which he wrote an in¬ 
teresting account. He died in Copen¬ 
hagen, May 7, 1883. 

Billeting, a mode of feeding and 
lodging soldiers when they are not in 
camp or barracks by quartering them 
on the inhabitants of a town. 


Billiards, a word probably de¬ 
rived from old French billiard, “ a 
stick with a curved endin English, 
introduced as the name of a game, 
and made plural. The origin or bil¬ 
liards is uncertain. 

Billings, John Shaw, an Amer¬ 
ican surgeon and librarian, born 
in Switzerland county, Ind., April 
12, 1839; was graduated at Miami 
University, in 1857, and the 
Ohio Medical College, in 1860; was 
demonstrator of anatomy in the 
last institution, in 1860-1861; enter¬ 
ed the Union army as an Assistant 
Surgeon, in 1861; was promoted to 
Lieutenant-Colonel and Deputy Sur¬ 
geon General, June 6, 1894; and was 
retired, Oct. 1, 1895. He was Pro¬ 
fessor of Hygiene in the University of 
Pennsylvania, in 1893-1896; and in 
the last year was appointed Director 
of the New York Public Library (As- 
tor, Lenox and Tilden foundations). 
After the close of the war Dr. Bil¬ 
lings took charge of the library in the 
Surgeon-General’s office; reorganized 
the United States Marine Hospital 
Service; was Vice-President of the 
National Board of Health, in 1879- 
1882; and had charge of the compila¬ 
tion of vital and social statistics in 
the Eleventh Census. 

Billings, William, an American 
composer, born in Boston, Oct. 7, 
1746. One of the earliest of Ameri¬ 
can composers, he is accredited with 
having introduced into New England 
a spirited style of church music. He 
died in Boston, Sept. 26, 1800. 

Billingsgate, a word said to have 
been derived from Belinus Magnus, a 
somewhat mythic British prince, 
father of King Lud, about B. C. 400. 
More probably it came from some un¬ 
known person called Billing. It is 
applied to the celebrated London fish 
market existent at least as early as 
A. d. 979, made a free market in 1699, 
extended in 1849, rebuilt in 1852, and 
finally exposed to the rivalry of an¬ 
other market begun 1874, completed 
1876. The word is also used to indi¬ 
cate foul, abusive language, such as 
is popularly supposed to be mutually 
employed by fish-wives who are unable 
to come to an amicable understanding 
as to the proper price of the fish about 
which they are negotiating. 




Billion 


Binary Arithmetic 


Billion, in English notation 1,000,- 
°00 times 1,000.000, and in England 
it is written 1,000,000,000,000, i. e., 
with twice as many ciphers as 1,000,- 
000 has. In the United States and 
in France the notation is different, 
the word billion signifying only 1,000 
millions, written 1,000,000,000. 

Billiton, a Dutch East Indian is¬ 
land between Banca and the S. W. of 
Borneo, of an irregular, sub-quad¬ 
rangular form, about 40 miles across. 
It produces iron and tin, and exports 
sago, cocoanuts, pepper, tortoise shell, 
trepang, edible birds’ nests, etc. It 
was ceded to the British in 1812 by 
the Sultan of Palembang, but in 1824 
it was given up to the Dutch. Pop. 
(1890) 38,779. 

Bilney, Thomas, an English mar¬ 
tyr, born about 1495, probably at 
Norwich; studied at Trinity Hall, 
Cambridge, and was ordained in 1519. 
He was opposed to the formal “ good 
works ” of the Schoolmen, and de¬ 
nounced saint and relic worship; and 
to these mild Protestant views he con¬ 
verted Hugh Latimer and other young 
Cambridge men. In 1527 he was ar- 
rs igned before Wolsey, and on recant¬ 
ing, absolved, but was confined in the 
Tower for over a year. Stung by re¬ 
morse, after two years of suffering, he 
began to preach in the fields of Nor¬ 
folk, but was soon apprehended and 
condemned; and although allowed to 
receive the sacraments of the Church 
from which he differed so little, he 
was burned as a heretic at Norwich, 
Aug. 19, 1531. 

Biloxi, a city in Harrison co., 
Miss., the site of the first settlement 
made upon the Mississippi by white 
men, under the direction of Pierre Le 
Moyne d’Iberville, in 1699. 

Biloxi Indians, the name given to 
on of the 10 groups of tribes into 
which the Siouan stock of North 
American Indians is divided. 

Bimetallism, a term invented by 
Henry Cernuschi and currently used 
to denote a double monetary standard 
of value. A Bimetallic Congress was 
held at Brussels in April, 1896, repre¬ 
sentatives from Great Britain, 
France, the United States, Germany, 
Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, 
Holland, Rumania, and Russia being 
present. Ultimately the members 


constituted themselves a permanent 
committee, and expressed their opin¬ 
ion that a preliminary and immediate 
agreement might result from the re¬ 
establishment of bimetallism by the 
United States, the reopening of the 
Indian mints for the coinage of sil¬ 
ver, the turning into silver of part of 
the metallic reserve of the Bank of 
England, and the absorption of a suf¬ 
ficient amount of silver by the vari¬ 
ous European States. The currency 
question in the United States influ¬ 
enced very materially the canvass for 
the Presidency in 1896. It appeared, 
as the year wore on, that free silver 
doctrines had captured a majority of 
the Democratic party, and at the Chi¬ 
cago Convention (July 7th) this ma¬ 
jority adopted a platform demanding 
“ the immediate restoration of the 
free and unlimited coinage of gold and 
silver at the present legal ratio of 16 
to 1, without waiting for the aid or 
consent of any other nation,” and 
that “ the standard silver dollar shall 
be full legal tender equally with gold 
for all debts, public and private.” 
William Jennings Bryan was nom¬ 
inated for the Presidency, but was de¬ 
cisively beaten by William McKin¬ 
ley, the Republican candidate, who 
favored a single gold standard, though 
he pledged himself to promote action 
by international agreement. To this 
end he sent commissioners to France, 
Great Britain and Germany, in 1897, 
and they, together with the French 
Ambassador, laid various proposals 
before the British Government, the 
chief of which were that the Indian 
mints should be reopened, and that 
Great Britain should annually pur¬ 
chase $50,000,000 of silver. The In¬ 
dian Government, however, declined 
to agree to the first suggestion, and 
no action resulted. 


Binary Arithmetic, a method of 
notation invented by Leibnitz, but 
which appears to have been in use in 
China about 4,000 years ago. As the 
term binary implies, there are only 
two characters in this notation; these 
are 1 and 0. By it, our 1 is noted by 
1, our 2 by 10, 3 by 11, 4 by 100, 5 
by 101, 6 by 110, 7 by 111, 8 by 1,000, 
9 by 1,001, 10 by 1,010, etc. The 
principle is that 0 multiplies by 2 in 
place of by 10, as on the common sys¬ 
tem. 






Binary Engine 


Binturong 


Binary Engine, usually an en¬ 
gine having one cylinder, the piston 
being impelled by steam, which, hav¬ 
ing done its work there, is exhausted 
into another part of the apparatus, 
where it is allowed to communicate 
its unutilized heat to some liquid vola¬ 
tile at a lower temperature; the va¬ 
por of this second liquid, by its ex¬ 
pansion in a second cylinder, yields 
additional useful force. 

Bingen, a German town in the 
Province of Rhine-Hesse, Hesse; on 
the left bank of the Rhine, and the 
right of the Nahe. It is of con¬ 
siderable historical interest, contain¬ 
ing the ruins of the Castle of Klopp, 
blown up by the French in 1689; the 
remains of a 12th century monastery; 
and the tower, which, tradition tells 
us, was the scene of the tormenting 
death of Hatto, Archbishop of Mainz, 
said to have been eaten alive by mice 
in the 9th century. A statue of “ Ger¬ 
mania,” heroic size, has been erected 
here to commemorate the German vic¬ 
tories of 1870-1871. 

Bingham, Hiram, an American 
Congregational clergyman, born in 
Bennington, Vt., Oct. 30, 1789; was 
one of the first missionaries of the 
Congregational Church to be sent to 
the Sandwich Islands, where he ac¬ 
quired much influence with the na¬ 
tives. He died in New Haven, Conn., 
Nov. 11, 1869. 

Bingham, John A., an American 
politician, born in Mercer, Pa., in 
1815; studied at Franklin College, 
Ohio, and became a lawyer in 1840. 
He was one of the managers of the 
impeachment trial of President John¬ 
son. From 1873 to 1885 he was Unit¬ 
ed States minister to Japan. He died 
in Cadiz, O., March 20, 1900. 

Bingham, Kinsley S., an Amer¬ 
ican legislator, born in Camillus, N. 
Y., Dec. 16, 1801; studied law, and 
went to Michigan in 1833. He was a 
judge of probate, Speaker of the State 
House of Representatives; a member 
of Congress in 1849-1851; Governor 
of Michigan in 1855-1859, and United 
States Senator in 1859-1861. He 
died in Green Oak, Mich., Oct. 5, 
1861. 

Bingley, Ward the Garrick of 
the Dutch stage, was born at Rotter¬ 
dam in 1755, of English parents. In 


1799 he made his debut on the stage 
of Amsterdam, and almost from the 
first took his place at the head of his 
profession, not only in the Dutch 
theaters, but also in those which per¬ 
formed French plays in Amsterdam 
and The Hague. He died at The 
Hague in 1818. 

Binnacle, corrupted from bittacle, 
a wooden case or box in which the 
compass on board a 
ship is kept to pro¬ 
tect it from injury. 

Binney, Hib- 
bert, a Canadian 
clergyman, born in 
Nova Scotia, Aug. 

12, 1819; graduated 
at Oxford University 
in 1842. He became 
Bishop (Anglican) 
of Nova Scotia and 
Prince Edward Is¬ 
land, in 1851, this be¬ 
ing the first instance 
of England founding 
a bishopric in her 
colonies. He attend¬ 
ed the General Con¬ 
vention of the Prot- 
e s t a n t Episcopal 
Church held in Chicago in 1886. He 
died in 1887. 

Binney, Horace, an American 
lawyer, born in Philadelphia, Jan. 4, 
1780; was graduated at Harvard in 
1797; and for many years was at the 
head of the Pennsylvania bar. He 
had a number of distinguished cases 
in his career; the most noted one be¬ 
ing the defense of the city of Philadel¬ 
phia against the executors of Stephen 
Girard. He was also a director in the 
United States Bank. He wrote many 
valuable papers, and was the author 
of “ The Leaders of the Old Bar of 
Philadelphia,” and “ The Privilege of 
the Writ of Habeas Corpus Under the 
Constitution.” He died in Philadel¬ 
phia, Aug. 12, 1875. 

Binocular, literally, having two 
eyes or pertaining to both eyes; an 
instrument having two tubes, each 
furnished above with an eye glass, 
so as to enable one to see with both 
eyes at once. 

Binturong (bear-marten), a ge- 
•nus of carnivores in the civet section. 
Its resemblance to raccoons, beside 




















Binue 


Bird 


which it used to be placed, is entirely 
superficial. It is a slow, arboreal and 
nocturnal animal, partly vegetarian, 
indeed omnivorous, in its diet, with 
lank body, coarse, dark hair, long, 
tufted ears, and prehensile tail. There 
is but one species found in India, Ma¬ 
lay, Sumatra and Java. It is easily 
tamed. 

Binue, or Benue, the largest and 
most important tributary of Niger 
river, West Africa. It rises in the 
mountains N. of Adamawa and at Lo- 
koja joins the Niger. 

Biobio, the largest river of Chile, 
has a W. N. W. course of about 200 
miles, from near the volcano of An- 
tuco in the Andes to Consepcion on 
the Pacific Ocean. It is 2 miles wide 
at its mouth, and navigable for 100 
miles. The river, since 1875, has 
given name to a province with an 
area of 4,158 square miles, and a pop. 
of 122,729. 

Biograph, an apparatus that dis¬ 
plays in rapid sequence a long series 
of photographs. It differs from the 
kinetoscope in that instead of showing 
small pictures through an enlarging 
lens by reflected light, it projects them 
on a screen where they are shown life 
size, or larger if desired. 

Biology, a term first introduced by 
Treviranus of Bremen, adopted by 
the leading English speaking natural¬ 
ists, and now having universal cur¬ 
rency. It is used in two senses: (1) 
(In a more restricted sense) : Physi¬ 
ology; (2) (In a wider sense) : The 
science of life in its widest accepta¬ 
tion. 

Biot, Jean Baptiste, French 
mathematician and physicist born at 
Paris 1774, and died there 1862. He 
became professor of physics in the 
College de France in 1800, in 1803 
member of the Academy .of Sciences, 
in 1804 was appointed to the Observ¬ 
atory of Paris, in 1806 was made 
member of the Bureau des Longitudes, 
in 1809 became also professor of physi¬ 
cal astronomy in the University of 
Paris. In connection with the meas¬ 
urement of a degree of the meridian 
he visited Britain in 1817. He is es¬ 
pecially celebrated as the discoverer of 
the circular polarization of light. 

Biotite, a hexagonal and an opti¬ 
cally uniaxial mineral, formerly called 


magnesia mica, hexagonal mica, and 
uniaxial mica; named after Jean Bap¬ 
tiste Biot. 

Biped, a descriptive term, some¬ 
times applied to man, but more fre¬ 
quently to birds. 

Bircb, the English name of the 
trees and shrubs belonging to the bo¬ 
tanical genus betula. The common 
birch grows best in healthy soils and 
in Alpine districts. The drooping or 
weeping birch is a variety of this tree. 
It grows wild on the European conti¬ 
nent and in Asia. The wood of the 
birch is tough and white. It is used 
for making brooms; it is often burned 
into charcoal; twigs are by many em¬ 
ployed for purposes of castigation. 
The oil obtained from the white rind 
is used in tanning Russia leather. The 
Russians turn it to account also as a 
vermifuge and as a balsam in the 
cure of wounds. In some countries 
the bark of the birch is made into 
hats and cups. The canoe birch, of 
which the North American Indians 
constructed their portable canoes is 
so called for that reason. 

Birch, Samuel, an English Ori¬ 
entalist, born in London, Nov. 3, 1813. 
He entered the British Museum as As¬ 
sistant Keeper of Antiquities, in 1836, 
and ultimately became Keeper of the 
Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities. 
He was especially famed for his ca¬ 
pacity and skill in Egyptology, and 
was associated with Baron Bunsen in 
his work on Egypt, contributing the 
philological portions relating to hiero¬ 
glyphics. He died Dec. 27, 1885. 

Bird, Charles, an American mili¬ 
tary officer, born in Delaware, June 
17, 1838. On March 2, 1867, he was 
brevetted First Lieutenant and Cap¬ 
tain in the United States army for 
gallantry in the battle of Fredericks¬ 
burg, Major for Spottsylvania, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel for Petersburg, 
Va. He was appointed a Second 
Lieutenant, 14th United States In¬ 
fantry, in 1866; promoted to Major 
and Quartermaster in 1895; and com¬ 
missioned a Colonel of United States 
Volunteers for the war with Spain, 
in 1898. 

Bird, Frederic Mayer, an Amer¬ 
ican clergyman, born in Philadelphia, 
June 28, 1838; graduated at the Uni¬ 
versity of Pennsylvania in 1857, and 





Bird 


Birkenfeld 


at the Union Theological Seminary in 
I860. He was rector at Spotswood, 
N. J., in 1870-1874; Chaplain and 
Professor of Psychology, Christian 
Evidences and Rhetoric, at Lehigh 
University in 1881-1880; and acting 
chaplain there in 1893-1898. He is 
noted as a hymnologist, and as the 
collector of one of the most complete 
and valuable musical libraries in the 
United States. 

Bird, Robert Montgomery, an 

American dramatist and novelist, 
born in Newcastle, Del., about 1803; 
died in Philadelphia, Jan. 22, 1854. 

Bird-Catching Spider, a name 
applied to a gigantic spider, a native 
of Surinam and elsewhere which preys 
upon insects and small birds which it 
hunts for and pounces on. 

Bird Lice, the common name 
given to the small parasites so fre¬ 
quently seen infesting birds. 

Bird lime, a substance whitish 
and limy in appearance; used, as its 
name imports, for capturing birds. It 
is, in general, manufactured from the 
bark of the holly. 

Bird of Ill Omen, a phrase often 
applied to a person who is regarded as 
unlucky; one who is in the habit of 
bringing ill news. The ancients 
thought that some birds indicated 
good lhck, and others evil. 

Bird of Paradise, the English 
designation of a family of conirostral 
birds. They are closely allied to the 
crows, with which, indeed, they are 
united by some writers. They have 
magnificent plumage, especially the 
males, who can, moreover, elevate 
quite a canopy of plumes behind their 
necks. 

Bird’s Eye, the eye or eyes of a 
bird. In botany, the name of several 
plants with small, bright, usually blue, 
flowers. 

Bird’s-Eye Maple, curled maple, 
the wood of the sugar maple when 
full of little knotty spots, somewhat 
resembling birds’ eyes, much used in 
cabinet work. 

Bird’s-Eye View, the representa¬ 
tion of any scene as it would appear 
if seen from a considerable elevation 
right above. 

Bird’s Nest the nest of a bird. 
Those of the several species vary in 


their minor details so as to be in most 
cases distinguishable from each other. 
Edible birds’ nests are nests built 
by the collocalia esculenta, and cer¬ 
tain other species of swallows inhabit¬ 
ing Sumatra, Java, China, and some 
other parts of the East. The nests, 
a Chinese luxury, are formed of a 
mucilaginous substance, secreted by 
the birds from their salivary glands. 
See Salangane. 

Birds of Passage, birds which 
migrate with the season from a colder 
to a warmer, or from a warmer to a 
colder climate. 

Bireme, a Roman ship of war 
with two banks of oars. It was in¬ 
ferior in magnitude and strength to 
the trireme. 

Biren, Ernest John, Duke of 
Courland, a Lithuanian of mean fam¬ 
ily, was born in 1690, and went in 
1714 to St. Petersburg. Anna, Duch¬ 
ess Dowager of Courland, made him 
her favorite, and when she became 
Empress of Russia, intrusted to him 
the administration of the kingdom. 
On the death of the Empress he as¬ 
sumed the regency, by virtue of her 
will; but, in 1740, a conspiracy was 
formed against him by Marshal Mu¬ 
nich, and he was condemned to death, 
which sentence was changed to banish¬ 
ment. Peter III. recalled him, and 
Catherine II. restored him to his for¬ 
mer dignity. In 1763, Biren re-en¬ 
tered Mitau; and, profiting by the les¬ 
sons of misfortune he had experienced, 
governed for the remainder of his life 
with mildness and justice. He died 
in 1772. 

Birge, Edward Asahel, an Amer¬ 
ican naturalist, born in Troy, N. Y., 
Sept. 7, 1851; graduated at Williams 
College in 1873; studied physiology 
and histology at Leipsic in 1880-1881. 
He became Instructor of Natural His¬ 
tory in the University of Wisconsin 
in 1875; Professor of Zoology in 
1879; and Dean of the College of Let¬ 
ters and Science in 1891. In 1894 he 
became Director of the Geological and 
Natural History Survey of Wiscon¬ 
sin. 

Birkenfeld, a German principali¬ 
ty belonging to Oldenburg, but sur¬ 
rounded by the Prussian Rhine Prov¬ 
ince, and intersected by the railway 
from Bingen to Saarbruck. It has an 





Birmingham 


Birthright 


area of nearly 200 square miles, with 
a population of (1890) 41,242; it 
has been connected with Oldenburg, 
300 miles distant, since 1817. The 
capital, Birkenfeld, has a population 
of 2,500. 

Birmingham, city and county- 
seat of Jefferson co., Ala.; at the 
junction of several trunk railroads; 
96 miles N. W. of Montgomery, the 
State capital. Birmingham was in¬ 
corporated as a city in 1871 with a 
population of less than 1,000. Its 
noticeable development began in 1880 
and its remarkable progress may be 
said to date from 1890. In 1896 its 
two largest iron and steel corporations 
began selling pig iron for export at 
prices as satisfactory as those ob¬ 
tained on domestic orders; and since 
then it has had a larger development 
in the iron and steel industry than 
any city S. of Pittsburg. Pop. (1890) 
26,178 (1900) 38,415; with suburbs, 
about 100,000. 

Birmingham, a city of England, 
on the Rea river near its confluence 
with the Tame, in the N. W. of War¬ 
wickshire, with suburbs extending 
into Staffordshire and Worcester¬ 
shire : 112 miles N. W. of London, 
and 97 S. E. of Liverpool. It is the 
principal seat of the hardware manu¬ 
facture in Great Britain. Bir¬ 
mingham is known to have existed in 
the reign of Alfred, in 872, and is 
mentioned in the Domesday Book 
(1086) by the name of Bermengeham. 
Another old name of the town is 
Bromwycham, a form still preserved 
very nearly in the popular local pro¬ 
nunciation, Brummagem. In 1903 the 
population was 533,039, an increase of 
21.5 per cent, in a decade. 

Birney, David Bell, an American 
military officer, born in Huntsville, 
Ala., May 29, 1825; son of James Gil¬ 
lespie Birney; studied law in Cin¬ 
cinnati, and, in 1848, began practice 
in Philadelphia. At the outbreak of 
the Civil War he entered the Union 
army. He distinguished himself in 
the battles of Yorktown, Williams¬ 
burg, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville and Gettysburg. He died in 
Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 18, 1864. 

Birney, James Gillespie, an 
American statesman and publicist, 
born at Danville, Ky., Feb. 4, 1792. 


Though a Southern planter, he eman¬ 
cipated his slaves and became a prom¬ 
inent anti-slavery leader in the South, 
proprietor and editor of the anti-slav¬ 
ery journal, “ The Philanthropist,” 
etc. He was candidate of the Liberty 
Party for President in 1840 and 1844. 
He died at Perth Amboy, N. J., Nov. 
25, 1857. 

Birney, William, an American 
lawyer, born in Madison county, Ala., 
May 28, 1819; was educated in Paris; 
took part in the Revolution of 1848; 
and was appointed, on public compe¬ 
tition, Professor of English Litera¬ 
ture in the College at Bourges, 
France. In 1861 he entered the 
United States army as a private, and 
was promoted through all the grades 
to brevet Major-General. In 1863- 
1865 he commanded a division. 

Biron, Armand de Gontault, 
Baron de. Marshal of France; born 
about 1524. He took a prominent 
part in the civil wars of Huguenot 
and Catholic, and served at the bat¬ 
tles of Dreux, St. Denis and Moncon¬ 
tour. He negotiated the peace of St. 
Germain, and narrowly escaped at the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew. He 
was killed at the siege of Epernay, in 
1592. 

Biron, Charles de Gontault, 

Due de, son of the preceding; born 
in 1562, was Admiral and Marshal of 
France, and is noted for the friend¬ 
ship which Henry IY. entertained' for 
him, and for his treason toward that 
monarch. He early covered • himself 
with glory at the battles of Arques 
and Ivry, and at the sieges of Paris 
and Rouen. The king loaded him 
with honors, saved his life at the fight 
of Fontaine Francaise, and made him 
ambassador to England. Biron en¬ 
tered into a conspiracy with Spain 
and Savoy against his sovereign ; and 
the plot being revealed by Latin, its 
instigator, he was beheaded in 1602. 

Birth-Rate, the proportion of 
births to each 1,000 inhabitants. It is 
affected by economic and social condi¬ 
tions, war, famine, etc., the well-to-do 
having a lower rate than the average. 
In the United States the rate among 
foreign residents is 38.29; natives, 
26.35; general average, 26.68. As a 
rule, about 105 boys are born to 10Q 
girls. 





Bira 


Bismarck 


Biru, the name of a warlike chief 
of South America, who flourished in 
the 16th century. In 1526, this name 
was given to the empire of the Incas, 
now known as Peru. 

Biscay or Vizcaya, the most 
northerly of the Basque Provinces of 
Spain, is bounded N. by the Bay ct 
Biscay, E. and S. by its sister prov¬ 
inces, Guipuzcoa and Alava, and W. 
by Santander. It has an area (very 
mountainous in the S.) of 849 square 
miles, and a population of 235,659. 
Chief town, Bilbao. 

Biscay, Bay of, that portion of 
the Atlantic Ocean which sweeps in 
along the N. shores of the Spanish 
Peninsula in an almost straight line 
from Cape Ortegal to St. Jean, de 
Luz, at the W. foot of the Pyrenees, 
and thence curves N. along the W. 
shores of France to the island of 
Ushant. Its extreme width is about 
400 miles, and its length much about 
the same. 

Biscuit, in general language, thin 
flour cake which has been baked in the 
oven until it is highly dried. 

In pottery, articles molded and 
baked in an oven, preparatory to the 
glazing and burning. In the biscuit 
form, pottery is bibulous, but th^ glaze 
sinks into the pores and fuses in the 
kiln, forming a vitreous coating to the 
ware. 

Biskop (a word derived from the 
Greek episcopos, that is, overseer, 
through the Saxon biscop), in the 
early Christian Church, the name of 
every person to whom the care of a 
Christian congregation was intrusted. 
Every congregation even in country 
districts had at least one such over¬ 
seer. The word was accordingly 
used in the early history of the 
Church in exactly the same sense as 
presbyter or elder. 

In the United States a bishop is 
the highest dignitary in the Greek, 
Catholic and Protestant Episcopal 
Churches. These bishops generally 
claim to be successors of the apostles. 
In the Methodist Episcopal and Prot¬ 
estant Episcopal Churches the bishop 
is elected by the Conference or Con¬ 
vention representing the respective 
churches of the diocese. In the Ro¬ 
man Catholic Church growth has been 
sufficient :n the opinion of the ruling 


functionaries of that communion, to 
warrant the establishment of the 
greater hierarchy, and as a conse¬ 
quence the office and dignity of a 
bishop have become secondary — the 
highest places being occupied by a 
cardinal and numerous archbishops. 
A new bishop is appointed by the 
Pope from a list of three recommended 
by the clergy of a vacant diocese. 

Bishop, Mrs. (Isabella L. Bibd), 
traveler and author, born in York¬ 
shire. England, 1832, died 1904. 

Bishop, John Remsen, an Amer¬ 
ican educator; born in New Bruns¬ 
wick, N. J., Sept. 17, 1860; was grad¬ 
uated at Harvard University in 1882; 
taught Greek and English at St. 
Paul’s School, Concord, N. H., in 
1882-1883; was principal of the 
Princeton Preparatory School in 
1884-1887; instructor of Greek and 
Latin at Hughes High School, Cincin¬ 
nati, in 1888-1895; and became prin¬ 
cipal of the Walnut Hills High 
School, Cincinnati, in 1895. 

Bishop, Louis Faugeres, an 
American physician, born in New 
Brunswick, N. J., March 14, 1864; 
graduated at Rutgers College in 1885, 
and at the New York College of Phy¬ 
sicians and Surgeons in 1889. He 
was resident physician of St. Luke’s 
Hospital, New York, in 1889-1892, 
and secretary of the New York Acad¬ 
emy of Medicine and Chairman of its 
Section of Medicine in 1900. 

Bishop, Seth Scott, an American 
physician, born in Fond du Lac., Wis., 
Feb. 7, 1852; graduated at the North¬ 
western University, in 1876. He be¬ 
gan practice in Chicago, and has been 
a professor in various medical colleges. 

Bishops Suffragan, a class of 
bishops in England appointed by the 
crown to take the places of the early 
bishops in partibus, who were assist¬ 
ants to the active bishops of English 
sees, and who held their warrant at 
the pleasure of the bishops to whom 
they were assigned. They were dis¬ 
tinguished from suffragan bishops in 
the Church of England, as every regu¬ 
lar bishop was a suffragan of his su¬ 
perior or metropolitan. 

Bismarck, city, capital of the 
State of North Dakota, and county- 
seat of Burleigh co.; on the Missouri 
river, and the Northern Pacific rail- 




Bismarck 


Bismarck-Sckonhansen 


road; 194 miles W. of Fargo. It con¬ 
tains the State Capitol (which cost 
over $500,000), the State Peniten¬ 
tiary, court-house, city hall, opera 
house, a State Hospital for the In¬ 
sane, St. Paul Seminary, and an im¬ 
mense river warehouse. The river is 
here spanned by a bridge that cost 
$1,000,000. Pop. (1900) 3,319. 

Bismarck, Herbert, Prince von, 
a German statesman, born in Berlin, 
Dec. 28, 1849; son of Otto Eduard 
Leopold, Prince von Bismarck-Schon- 
hausen. He ranked high as a diplo¬ 
mat. He died Sept. 18, 1904. 

Bismarck-Schonhausen, Otto 
Eduard Leopold, Prince von, a 
German statesman, born at Schon- 
hausen in Brandenburg, of an old 
family, of which various members 
gained a reputation both as soldiers 
and statesmen, April 1, 1815. He re¬ 
ceived his university education at Got¬ 
tingen, Berlin, and Griefswald. Be¬ 
fore 1847 he was little heard of, but 
about that time he began to attract 
attention in the new Prussian Parlia¬ 
ment as an Ultra Royalist. He op¬ 
posed the scheme of a German Empire 
as proposed by the Frankfort Parlia¬ 
ment of 1849. 

In the spring of 1862 King Wil¬ 
liam, on the urgent advice of the 
Prince of Hohenzollern, transferred 
Bismarck as ambassador to Paris, in 
order to give him an insight into the 
politics of the Tuileries. During his 
short stay at Paris Bismarck visited 
London, and had interviews with the 
leading politicians of the time, in¬ 
cluding Lord Palmerston and Mr. Dis¬ 
raeli. In the autumn Bismarck was 
recalled, to take the portfolio of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the 
presidency of the Cabinet. Not being 
able to pass the reorganization bill 
and the budget, he closed the Cham¬ 
bers (October, 1862), announcing to 
the Deputies that the king’s govern¬ 
ment would be obliged to do without 
their sanction. When the “ conflict 
era,” as it was called, approached a 
crisis, the death of the King of Den¬ 
mark reopened the Schleswig-Holstein 
question, and excited a fever of na¬ 
tional German feeling, which Bis¬ 
marck was adroit enough to work so 
as to aggrandize Prussia by the acqui¬ 
sition of the Elbe duchies. 

The action of France in regard to 


the candidature of Prince Leopold of 
Hohenzollern for the throne of Spain 
gave Bismarck the opportunity of car¬ 
rying into action the intensified feel¬ 
ing of unity among Germans. Dur¬ 
ing the War of 1870-1871, Bismarck 
was the spokesman of Germany; he 
it was that in February, 1871, dictated 
ttk, terms of peace to France. Hav¬ 
ing been made a Count in 1866, he 
was now created a prince and Chan¬ 
cellor of the German Empire. Fol¬ 
lowing the Peace of Frankfort (May 
10, 1871), the sole aim of Bismarck’s 
policy, domestic and foreign, was to 
consolidate the young ^empire of his 
own creating. 

In 1884 Bismarck inaugurated the 
career of Germany as a, colonizing 
power, a new departure which brought 
him into sharp but temporary conflict 
with the England of Gladstone. For 
the rest, his foreign policy mainly 
aimed at isolating France and render¬ 
ing her incapable of forming anti-Ger¬ 
man alliances. On the other hand, he 
gradually combined the central powers 
of Europe into a peace league, aiming 
at counteracting the aggressiveness of 
Russia and France, separately or com¬ 
bined, on the Danube or the Rhine, 
The nucleus of this peace league was 
formed in 1879 by the Austro-German 
Treaty of Alliance (published in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1888), which Italy formally 
joined in 1886, and which entitles Bis¬ 
marck to be called the “ peacemaker ” 
and the “ peacekeeper ” of Europe. 

Bismarck’s life was often threat¬ 
ened, and twice actually attempted — 
once at Berlin in 1866, just before the 
Bohemian campaign, by Ferdinand 
Cohen (or Blind), a crazy youth who 
aimed at making himself the instru¬ 
ment of popular dissatisfaction with 
Bismarck, as the champion of abso¬ 
lutism and the fancied apostle of a 
fratricidal war; and again in 1874 at 
Kissingen, by a Catholic tinsmith 
named Kullman. 

Emperor William died on March 9, 
1888. The short reign of Emperor 
Frederick followed and then the pres¬ 
ent Emperor ascended the throne. On 
March 18, 1890, Bismarck fell. The 
cause of his fall has not yet been told. 
When Bismarck’s 81st birthday was 
celebrated there was talk of reconcilia¬ 
tion between the Prince and his sover¬ 
eign. The Emperor sent his photo- 




Bismarck Archipelago 


Bissell 


graph to Bismarck, the latter returned 
thanks, and little by little the way 
was paved for a meeting between the 
two men, and eventually for the State 
visit which the Emperor paid to Bis¬ 
marck at Friedrichsruhe; where the 
statesman died July 30, 1898. 

In September, 1903, letters have 
been published showing the close and 
cordial relations between Bismarck 
and Kaiser William the First, and 
that the emperor attributed Germany’s 
triumph in 1870-1871 to what he 
called Bismarck’s “ world-historical 
achievements.” 

Bismarck Archipelago, the name 
officially given by Germany to New 
Britain, New Ireland, New Hanover, 
and several smaller adjoining islands 
in the South Pacific. 

Bismuth, a triad metallic element, 
found associated with the ores of nick¬ 
el, cobalt, copper and silver, in Sax¬ 
ony, Austria, Peru, Australia and Bo¬ 
livia. 

Bison, the name applied to two 
species of ox. One of these, the Euro¬ 
pean bison or aurochs (Bos bison or 
Bison Europoeus), is now nearly ex¬ 
tinct, being found only in the forests 
of Lithuania and the Caucasus. The 
other, or American bison (Bison 
Americanus), is found only in North 
America, and is remarkable for the 
great hump or projection over its fore 
shoulders, and for the length and fine¬ 
ness of its woolly hair. 

The American bison, or buffalo, was 
once extensively diffused over what is 
now the territory of the United 
States, except that part lying on the 
E. of Hudson river and Lake Cham¬ 
plain, and narrow strips of coast on 
the Atlantic and Pacific. Southward 
its range extended to the delta of the 
Mississippi and into part of Mexico, 
while in the N. W. it reached even as 
far as the Great Slave Lake. The 
great prairies connected with the 
Mississippi system formed its favorite 
feeding-grounds, and here it used to 
be seen in herds whose numbers were 
well-nigh _ incredible. 

All this is now a thing of the 
past, and the wholesale destruction of 
the bison is one of the most melan¬ 
choly stories in the history of zoology. 
So long as it was pursued only or 
mainly by the Indians there was little 
to fear for it ? though many tribes 


were almost wholly dependent on these 
animals for food, clothing, tents, uten¬ 
sils, etc. Vast multitudes owing to 
this were slaughtered annually; but it 
is to be deeply regretted that the 
white hunters (especially after the 
spread of railroads) were in the habit 
of destroying these interesting and 
valuable beasts in the most wanton 
and unnecessary manner. It was 
common for such persons to shoot 
bisons, even when they had abundance 
of food, for the sake of the tongue or 
hump alone, or even because the ani¬ 
mals came so near as to present a fair 
aim. It is therefore not to be won¬ 
dered that, from all causes of diminu¬ 
tion, the bison should become less and 
less numerous every year till it is now 
practically extinct, at least in the wild 
state. 

Of late years the National Museum 
of the United States thought it neces¬ 
sary to send out an expedition to col¬ 
lect a few specimens in view of this 
contingency; and a report furnished 
to the museum in 1886 shows what 
difficulty the expedition had in ful¬ 
filling its mission in consequence of 
the extermination of the bison having 
been already so nearly effected. “ It 
is firmly believed by good authorities,” 
the report states, “ that there are not 
now more than from 50 to 100 buffa¬ 
loes in the whole of Montana (where 
this animal used to be remarkably 
abundant) outside of the National 
Park, where there are probably from 
200 to 300 head.” 

Bissagos Islands, a group of 
small volcanic islands, about 30 in all, 
off the W. coast of Africa, opposite 
the mouth of the Rio Grande. 

Bissao, an island and Portuguese 
station closer to the African coast 
than the Bissagos and opposite the 
Jeba’s delta. 

Bissell, Edwin Cone, an Ameri¬ 
can Congregational clergyman and 
writer, born at Schoharie, N. Y., 
March 2, 1832. Having served in the 
Civil War (1862-1863), he became 
pastor in Massachusetts and Califor¬ 
nia, missionary in Austria (1873- 
1878), Professor in the Hartford 
Congregational Theological Seminary 
(1881-1892), and the McCormick 
Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 
Chicago (1892-1894). He died io 
Chicago, April 9, 1894, 




Bissell 


Bitter Sweet 


Bissell, Wilson Shannon, an 

American lawyer, born in New Lon¬ 
don, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1847; died Oct. 
6, 1903; graduated at Yale University 
in 1869; and studied law in Buffalo 
with Cleveland & Folsom. In 1872 he 
formed a partnership with Lyman K. 
Bass, the firm of which Grover Cleve¬ 
land became a member in 1873. When 
Mr. Cleveland was elected governor of 
New York the firm was disbanded. 
Subsequently it was reorganized, and, 
in 1900, consisted of Bissell, Carey & 
Cooke. He has been a delegate to sev¬ 
eral State Conventions; in 1884 was 
a Democratic Presidential Elector; 
and in 1893-1895 was Postmaster- 
General of the United States. 

Bissen, Wilhelm, a Danish sculp¬ 
tor, born in Schleswig in 1798, and 
from 1823 to 1833 studied in Rome 
under Thorwaldsen, who, in his will, 
commissioned him to complete his un¬ 
finished works. He died March 10, 
1868. 

Bissextile Year, the early name 
for Leap Year. In the Julian calen¬ 
dar, the 24th of Feb. was counted 
twice (bis), and as it was the sixth 
(sextus) before the Kalends of March 
it was called bis-sextilis. 

Bistineau, a navigable lake in N. 
W. Louisiana; 25 miles long by 2 
miles wide; discharges into the Red 
river. 

Bitter, Arthur, pseudonym of 
Samuel Haberstich, a Swiss poet 
and story writer, born in Ried near 
Schlosswyl, Oct. 21, 1821. He died 
in Bern, Feb. 20, 1872. 

Bitter Almond, the bitter varie¬ 
ty of common almond. 

Bitter Apple, a name applied to 
the bitter gourd. 

Bitter Ash, a tree, a; native of 
the West Indies, the bark of which is 
used as a tonic. 

Bitter Gourd, a plant called also 
colocynth. 

Bitter King, tree of the quassia 
order peculiar to the Moluccas and 
Fiji Islands. 

Bitter Lakes, salt lakes on the 
line of the Suez canal. 

Bittern. The bitterns are distin¬ 
guished from the herons proper, be¬ 
sides other characteristics, by having 
the feathers of the neck loose and di- 

E.19. 


vided, which makes it appear thicker; 
than in reality it is. 



BITTERN. 


Bitter Nut, a tree of North Amer¬ 
ica, of the walnut order, the swamp 
hickory, which produces small and 
somewhat egg-shaped fruits, with a 
thin, fleshy rind; the kernel is bitter 
and uneatable. 

Bitter Root, a plant of Canada 
and part of the United States, order 
mesembryaceae, so called from its 
root being bitter though edible, and 
indeed esteemed as an article of food 
by whites as well as Indians. 

Bitter Root Mountains, a range 
of the Rocky Mountains, in Montana, 
deriving its name from a plant with 
rose colored blossoms. 

Bitter Root River, a tributary 
of the Columbia in Montana, flowing 
N. into Clark’s river in Missoula 
county; length about 110 miles. 

Bitter Root Valley, on the E. 
of the Bitter Root Range, in Montana, 
is 90 miles long and 7 miles wide, en- 
walled by lofty mountains, and 
abounding in farms and cornfields. 

Bitter Sweet, the woody night¬ 
shade. 











Bitumen 


Black 


Bitumen, a mineral substance, re¬ 
markable tor its inflammability and 
its strong, peculiar odor; generally, 
however, supposed to be of vegetable 
origin. 

Bituminous Coal, coal which 
burns with a yellow, smoky flame, and 
on distillation gives out hydrocarbon 
or tar. 

Bituminous Limestone, lime¬ 
stone impregnated with bitumen. 

Bitzius, Albert (better known 
under the nom de plume of Jeremias 
Gotthelf) , a Swiss author, born in 
Murton, Canton of Freiburg, Oct. 4, 
1797. As a pastor in retired districts, 
he saw the hard conditions of the 
poor, and in 1837 wrote “ The Peas¬ 
ant’s Mirror,” a vividly realistic pre¬ 
sentation of peasant life. He died at 
Lutzelfluh, Bern, Oct. 22, 1854. 

Bivalves, those mollusks whose 
coverings consist of two concave shel¬ 
ly plates or valves united by a hinge. 



* B 

SHELL OF A BIVALVE. 

A. The line across marks the thickness. 
B, a, anterior extremity; b, posterior; c, d, 
muscular impressions; e, f, palleal impres¬ 
sions; g, lower edge of the left valve. 

Bivouac, an encampment of sol¬ 
diers in the open air without tents, 
each remaining dressed and with his 
weapons at hand. 

Bizerta, a fortified seaport of Tu¬ 
nis, the most northern town of Af¬ 
rica ; at the extremity of a bay formed 
by Capes Ras-el-Zebib and El-Arid. 
The town is built on the shore of a 
lake which communicates with the sea 
by a canal; and in the time of Bar- 


barossa it was a city of great strength 
and magnificence. The lake is the 
chief source of trade, as it abounds in 
many valuable kinds of fish. Beside 
the fishery there are valuable coral, 
grape, olive, and pottery industries. 
The port is surrounded by walls and 
defended by two castles. Bizerta stead¬ 
ily declined in commercial and politi¬ 
cal importance till 1892, when the 
French Government began converting 
it into a magnificent naval port. Three 
years were occupied in this work, 
which included the opening and im¬ 
provement of the lake, which is now 
large enough to accommodate at one 
time all the navies of the world. 

Bizet, Georges, (Alexander Ce¬ 
sar Leopold), the composer of the 
opera “ Carmen.” He was born in 
France 1837; died 1875. 

Bjorusou, Bjornstjerne, a Nor¬ 
wegian novelist, poet, and dramatist, 
born at Kvikne, Norway, Dec. 8, 1832. 
He published his first story, “ Syn- 
nove Solbakken,” in 1857, and that, 
with “Arne” (1858) and “A Lively 
Fellow” (I860), established his repu¬ 
tation as a novelist. He published a 
volume of “ Poems and Songs ” in 
1870. 

Black, the negation of all color, 
the opposite of white. 

Black, Adam, a Scotch publisher, 
born in Edinburgh, Feb. 20, 1784. In 
1808 he began business as a book¬ 
seller, and later with his nephew, 
Charles B. Black, established a pub¬ 
lishing house in Edinburgh. Their 
most famous publications were “ En¬ 
cyclopaedia Britannica,” and the “Wa- 
verly Novels.” Adam Black was 
twice Lord Provost of Edinburgh and 
in 1856-1865 represented that city in 
Parliament. He declined the honor of 
knighthood, and a statue was erected 
in Edinburgh in recognition of his 
public services, in 1877. He died Jan. 
24, 1874. 

Black, Frank Swett, an Ameri¬ 
can lawyer, born in Limington, Me., 
March 8, 1853; graduated at Dart¬ 
mouth College in 1875; was editor of 
the “Journal” in Johnstown, N. Y. 
He studied law at Troy in the office 
of Robertson & Foster, and was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in 1879. He won 
much popularity by his activity in 
prosecuting the men who murdered 




Black 


Blackburn 


Robert Ross in the election riots in 
Troy in 1892. In 1895-1897, he was 
a member of Congress, and in 1897- 
1899 Governor of New York. He now 
practises law in New York. 

Black, Jeremiah. Sullivan, an 
American lawyer, born in Glades, Pa., 
Jan. 10, 1810; studied law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1831. In 1857 
he was appointed Attorney-General of 
the United States by President Bu¬ 
chanan, and in 1860-1861 was United 
States Secretary of State. On the ac¬ 
cession of President Lincoln he re¬ 
tired from public life. He died in 
York, Pa., Aug. 19, 1883. 

Black, John Charles, an Amer¬ 
ican lawyer, soldier, and statesman, 
born in Lexington, Miss., Jan. 27, 
1839; graduated at Wabash College, 
Crawfordsville; entered the Union 
army in 1861 as Colonel of the 37th 
Illinois Volunteers; was severely 
wounded in the service; and was 
brevetted Brigadier-General. After 
the war he was elected Congressman- 
at-large from Illinois; was appointed 
Commissioner of Pensions by Presi¬ 
dent Cleveland during the latter’s first 
term, and United States District At¬ 
torney for the Northern District of 
Illinois during his second term. 

Black, William, a Scottish nov¬ 
elist, born in Glasgow in November, 
1841. He received his education at 
private schools. In 1874 he aban¬ 
doned the career of journalism, which 
he had successfully pursued, visited 
the United States in 1876, and, re¬ 
turning to London, devoted himself 
anew to literature. In addition to an 
interesting story, his novels contain 
fine descriptions of scenery. They are 
very popular. He died in Brighton, 
England, Dec. 10, 1898. 

Black Art, exorcism, the alleged 
ability to expel evil spirits from 
haunted houses or from persons be¬ 
witched ; necromancy, or anything sim¬ 
ilar. 

Black Assize, in English history, 
an assize held at Oxford in 1557, 
when the High Sheriff and 300 other 
persons died of infectious disease 
caught from the prisoners. 

Black Belt, an agricultural re¬ 
gion of Alabama; 70 miles wide, ex¬ 
tending entirely across the State, be¬ 
tween 33° and 31° 40'; so called from 


the fact that the negroes greatly pre¬ 
dominate in numbers. 

Blackberry, a plant common in 
the northern portions of the United 
States and in most parts of Europe, 
and also in Northern Central Asia. 

Black Bird, a well known bird. 
There are two American species, red 
winged blackbird, and the crow black¬ 
bird. 

Blackburn, a town and parliamen¬ 
tary borough of England, 21 miles N. 
N. W. from Manchester. It is pleas¬ 
antly situated in a sheltered valley 
and has rapidly improved since 1850, 
Blackburn is one of the chief seats of 
the cotton manufacture, there being 
upward of 140 mills as well as works 
for making cotton machinery and 
steam engines. The cottons made in 
the town and vicinity have an annual 
value of about £5,000,000. Pop. 
(1901) 127,527. 

Blackburn, Joseph Clay Styles, 

an American lawyer, born in Wood¬ 
ford county, Ky., Oct. 1, 1838; was 
graduated at Center College, Danville, 
Ivy., in 1857. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1859, and practiced in Chi¬ 
cago. During the Civil War he served 
in the Confederate army, and after 
the war resumed practice in Ken¬ 
tucky. In 1871 he was elected to the 
Kentucky Legislature, and in 1874 to 
Congress; and was a United States 
Senator in 1885-1897. During the 
presidential campaign of 1896 he was 
a leader in the free coinage silver 
movement. 

Blackburn, Luke Pryor, an 

American physician, born in Fayette 
county, Ky., June 16, 1816; was grad¬ 
uated at Transylvania University, 
Lexington, Ivy., in 1834, and began 
practicing in that city. When cholera 
broke out in the town of Versailles he 
went there and gave his services free 
during the epidemic. In 1846 he went 
to Natchez, Miss., and in 1848, when 
yellow fever appeared in New Or¬ 
leans, as health officer of Natchez, he 
originated the first quarantine against 
New Orleans that had ever been 
known in the Mississippi valley. Dur¬ 
ing the Civil War he was a surgeon 
on the staff of General Price. In 
1875, when yellow fever broke out in 
Memphis, he hastened to the city and 
organized a corps of physicians and 





Blackburn 


Black Hills 


nurses, and in 1878 gave his services 
to the yellow fever sufferers at Hick¬ 
man, Ky. He was elected Governor 
of Kentucky in 1879. He founded the 
Blackburn Sanitarium for Nervous 
and Mental Diseases in 1884. He 
died in Frankfort, Ky., Sept. 14, 1887. 

Blackburn, William Maxwell, 
an American Presbyterian clergyman 
and educator, born at Carlisle, Ind., 
Dec. 30, 1828. He became President 
of the University of North Dakota in 
1884 and of Pierre University, South 
Dakota, in 1885, and President-Emer¬ 
itus of the last (now Huron College) 
in 1898. 

Black Cap, a European passerine 
bird of the warbler family. It ranks 
next to the nightingale for sweetness 
of song. The American black cap is a 
species of tit-mouse, so called from 
the coloring of the head. 

Black Deatk, The, one of the 
most memorable of the epidemics of 
the Middle Ages, was a great pesti¬ 
lence in the 14th century; which de¬ 
vastated Asia, Europe and Africa. 

The whole period of time during 
which the black death raged with de¬ 
structive violence in Europe was from 
1347 to 1350; from this latter date to 
1383 there were various pestilences, 
bad enough, indeed, but not as vio¬ 
lent as the black death. 

Blackfeet Indians, a tribe of 
American Indians, partly inhabiting 
the United States, partly Canada, 
from the Yellowstone to Hudson Bay. 

Blackfish, a fish caught on the 
coast of the United States, especially 
in the vicinity of Long Island. 

Black Flags, an organization of 
Chinese rebels who established them¬ 
selves in the Red River valley in Ton- 
quin, after the suppression of the Tai- 
ping Rebellion in Southern China 
(1850-1854). From their warlike 
character and desperate deeds they 
were called Black Flags as distin¬ 
guished from the peaceable l r ellow 
Flags. They were responsible for the 
massacre in 1884 of missionaries and 
native Christians. 

Black Forest, a great forest, sit¬ 
uated in Baden and Wurtemberg, near 
the source of the Danube. 

Black Friars, friars of the Do¬ 
minican Order: so called from their 
costume. 


Black Friday, the Friday, Sept. 
24, 18G9, when the attempt of Jay 
Gould and James Fisk, Jr., to create 
a corner in the gold market by buying 
all the gold in the banks of New York 
city, amounting to $15,000,000, cul¬ 
minated. For several days the value 
of gold had risen steadily, and the 
speculators aimed to carry it from 
144 to 200. Friday the whole city 
was in a ferment, the banks were 
rapidly selling, gold was at 162^, and 
still rising. Men became insane, and 
everywhere the wildest excitement 
raged, for it seemed probable that the 
business houses must be closed, from 
ignorance of the prices to be charged 
for their goods. But in the midst of 
the panic it was reported that Secre¬ 
tary Boutwell of the United States 
Treasury had thrown $4,000,000 on 
the market, and at once gold fell, the 
excitement ceased, leaving Gould and 
Fisk the winners of $11,000,000. The 
day noticed above is what is gen¬ 
erally referred to as Black Friday in 
the United States, but the term was 
first used in England, being applied 
in the first instance to the Friday on 
which the news reached London, Dec. 
6, 1745, that the young Pretender, 
Charles Edward, had arrived at Der¬ 
by, creating a terrible panic; and 
finally to May 11, 1866, when the 
failure of Overend, Gurney & Co., 
London, the day before, was followed 
by a widespread financial ruin. 

Black Gum, an American tree, 
yielding a close grained, useful wood; 
fruit a drupe of blue black color, 
whence it seems to get its name of 
black; it has no gum about it. 

Black Hawk, a famous chief of 
the Sac and Fox Indians, born in 
1767. He joined the British in 1812, 
and opposing the removal W. of his 
tribe, fought against the United 
States in 1831-1832. He died in 1838. 

Blackkeatk, a village and heath, 
in Kent, England, about 6 miles S. E. 
of London Bridge. The heath con¬ 
tains about 70 acres within its pres¬ 
ent limits, and is much resorted to 
by pleasure parties. It has been the 
scene of many remarkable events, such 
as the insurrectionary gatherings of 
Wat Tyler and Jack Cade and the 
exploits of various highwaymen. 

Black Hills, a mountainous re¬ 
gion in the S. W. of South Dakota, 




Black Hole 


Black Sea 


extending into the E.- part of Wyom¬ 
ing ; long. 103° to 105°. It was pur¬ 
chased from the Indians in 1876, for 
whom it had been one of the finest 
hunting grounds in the West. In 
1877-1878 thousands of miners went 
there, and in 1880 there had already 
sprung into existence three towns, 
Deadwood, Central City, and Lead- 
ville. Around these lay also groups 
of smaller towns and villages. From 
1880 the gold mines yielded about $4,- 
000,000 annually, and the silver mines 
about $3,000,000 annually. 

Black Hole of Calcutta, a small 
chamber, 20 feet square, in the old 
fort of Calcutta, in which, after their 
capture by Surajah Dowlah, the whole 
garrison of 146 men were confined 
during the night of June 21, 1756. 
Only 23 survived. The spot is now 
marked by a monument. 

Blackie, John Stuart, a Scot¬ 
tish author, born in Glasgow in July, 
1809; died in Edinburgh, March 2, 
1895. 

Black Lead, Grapkite, or Plump 
bago, a mineral consisting chiefly of 
carbon, but containing also more or 
less of alumina, silica, lime, iron, etc., 
to the extent of 1 to 47 per cent., ap¬ 
parently mixed rather than chemically 
combined. Black lead is the popular 
name, and that by which it is general¬ 
ly known in the arts, though no lead 
enters into the composition of the 
mineral; graphite is that generally 
preferred by mineralogists. 

Black List, a list of bankrupts or 
other parties whose names are official¬ 
ly known as failing to meet pecuniary 
engagements. The term is also ap¬ 
plied to a list of employes who have 
been discharged by a firm or corpora¬ 
tion and against whom some objection 
is made and reported to other firms or 
corporations to prevent them obtain¬ 
ing employment. 

Blackmail, a certain rate of mon¬ 
ey, corn, cattle or the like, anciently 
paid, in the N. of England and in 
Scotland, to certain men who were al¬ 
lied to robbers, to be protected by 
them from pillage. It was carried to 
such an extent as to become the sub¬ 
ject of legislation. Blackmail was 
levied in the districts bordering the 
Highlands of Scotland till the middle 
of the 18th century. In the United 


States, the word is applied to money 
extorted from persons under threat of 
exposure for an alleged offense; hush- 
money. 

Black Monday. (1) A name for 
Easter Monday, in remembrance of 
the dreadful experiences of the army 
of Edward III., before Paris, on 
Easter Monday, April 14, 1360. Many 
soldiers and horses perished from the 
extreme cold. (2) The 27th of Feb., 
1865, a memorable day in Melbourne, 
Australia, when a destructive sirocco 
prevailed in the surrounding country. 

Black Mountains, the group 
which contains the highest summits of 
the Appalachian system, Clingman’s 
Peak being 6,701 feet, Guyot’s Peak, 
6,661. 

Black Republic, a name applied 
to the Republic of Haiti, which is 
under the dominion of the African 
race. 

Black Republicans, in the United 

States, a name applied to members of 
the Republican Party by the Pro- 
Slavery Party. 

Black River, the name of several 
rivers in the United States: (1) An 
affluent of the Arkansas river, in Ar¬ 
kansas, 400 miles long. It is naviga¬ 
ble to Poplar Bluff, 311 miles; (2) a 
river in New York, rising in the Adi- 
rondacks, and emptying into Lake On¬ 
tario near Watertown, length 200 
miles; (3) a river in Wisconsin, flow¬ 
ing S. W., and emptying into the Mis¬ 
sissippi river near Lacrosse; length 
200 miles; (4) a river rising in the S. 
E. of Missouri, flowing nearly S., and 
entering the White river, of which it 
is the chief tributary, at Jacksonport, 
Ark.; length, 350 miles, of which 100 
miles are navigable. 

Black Rock Desert, a tract of 
nearly 1,000 square miles, N. of Pyra¬ 
mid Lake, in Nevada. In summer it is 
a barren level of alkali and in winter 
covered in places with shallow water. 
Called also “ Mud Lakes.” 

Black Rood of Scotland, a cross 
of gold in the form of a casket, al¬ 
leged to contain a piece of the true 
Cross. 

Black Sea (ancient Pontus Eux- 
inus), a sea situated between Euiope 
and Asia, and mainly bounded by the 
Russian and Turkish dominions, being 





Black Sheep 


Blaine 


connected with the Mediterranean by 
the Bosporus, Sea of Marmora, and 
Dardenelles, and by the Strait of 
Kertsch with the Sea of Azov, which 
is, in fact, only a bay of the Black 
Sea; area of the Black Sea and the 
Sea of Azov about 175,000 square 
miles, with a depth in the center of 
more than 150 fathoms and few shoals 
along its shores. The water is not 
so clear as that of the Mediterranean, 
and is less salt on account of the 
many large rivers which fall into it. 

Black Sheep, a tribe of Turko¬ 
mans, so called from their standard. 

A black sheep: a disgrace to the 
family; a mauvais sujet; a workman 
who will not join in a strike. 

Black Snake, a common snake in 
North America, reaching a length of 
5 or 6 feet, and so agile and swift as 
to have been named the racer, with no 
poison fangs, and, therefore, compara¬ 
tively harmless. 

Blackstone, Sir William, an 

English jurist, born in London, July 
10, 1723; educated at the Charter 
House and Pembroke College, Oxford. 
In 1743 he was elected fellow of All- 
Soul’s College, Oxford, and in 1746 
was called to the bar; but, having 
attended the Westminster law courts 
for seven years without success, he re¬ 
tired to Oxford. Here he gave lec¬ 
tures on law, which suggested to Mr. 
Yiner the idea of founding a profes¬ 
sorship at Oxford for the study of 
the common law; and Blackstone was, 
in 1758, chosen the first Vinerian 
Professor. In 1765 he published 
the first volume of his famous “ Com¬ 
mentaries on the Laws of England.” 
He died Feb. 14, 1780. 

Black Tin, tin ore when dressed, 
stamped, and washed ready for smelt¬ 
ing, forming a black powder. 

Black Walnut, a valuable timber 
tree of the United States and its 
fruit. The great size often reached 
by this tree, the richness of the dark 
brown wood, the unique beauty of the 
grain sometimes found in burls, knots, 
feathers and in the curl of the roots, 
all conspire to make this the most 
choice and high priced of all our na¬ 
tive woods. 

Blackwell, Mrs. Antoinette 
Louisa (Brown), an American wom¬ 
an suffragist and Unitarian minister, 


born at Henrietta, N. Y., May 20, 
1825. A graduate of Oberlin (1847), 
she “ preached on her own orders,” at 
first in Congregational churches, be¬ 
coming at length a champion of wom¬ 
en’s rights. She married Samuel C., 
a brother of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell 
(1856). 

Blackwell, Elizabetk, an Amer¬ 
ican physician and medical and ethical 
writer, born at Bristol, England, 1821. 
She is the first woman who ever ob¬ 
tained the degree of M. D. in the 
United States (1849), beginning prac¬ 
tice in New York (1851). 

Blackwell, Lucy Stone, an 
American woman suffragist, born in 
West Brookfield, Mass., Aug. 13, 
1818; was graduated at Oberlin Col¬ 
lege in 1847; became a lecturer on 
woman suffrage, and a contributor to 
the press. In 1855 she married Henry 
B. Blackwell, a merchant of Cincin¬ 
nati. She died in Dorchester, Mass., 
Oct. 20, 1893. 

Blackwell’s Island, an island be¬ 
longing to the city of New York, in 
the East river, containing about 120 
acres. On it are the penitentiary, 
almshouse, lunatic asylum for females, 
workhouse, blind asylum, hospital for 
incurables, and a convalescent hospi¬ 
tal. 

Blackwood, William, a Scotch 
publisher, born at Edinburgh, Nov. 
20, 1776. He started as a bookseller 
in 1804, and soon became also a pub¬ 
lisher. After his death the business, 
which had developed into a large pub¬ 
lishing concern, was carried on by his 
sons, and the magazine still keeps its 
place among the leading periodicals. 
He died Sept. 16, 1834. 

Blaeu, Blaeuw, or Blauw, a 
Dutch family celebrated as publish¬ 
ers of maps and books. 

Blaine, James Gillespie, an 
American statesman, born in West 
Brownsville, Pa., Jan. 31, 1830. He 
graduated at Washington College, Pa., 
in 1847. In 1854 he removed to Au¬ 
gusta, Me., and engaged in journalism. 
He was one of the founders of the 
Republican Party, and in 1856 was 
a delegate to the first Republican Na¬ 
tional Convention, which nominated 
Fremont for the Presidency. In 1858 
he was elected to the Legislature of 
Maine, and in 1862 to the House 





Blair 


Blake 


of Representatives of the National 
Congress. He became Speaker of the 
House in 1869, and held that office for 
six years; was a member of the Sen¬ 
ate from 1876 to 1881; was twice 
Secretary of State (1881-1882 and 
1889-1892). He was defeated for 
the Presidency in 1884, by Grover 
Cleveland. Besides his numerous 
speeches and writings on the public 
questions of his day, his best known 
work is his “ Twenty Years in Con¬ 
gress ” (2 vols., 1884-1886), a his¬ 
torical production of great and per¬ 
manent value. He died in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., Jan. 27, 1893. 

Blair, Austin, an American law¬ 
yer, born in Caroline, N. Y., Feb. 8, 
1818; was elected Governor of Michi¬ 
gan in I860, becoming one of the War 
Governors. In 1866-1870 he was a 
member of Congress. He died in 
Jackson, Mich., Aug. 6, 1894. 

Blair, Francis Preston, an 
American journalist and politician, 
born in Abingdon, Va., April 12,1791; 
died at Silver Spring, Md., Oct. 18, 
1876. 


Blair, Francis Preston, Jr., an 

American military officer and legis¬ 
lator, born in Lexington, Ky., Feb. 
20, 1821; son of the preceding. He 
was a Representative jn Congress 
from Missouri in 1857-1859 and 1861- 
1863; became a Major-General in the 
Union army in the Civil War, taking 
an active part in the Vicksburg cam¬ 
paign and Sherman’s march to the 
sea; was an unsuccessful Democratic 
candidate for Vice-President in 1868, 
and United States Senator in 1870- 
1873. He died in St. Louis, July 5, 
1875. 


Blair, Henry William, an Amer¬ 
ican legislator, born in Campton, N. 
H., Dec. 6, 1834; received an acade¬ 
mic education; was admitted to the 
bar in 1859; served through the Civil 
War, becoming Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the 15th New Hampshire Volunteers, 
and being twice wounded. After serv¬ 
ing in both branches of the State 
Legislature he was a member of Con¬ 
gress in 1875-1879 and 1893-1895, 
and a United States Senator in 1879- 
1889. 


Blair, Hugk, a Scotch clergyman 
and educational writer, born in Edin¬ 
burgh, in 1718; was noted for the 


eloquence of his sermons, and also 
for “Lectures on Rhetoric” (1783), 
which attained great popularity, 
“ Blair’s Rhetoric ” being familiar to 
all students. He died in 1800. 

Blair, Jokn Insley, an American 
philanthropist, born in Belvidere, N. 
J., Aug. 22, 1802; was in early life a 
merchant and banker; subsequently 
becoming the individual owner of 
more miles of railroad property than 
any other man in the world. He ac¬ 
quired a very large fortune; loaned 
the Federal Government more than 
$1,000,000 in the early part of the 
Civil War; built and endowed at a 
cost of more than $600,000, the Pres¬ 
byterian Academy in Blairstown, N. 
J.; rebuilt Grinnell College, Iowa; 
erected Blair Hall and made other 
gifts to Princeton University; was 
equally liberal to Lafayette College; 
and had erected more than 100 church¬ 
es in different parts of the West, be¬ 
sides laying out many towns and vil¬ 
lages on the lines of his numerous 
railroads. He died in Blairstown, N. 
J., Dec. 2, 1899. 

Blair, Montgomery, an American 
lawyer, born in Franklin county, Ky., 
May 10, 1813; was graduated at the 
United States Military Academy in 
1835; resigned from the army in 
1836; admitted to the bar in 1839; 
began practice in St. Louis. He acted 
as counsel for the plaintiff in the 
widely known Dred Scott case. In 
1861-1864 he was Postmaster-Gen¬ 
eral. In 1876-1877 he acted with the 
Democratic Party in opposing Mr. 
Hayes’ title to the office of President. 
He died in Silver Springs, Md., July 
27, 1883. 

Blake, Edward, an English states¬ 
man, born in Cairngorm, Ont., Cana¬ 
da, Oct. 13, 1833; was educated at 
Upper Canada College and Toronto 
University; called to the bar in 1856; 
and engaged in practice in Toronto. 
He entered public life in 1867; was 
Premier of Ontario in 1871—1872, 
Minister of Justice in 1875—1877, and 
the recognized leader of the Canadian 
Liberal Party. In 1892 he was 
invited by the leaders of the Anti- 
Parnellites in Ireland to enter the 
British House of Commons as the rep¬ 
resentative of an Irish constituency. 
Consenting, he removed to South Long¬ 
ford, was elected for that district, and 






Blake 


Blanco 


in 1895 was re-elected. In 1896 he 
was appointed a member of the Judi¬ 
ciary Committee of the Privy Council. 

Blake, Eli Whitney, an Ameri¬ 
can inventor, born in Westb'oro, Mass., 
Jan. 27, 1795; graduated at Yale 
University in 1816. He began busi¬ 
ness with his uncle, Eli Whitney, in 
the manufacture of fire-arms; and in 
1834 founded, near New Haven, 
Conn., the pioneer factory for the 
manufacture of domestic hardware. 
He died in New Haven, Conn., Aug. 
17, 1886. 

Blake, Mrs. Lillie (Devereux) 
Uinstead, an American advocate of 
woman’s rights, and novelist, born at 
Raleigh, N. C., 1835. Her first hus¬ 
band, Frank G. Quay Umstead, died 
in 1859; she married Grenfill Blake 
in 1866, who died in 1896. 

Blake, William Phipps, an 
American mineralogist, born in New 
York city, June 1, 1826; was grad¬ 
uated at the Yale Scientific School in 
1852. He became Geologist and Min¬ 
eralogist to the United States Rail¬ 
road Expedition in 1853; was Mining 
Engineer in connection with explora¬ 
tions in Japan, China, and Alaska in 
1861-1863; was appointed Professor 
of Geology and Mineralogy in the Col¬ 
lege of California in 1864; and in 
1900 was Director of the School of 
Mines in the University of Arizona. 

Blakeley, Johnston, an Ameri¬ 
can naval officer, born near Seaford, 
Ireland, October, 1781; entered the 
United States navy as a midshipman 
in 1800; commanded the “Enterprise” 
in the early part of the War of 1812; 
and was captain of the “ Wasp ” 
when she captured the English “ Rein¬ 
deer ” in June, 1814. Soon after this 
he sailed with the “ Wasp ” on an¬ 
other cruise, but the vessel was lost 
at sea with all on board. 


Blanchard, Jonathan, an Amer¬ 
ican educator, born in Rockingham, 
Vt., Jan. 19, 1811; graduated at Lane 
Theological Seminary in 1832; and 
was ordained a Presbyterian minister 
in 1838. He was American Vice-Presi¬ 
dent of the World’s Anti-Slavery Con¬ 
vention in London in 1843; and in 
1846 became President of Knox Col¬ 
lege at Galesburg, Ill. He was Presi¬ 
dent of Wheaton College, Ill., in 
1880-1882; and, on resigning, was 


chosen president-emeritus. He died in 
Wheaton, Ill., May 14, 1892. 

Blanco, Antonio Guzman, a 
Venezuelan military officer, born in 
Caracas, Feb. 29, 1828. He became 
prominent in the Federalist revolts, 
1859-1863, and when his party tri¬ 
umphed, was made first Vice-President 
in 1863 under Falcon, who was de¬ 
posed in the Revolution of 1868. 
Blanco led a successful counter revo¬ 
lution in 1870, became President, and 
retained the office till 1882. In 1893 
he was appointed Minister to France, 
where he resided till his death, July 
29, 1899. 

Blanco, Jose Felix, a Venezue¬ 
lan historian, born in Mariana de 
Caracas, Sept. 24, 1782. At different 
times he acted in the capacity of 
priest, soldier, and statesman. He 
was one of the leaders in the Revolu- 
ton at Caracas, April 19, 1810, and 
was the first editor of the great his¬ 
torical work, “ Documentos para la 
historia de la vida publica del Liber- 
tador,” etc. He died in Caracas, Jan. 
8, 1872. 

Blanco, Pedro, a Bolivian states¬ 
man, born in Cochabamba, Oct. 19, 
1795. He joined the Spanish army in 
1812, but soon deserted to the patriots, 
and served with them till the end of 
the Revolution. In 1828 he became a 
general, and in the same year, when 
Sucre fell, was made President of 
Bolivia, but was superseded in the 
Revolution of Dec. 31, 1828. He was 
shot in Sucre, in January, 1829. 

Blanco, Ramon y Arenas, Mar¬ 
quis de Pena Plata, Captain-Gen¬ 
eral of the Spanish army in Cuba 
during the Spanish-American War; 
was born at San Sebastian, Spain, in 
1833, and began his military career at 
the age of 22, entering the army in 
1855 as a Lieutenant; wsis promoted 
to a captain in 1858, and won the 
rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the war 
with San Domingo. When the Span¬ 
iards were driven from the island 
Blanco went to the Philippines as 
governor of Mindanao. When he re¬ 
turned to Spain he was assigned to 
the Army of the North, and in the 
war with the Carlists made a brilliant 
record. He successfully stormed Pena 
Plata, for which achievement he was 
created a Marquis of that name. He 




Blanco Encalada 


Blarney 


succeeded General Weyler in command 
of the army in Cuba, where his career 
terminated with the U. S. occupation. 
He died April 4, 1906. 

Blanco Bncalada, Manuel, a 
Spanish-American military officer, 
born in Buenos Ayres, Sept. 5, 1790; 
distinguished himself in the Chilian 
War of Independence. He was chosen 
President of Chile in July, 1826, but 
soon resigned, and was made General 
of the army. He unsuccessfully in¬ 
vaded Peru in 1837, and was not al¬ 
lowed to retire till he had signed a 
treaty of peace. Chile annulled this 
treaty, and he was court-martialed, 
but freed. In 1847 he was Intendant 
of Valparaiso, and in 1853-1858 Min¬ 
ister to France. He died in Santiago, 
Chile, Sept. 5, 1875. 

Bland, Richard Parks, an Amer¬ 
ican legislator, born in Kentucky, 
Aug. 19, 1835; received an academical 
education, and, between 1855 and 
1865, practiced law in Missouri, Cali¬ 
fornia, and Nevada, and was engaged 
for some time in mining. In 1865 he 
settled in Rolla, Mo., and practiced 
there till 1865, when he removed to 
Lebanon in the same State. He was 
a member of Congress in 1873-1895 
and from 1897 till his death. In 1896 
he was a conspicuous candidate for 
the Presidential nomination in the 
Democratic National Convention, but 
on the fourth ballot his name was 
withdrawn, and the vote of his State 
was cast for William J. Bryan. Mr. 
Bland was best known as the leader 
in the Lower House of Congress of 
the Free-Silver movement, and the 
author of the Bland Silver Bill. At 
the time of his death he was a mem¬ 
ber of the Committees on Coinage, 
Weights and Measures, and Expendi¬ 
tures on Public Buildings. He died 
in Lebanon, Mo., June 15, 1899. 

Bland, TKeodoric, an American 
military officer, born in Prince George 
county, Va., in 1742; studied medicine 
in the University of Edinburgh, and 
for a time practiced in England. He 
returned home in 1764, and was active 
in his profession until the outbreak 
of the Revolutionary War, when he 
sided with the colonists, and became 
Captain of the First Troop of Vir¬ 
ginia cavalry. In 1777 he joined the 
main army as a Lieutenant-Colonel, 


and later became a Colonel. He dis¬ 
tinguished himself at the battle of 
Brandywine, and was placed in com¬ 
mand of the prisoners taken at Sara¬ 
toga, who were marched to Charlotte- 
ville, Va. In 1780-1783 he was a 
member of the Continental Congress, 
and was a Representative from Vir¬ 
ginia to the 1st Federal Congress in 
1789. He died in New York city, 
June 1, 1790. 

Bland Silver Bill, one of the 

most notable measures of American 
Congressional history. The original 
bill, as introduced by Representative 
Bland and passed by the House late 
in 1877, provided simply for the free 
and unlimited coinage of silver by all 
the mints of the United States. This 
programme represented the full policy 
of the Silver men. The silver dollar 
had been demonetized by the act of 
1873, and its coinage had been wholly 
abandoned. The Bimetallists desired 
to restore it to perfect equality with 
gold as a standard of value, and the 
original Bland bill, permitting owners 
of silver bullion to have their com¬ 
modity coined into dollars by the 
mints, was intended as the means to 
accomplish that object But the Sen¬ 
ate amended the measure materially. 
The free coinage clause was stricken 
out, and, as a concession to the Silver 
men, it was directed that the Secre¬ 
tary of the Treasury should purchase 
monthly not less than $2,000,000 and 
not more than $4,000,000 worth of 
silver bullion, at the market price of 
the metal, and coin it into standard 
silver dollars, which should be unlim¬ 
ited legal tender for all debts. The 
amended bill was reported by Senator 
Allison, Chairman of the Finance 
Committee, and hence received the 
name of the Bland-Allison Act. It 
was vetoed by President Hayes, but 
passed over his veto, Feb. 28, 1878, by 
196 to 73 in the House, and 46 to 19 
in the Senate. The silver purchase 
clause in this act was repealed by the 
Sherman Act of 1890. 

Blank Verse, verse which is void 
of rhyme. 

Blarney, a village in Ireland, 4 
miles N. W. of the city of Cork, with 
Blarney Castle in its vicinity. A stone 
called the Blarney Stone, near the 
top of the castle, is said to confer on 
those who kiss it the peculiar kind of 




Slash, field 


Blennerhasset 


persuasive eloquence alleged to be 
characteristic of the natives of Ire¬ 
land. 

Blashfield, Edwin Howland, 

an American artist, born in New York 
city, Dec. 16, 1848; studied in Paris 
under Leon Bonnat; and began ex¬ 
hibiting in the Paris Salon in 1874. 
He returned to the United States in 
1881, and has since distinguished him¬ 
self by the execution of large decora¬ 
tive works. 

Blasphemy, slander or even well 
merited blame, applied to a person or 
in condemnation of a thing. 

The word is particularly applied to 
any profane language toward God; 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost 
means the sin of attributing to Satanic 
agency the miracles which were ob¬ 
viously from God. 

Blast Furnace, a structure built 
of refractory material in which metal¬ 
lic ores are smelted in contact with 
fuel and flux, the combustion of the 
fuel being accelerated by air undei 
pressure. 

Blasting, the operation of break¬ 
ing up masses of stone or rock in situ 
by means of gunpowder or other ex¬ 
plosive. In ordinary operations, holes 
are bored into the rock of from one to 
six inches in diameter, by means of a 
steel pointed drill, by striking it with 
hammers or allowing it to fall from 
a height. After the hole is bored to 
the requisite depth it is cleaned out, 
the explosive is introduced, the hole 
is tamped or filled up with broken 
stone, clay or sand, and the charge 
exploded by means of a fuse or by 
electricity. 

Blavatsky, Helene Petrovna, a 

noted theosophist; born in Yekaterin- 
oslay, Russia, in 1831; founded the 
Theosophical Society in New York in 
1875. She died in London, May 8, 
1891. 

Blazonry, the art of describing a 
coat of arms in such a way that an 
accurate drawing may be made from 
the verbal statements given. 

Bleaching, the art of whitening 
linen, wool, cotton, silk, wax, also the 
materials of which paper is made, and 
other things. 

Bledsoe, Albert Taylor, an 

American clergyman and writer; born 


in Frankfort, Ky., Nov. 9, 1809. He 
was Assistant Secretary of War of 
the Southern Confederacy, and both 
an Episcopal and a Methodist minis¬ 
ter. He died in Alexandria, Va., Dec. 

1, 1877. 

Bleeding, or Hemorrhage, one 

of the most serious accidents which 
can happen to an animal, and consti¬ 
tutes the most anxious complication 
in surgical operations. 

Blenheim, a village situated in 
the circle of the Upper Danube, in 
Bavaria, on the Danube. Here was 
fought, Aug. 13, 1704, the famous bat¬ 
tle of Blenheim (or, as it is more com¬ 
monly called on the European Conti¬ 
nent, the battle of Hochstadt, from 
another village of this name in the 
vicinity), in which Marlborough and 
Prince Eugene, commanding the al¬ 
lied forces of England and the Ger¬ 
man empire, gained a brilliant victory 
over the French and Bavarians. 

Blennerhasset, Harman, an 
Englishman of Irish descent, noted for . 
his connection with Aaron Burr’s con¬ 
spiracy, born in Hampshire, Oct. 8, 
1764 or 1765; was educated at Trin¬ 
ity College, Dublin; studied law; and 
came to the United States in 1797. 
In the following year he built a beau¬ 
tiful residence on a little island in 
the Ohio river below Parkersburg, 
where Aaron Burr, after his fortunes 
were broken and he did not feel safe 
in New York, was received as a guest. 
Burr proposed his scheme for taking 
Mexico, where, in case of success, 
Burr was to be Emperor and Blen¬ 
nerhasset a duke and ambassador to 
England. Large sums were expended 
to fit out the expedition ahd when 
Burr was arrested, and Blennerhas¬ 
set as a suspected person with him, 
creditors seized the island and home, 
and Blennerhasset found himself 
bankrupt. After this all projects 
failed with him. In his last years he 
was supported by the charity of a rel¬ 
ative. He died on the Island of 
Guernsey, Feb. 1, 1831. His wife 
was a daughter of Governor Agnew, 
of the Isle of Man, and the author of 
many poems, including “ The Desert¬ 
ed Isle,” “ The Widow and the Rock,” 
etc. After her husband’s death she 
petitioned Congress for a reparation 
of her losses, but died before any ac¬ 
tion was taken. Their son, Joseph 




Blesbok 


Bliss 


Lewis Blennerhasset, was a lawyer in 
Missouri. 

Blesbok, an antelope of South 
Africa with a white marked face, a 
general purplish chocolate color, and 
a saddle of a bluish color: found in 
great numbers in the late Boer repub¬ 
lics in South Africa and much hunted. 

Blessington, Margaret, Count¬ 
ess of, was born near Clonmel, Ire¬ 
land, 1789, died at Paris 1849. At the 
age of fifteen, she was married to a 
Captain Farmer, who died in 1817; 
and a few months after his death 
his widow married Charles John Gard¬ 
iner, earl of Blessington. After the 
earl’s death in 1829, Lady Blessington 
took up her abode in Gore House, 
Kensington. Her residence became 
the fashionable resort for all the celeb¬ 
rities of the time; and that notwith¬ 
standing a doubtful connection which 
she formed with Count D’Orsay, with 
whom she lived till her death. No 
name is more frequently mentioned by 
writers of the time. 

Bligb, William, the commander 
of the English ship “ Bounty ” when 
the crew mutinied in the South Seas 
and carried her off, was born at Ply¬ 
mouth in 1753. The “ Bounty ” had 
been fitted out for the purpose of pro¬ 
curing plants of the bread fruit tree, 
and introducing these into the West 
Indies. Bligh left Tahiti in 1789, 
and was proceeding on his voyage for 
Jamaica when he was seized, and, 
with 18 men supposed to be well af¬ 
fected to him, forced into + he launch, 
sparingly provisioned, and cast adrift; 
but Bligh, with 12 of his companions, 
arrived in England in 1790, while the 
mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island, 
where their descendants still exist. 
Bligh became Governor of New South 
Wales in 1806, but his harsh and 
despotic conduct caused him to be de¬ 
posed and sent back to England. _ He 
afterward rose to the rank of Admiral, 
and died in London in 1817. 

Bligbt, a diseased state of culti¬ 
vated plants, especially cereals and 
grasses. The term has been very 
vaguely and variously used, having, in 
fact, been applied by agriculturists to 
almost every disease of plants in turn, 
however caused, especially when the 
plant dies before reaching maturity. It 
is now applied scientifically only to 


such diseases as are caused by para¬ 
site fungi or bacteria, as apple-blight, 
cherry-blight, potato-blight, etc. 

Blind Fisk, the name of several 
species of fish inhabiting the Amer- 
can cave streams. They are all small, 
the largest not exceeding five inches. 

Bliss, Cornelius Newton, an 
American merchant, born in Fall 
River, Mass., Jan. 26, 1833; was ed¬ 
ucated in New Orleans; entered his 
stepfather’s counting room there; en¬ 
gaged in the commission business in 
Boston, and became head of the dry 
goods commission house of Bliss, 
Fabyan & Co., New York city, in 
1881. He was a member of the Pan- 
American Conference; Chairman of 
the New York Republican State Com¬ 
mittee in 1877-1878; and Treasurer 
of the National Republican Commit¬ 
tee in 1892 and 1896; declined to be 
a candidate for Governor of New 
York in 1885 and 1891; and was Sec¬ 
retary of the Interior Department in 
President McKinley’s cabinet in 1897- 
1898. 

Bliss, Daniel, an American mis¬ 
sionary, born in Georgia, Vt., Aug. 17, 
1823; was graduated at Amherst Col¬ 
lege in 1842, and at the Andover The¬ 
ological Seminary in 1855; was or¬ 
dained a Congregational minister, Oct. 
17, 1855; engaged in missionary work 
in Syria in 1855-1862; and in 1866 
became President of the Syrian Prot¬ 
estant College in Beyrout. 

Bliss, Edwin Eliska, an Ameri¬ 
can missionary, born in Putney, Vt., 
April 12, 1817; graduated at Amherst 
College in 1837, and at Andover Theo¬ 
logical Seminary in 1842; was or¬ 
dained as a missionary in 1843, and 
joined the American Mission in Tur¬ 
key. He died in Constantinople, Dec. 
29, 1892. 

Bliss, Frederick Jones, an Amer¬ 
ican explorer, born in Mt. Lebanon, 
Syria, Jan. 23, 1859; son of Daniel 
Bliss; was graduated at Amherst Col¬ 
lege in 1880, and at the Union Theo¬ 
logical Seminary in New York in 
1887; was principal of the prepara¬ 
tory department of the Syrian Prot¬ 
estant College of Beyrout for three 
years; was appointed Explorer to the 
Palestine Exploration Fund in 1890, 
and is best known for his excavations 
and finds in Jerusalem in 1891-1897. 




Bliss 


Blockade 


Bliss, George, an American law¬ 
yer, born in Springfield, Mass., May 
3, 1830; died near Wakefield, R. I., 
Sept. 2, 1897. 

Bliss, Porter Cornelius, an 

American diplomatist, born in Erie 
county, N. Y., Dec. 28, 1838; was ed¬ 
ucated at Hamilton and Yale Col¬ 
leges ; became private secretary to 
James Watson Webb, United States 
Minster to Brazil; explored the Gran 
Chaco for the Argentine Government; 
compiled the various Indian dialects 
and investigated the antiquities of 
that region; and, in 1866, became pri¬ 
vate secretary to Charles A. Wash¬ 
burn, United States Minister to Para¬ 
guay. He was commissioned by Pres¬ 
ident Lopez to write a history of Par¬ 
aguay, and while doing so war broke 
out between that country and Brazil, 
and he was imprisoned and tortured 
on suspicion of being a Brazilian spy. 
It required the presence of an Ameri¬ 
can squadron to effect his release. In 
1870-1874 he was Secretary of the 
United States Legation in Mexico, and 
during that time made several archae¬ 
ological explorations, and wrote on 
the opportunities of American enter¬ 
prise in that country. He died in 
New York, Feb. 2, 1885. 

Bliss, William Dwight Porter, 
an American clergyman, born in Con¬ 
stantinople, Turkey, in 1856; was 
graduated at Amherst College in 1878, 
and the Hartford Theological College 
in 1882; was ordained a Congrega¬ 
tional clergyman; became an Episco¬ 
pal priest in 1887; organized the first 
Christian Socialist Society in the 
United States in 1889. 

Blizzard, a modern American word 
whose origin is in doubt. As applied 
to a severe snow storm the word came 
into general use in the American 
newspapers during the bitterly cold 
winter of 1886-1881, although some 
papers claim its use as early as the 
’70’s. It is employed in the Western 
States to describe a peculiarly fierce 
and cold wind, accompanied by a very 
fine, blinding snow which suffocates as 
well as freezes men and animals ex¬ 
posed to it. These storms come up 
very suddenly and overtake the trav¬ 
eler without premonition. The sky 
becomes darkened, and the snow is 
driven by a terrible wind which comes 


with a deafening roar. The blizzard 
which will long be remembered in the 
Eastern States began March 11, 1888, 
and raged until the 14th, New York 
and Philadelphia being the cities most 
affected. The wind at one time blew 
at the rate of 46 miles an hour. The 
streets and roads were blocked, rail¬ 
road trains snowed up for days, tele¬ 
graphic communication cut off, and 
many lives were lost. 

Block, a pulley or 
a system of pulleys ro¬ 
tating on a pintle 
mounted in its frame 
or shell with its band 
and strap. There are 
many kinds of blocks, 
as a pulley block, a 
fiddle block, a fish 
block, a fly block, a 
heart block, a hook 
block, etc. A block 
and tackle is the block 
and the rope rove 
through it, for hoist¬ 
ing or obtaining a 
purchase. 

Blockade, the act 
of surrounding a city 
with a hostile army, 
or, if it be on the sea 
coast, of placing a 
hostile army around 
its landward side, and 
ships of war in front block and 
of its sea defenses, so tackle. 
as, if possible, to pre¬ 
vent supplies of food 
and ammunition from entering it by 
land or water. The object of such an 
investment is to compel a place too 
strong or too well defended to be at 
once captured by assault, to surrender 
on account of famine. The investment 
of a place by sea is to prevent any 
ships from entering or leaving its har¬ 
bor. The practice seems to have been 
introduced by the Dutch about 1584. 

To break the blockade is to forcibly 
enter a blockaded port, if not even to 
compel the naval force investing it to 
withdraw. To raise a blockade is to 
desist from blockading a place or to 
compel the investing force to do so. 
To run a blockade is to surreptitiously 
enter or leave a blockaded port at the 
risk of being captured. As a blockade 
seriously interferes with the ordinary 
commercial right of trading with every 






Block Books 


Bloemfontein 


place, international law carefully lim¬ 
its its operation, by certain provisions 
regarding the rights of nations not in¬ 
terested in the war. 

Block Books, before, and for a 
short time after, the invention ot 
printing, books printed from wooden 
blocks each the size of a page and 
having the matter to be reproduced, 
whether text or picture, cut in relief 
gn the surface. 

Block House, a fortified edifice of 
one or more stories, constructed chiefly 
of blocks of hewn timber. Block 
houses are supplied with loopholes for 
musketry and sometimes with em¬ 
brasures for cannon, and when of 
more than one story the upper ones 
are made to overhang those below. 

Block Island, an island in the At¬ 
lantic off the coast of Rhode Island, 
to which it belongs; named from 
Adrian Block, a Dutch navigator who 
discovered it in 1616. 

Block Printing, the method of 
printing from wooden blocks (pro¬ 
ducing block books), as is still done in 
calico printing and making wall paper. 

Block System, in railroad par¬ 
lance, the division of a railroad into a 
certain number of telegraphic dis¬ 
tricts, the distance between which is 
determined by the amount of traffic, 
each block station having signaling in¬ 
struments by which the signal man 
can communicate with the operator 
on each side of him. When a train 
enters any block a semaphore signal is 
lowered, and no train is allowed to 
follow until the one in front has 
reached the end of the block. 

Blodget, Lorin, an American phy¬ 
sicist, born near Jamestown, N. Y., 
May 25, 1823; was educated at Ho¬ 
bart College; appointed Assistant 
Professor at the Smithsonian Institu¬ 
tion, Washington, D. C., in charge of 
researches on climatology, in 1851. 
He is credited with having laid the 
foundation of American climatology. 
He died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 
24, 1901. 

Blodgett. Samuel, an American 
inventor; borh in Woburn, Mass., 
April 1, 1724. He took part in the 
French and Indian War; was a mem¬ 
ber of the expedition against Louis- 
burg, in 1745; and subsequently be¬ 
came a judge of the Court of Com¬ 


mon Pleas, in Hillsboro county, N. H. 
He was the inventor of an apparatus 
by which he recovered a valuable cargo 
from a sunken ship near Plymouth, 
Mass., in 1783. In 1793 he began the 
construction of the canal around 
Amoskeag Falls in the Merrimac 
which now bears his name, but did 
not live to complete the work. He 
died in Haverhill, Mass., Sept. 1, 1807. 

Blodgett, Henry Williams, an 
American jurist, bom in Amherst, 
Mass., July 21, 1821; was educated at 
Amherst Academy; studied surveying 
and engineering; was admitted to the 
bar in 1844; and settled in Wauke¬ 
gan, Ill., to practice, in the following 
year. He served in the Lower House 
of the Legislature in 1852-1854, and 
in the State Senate in 1859-1865; and 
was United States District Judge for 
the Northern District of Illinois from 
1869 till 1893, when he retired. He 
was appointed one of the counsel on 
the part of the United States before 
the Arbitration Tribunal on the Ber¬ 
ing Sea fur seal controversy between 
the United States and Great Britain, 
in 1892. Died, Feb. 9, 1905. 

Bloemfontein, city and capital of 
the former Orange Free State (name 
changed by the British, May 29, 1900, 
to Orange River Colony), South Af¬ 
rica; on the Modder river, 200 miles 
W. by N. of Durban, the base of Brit¬ 
ish operations in the war against the 
Boers. It occupies an elevated site; 
is connected with Natal and Cape 
Colony by telegraph; and is the seat 
of an Anglican bishopric, and a col¬ 
lege. In the war between Great Brit¬ 
ain and the South African and Orange 
Free State Republics in 1899-1900 it 
was the seat of important military op¬ 
erations. In June, 1899, • a confer¬ 
ence was held here between President 
Kruger of the South African Repub¬ 
lic and Sir Alfred Milner, the British 
Commissioner of Cape Colony, with a 
view of averting war. After the ap¬ 
pointment of Lord Roberts to the su¬ 
preme command of the British forces 
operating against the Boers, he led an 
expedition against the city and forced 
its surrender on March 13, 1900, 
President Steyn escaping capture. 
Soon afterward the part of the repub¬ 
lic occupied by the British was for¬ 
mally placed under British adminis¬ 
tration. 




Blois 


Bloody Falls 


Blois, the capital of the French 
Department of Loir-et-Cher, 99 miles 
S. S. W. of Paris, on the Loire. 

Blondel, a French minstrel and 
poet of the 12th century, a confidential 
servant and instructor in music of 
Richard Coeur de Lion. While his 
master was the prisoner of the Duke 
of Austria, Blondel, according to the 
story, went through Palestine and all 
parts of Germany in search of him. 
He sang the king’s own favorite lays 
before each keep and fortress till the 
song was at length taken up and an¬ 
swered from the windows of the cas¬ 
tle of Loewenstein, where Richard 
was imprisoned. 

Blondia, Charles, a French rope 
dancer, born at St. Omer, Pas-de- 
Calais, in 1824, was trained at Lyons, 
where he made such rapid progress 
that he was designated “ The Little 
Wonder.” After making a several 
years’ tour of the United States, on 
June 30, 1859, before a crowd of 25,- 
000 persons, he crossed the Falls of 
Niagara on a tight-rope in five min¬ 
utes; on July 4, he crossed blindfold, 
trundling a wheelbarrow; on Aug. 19, 
he carried a man on his back; on 
Sept. 14, 1860, he crossed on stilts in 
the presence of the Prince of Wales. 
His last appearance was in 1888. He 
died Feb. 22. 1897. 

Blood, the fluid which circulates 
through the arteries and veins of the 
human body and that of other animals, 
which is essential to the preservation 
of life and nutrition of the tissues. 
In insects and in others of the lower 
animals there is an analogous fluid 
which may be colorless, red, bluish, 
greenish, or milky. The venous blood 
of mammals is a dark red, but in pass¬ 
ing through the lungs it becomes oxi¬ 
dized and acquires a bright scarlet 
color, so that the blood in the arteries 
is of a brighter hue than that in the 
veins. The central organ of the blood 
circulation is the heart. The specific 
gravity of blood varies from 1.045 to 
1.075, and its normal temperature is 
99° Fahr. 1000 parts contain 783.37 
of water, 2.83 fibrin, 67.25 albumen, 
126.31 blood corpuscles, 5.16 fatty mat¬ 
ters and salts. The blood corpuscles 
or globules are characteristic. These 
are minute, red and white bodies float¬ 
ing in the fluid of the blood. The red 


ones give color, and are flattish discs, 
oval in birds and reptiles, and round 
in man and most mammals. In man 
they average l-3300th inch in diame¬ 
ter, and in the Proteus, which has 
them larger than any other vertebrate, 
l-400th inch in length and l-727th in 
breadth. The white or colorless cor¬ 
puscles are the same as the lymph or 
chyle corpuscles, and are spherical or 
lenticular, nucleated, and granulated, 
and rather larger than the red globules. 

Blood, Council of, the name pop¬ 
ularly applied to the Council of Trou¬ 
bles, established by the Duke of Alva, 
in the Netherlands, in 1567. Although 
it had no charter or authority from 
any source, it was omnipotent and 
superseded all other authorities. In 
the first three months alone its vic¬ 
tims numbered 1,800, and soon there 
was hardly a Protestant house in the 
Netherlands that had not furnished a 
victim. 

Blood-liound, a variety of hound 
or dog, so called from the ability which 
it possesses to trace a wounded animal 
by the smell of any drops of blood 
which may have fallen from it. 

Blood Indians, a tribe of North 
American Indians of the Siksika Con¬ 
federacy, dwelling in the Northwest 
Territories of Canada; known also as 
Kino Indians. 

Blood Poisoning, a name loosely 
used of pyaemia and allied diseases. 

Blood-vessels, the tubes or ves¬ 
sels in which the blood circulates. 
They are divided into two classes— 
arteries and veins—which have two 
points of union or connection— the 
first in the heart, from which they 
both originate, and the other in the 
minute vessels or network in- which 
they terminate. 

Bloody Assizes, the name given 

by the people to those courts which 
were held in England by the infamous 
Judge Jeffreys, in 1685, after the sup¬ 
pression of the Duke of Monmouth’s 
rebellion. Upward of 300 persons were 
executed after short trials; very many 
were whipped, imprisoned and fined; 
and nearly 1,000 were sent as slaves 
to the American plantations, some of 
whom established families. 

Bloody Falls, the lowest cataract 
of the Copper Mine river in the North- 




Bloody Mary 


Blow Fly 


west Territories of Canada; so named 
because of a massacre here of Eski¬ 
mos by Chippewa Indians, in 1770. 

Bloody Mary, an epithet popular¬ 
ly applied to Mary, Queen of Eng¬ 
land, on account of the persecutions 
of the Protestants during her reign. 

Bloom, a lump of puddled iron, 
which leaves the furnace in a rough 
state. 

Bloomer, Amelia Jenks, an 

American reformer, born in Homer, 
N. Y., May 27, 1818; was married in 
1840 to Dexter C. Bloomer, of Seneca 
Falls, N. Y., where for several years, 
she and her husband were engaged in 
publishing a semi-monthly periodical. 
She will be remembered longest 
because of her personal adoption and 
her active advocacy of a costume of 
a short skirt and Turkish trousers, 
which had been devised by Mrs. Eliza¬ 
beth Smith Miller, and which became 
more popularly known as the Bloomer 
costume. She died in Council Bluffs, 
la.. Dec. 30, 1894. 

Bloomfield, Maurice, an Ameri¬ 
can educator, born in Bielitz, Aus¬ 
tria, Feb. 23, 1855; came to the 
United States in 1857; entered the 
University of Chicago, and was grad¬ 
uated at Furman University, in 
Greenville, S. C., in 1877; took a 
course in Sanskrit and comparative 
philology in Yale College, in 1877- 
1878; and was a fellow of Johns Hop¬ 
kins University in 1878-1879. He 
continued his studies in Berlin and 
Leipsic, in 1879-1881; became an As¬ 
sociate in Johns Hopkins University 
in 1881; and subsequently Professor 
of Sanskrit and Comparative Philolo¬ 
gy there. 

Blouet, Paul (Max O’Bell), a 
French lecturer and author, born in 
Brittany, France, March 2, 1848. 

During his early life he was an officer 
of cavalry in the French army, but 
in 1873 went to England and became 
a teacher. After the publication of 
his first book, “ John Bull and His 
Island” (1883), he abandoned teach¬ 
ing and devoted himself to literature. 
He made several lecturing tours of 
the United States. Died in Paris, 
June, 1903. 

Blouut, James H., an American 
legislator, born in Macon, Ga., Sept. 
12, 1837. He made his first appear¬ 


ance in public affairs in 1872, when 
he was elected to Congress from the 
Sixth District of Georgia. He held 
his seat by successive re-elections till 
1893, when he declined a further 
term. As he finished his last term the 
House paid him the unusual honor of 
suspending its proceedings to give 
the members an opportunity to testify 
to their appreciation of his worth. In 
his last term he was Chairman of the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and his 
familiarity with American relations 
with other countries led President 
Cleveland to appoint him a Special 
Commissioner to Hawaii in March, 
1893, for the purpose of investigating 
the deposition of the royal government 
and the establishment of the Ameri¬ 
can protectorate over the kingdom. On 
his arrival in Honolulu he at once 
caused the American flag to be hauled 
down from the Provisional Govern¬ 
ment House, and the United States 
marines to be withdrawn from the 
locality. This proceeding led to con¬ 
siderable excitement in the United 
States; the withdrawal of United 
States Minister Stevens from Hono¬ 
lulu ; the appointment of Commission¬ 
er Blount as his successor; and a 
renewal both in Washington and Hon¬ 
olulu of the agitation for the annexa¬ 
tion of Hawaii to the United States. 
On the completion of his mission Min¬ 
ister Blount resumed private practice 
at his home. Died March 6, 1903. 



BLOW-FLY. 

Blow Fly, the name popularly 
given to such two winged flies as de¬ 
posit eggs in the flesh of animals, 
thus making tumors arise. Several 
species of musca do this, so do breeze 
flies, etc. 




Blucher 


Blowing Machine 


Blowing Machine, an apparatus 
for producing an air blast for metal¬ 
lurgical purposes. 

Blowitz, Henry Georges Steph- 
ane Adolphe Opper de, a French 
journalist, born in Pilsen, Austria, 
Sept. 28, 1832; settled in France; was 
successively appointed Professor of 
German in the Lycee of Tours and at 
Limoges, Poitiers, and Marseilles; 
was naturalized a French citizen in 
1870; and became the Paris corre¬ 
spondent of the London “ Times ” in 
1871. He died January 19, 1903. 

Blowpipe, a small instrument 
used in the arts for glass blowing and 
soldering metals, and in analytical 
chemistry and mineralogy, for de¬ 
termining the nature of substances by 
the action of an intense and continu¬ 
ous heat. Its utility depends on the 
fact, that when a jet of air or oxygen 
is thrown into a flame, the rapidity of 
combustion is increased, while the ef¬ 
fects are concentrated by diminishing 
the extent or space originally occu¬ 
pied by the flame. 

Blowpipe, a kind of weapon much 
used by some of the Indian tribes of 
South America, both in war and for 
killing game. It consists of a long, 
straight tube, in which a small poi¬ 
soned arrow is placed, and forcibly 
expelled by the breath. 

Blubber, the fat of whales and 
other large sea animals, from which 
train oil is obtained. The blubber 
lies under the skin and over the mus¬ 
cular flesh. It is eaten by the Eski¬ 
mos and the seacoast races of the 
Japanese Islands, the Kuriles, etc. 
The whole quantity yielded by one 
whale ordinarily amounts to 40 or 50, 
but sometimes to 80 or more hundred 
weights. 

Blucber, Gebbard Leberecht 

▼on, a distinguished Prussian Gen¬ 
eral, born at Rostock, Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin, Dec. 16, 1742. He entered 
the Swedish service when 14 years of 
age and fought against the Prussians, 
but was taken prisoner in his first 
campaign, and was induced to enter 
the Prussian service. Discontented at 
the promotion of another officer over 
his head, he left the army, devoted 
himself to agriculture, and by indus¬ 
try and prudence acquired an estate. 
After the death of Frederick II. he 


became a Major in his former regi¬ 
ment, which he commanded with dis¬ 
tinction on the Rhine in 1793 and 
1794. After the battle of Kirrweiler 
in 1794 he was appointed Major-Gen¬ 
eral of the Army of Observation sta¬ 
tioned on the Lower Rhine. In 1802, 
in the name of the King of Prussia, 
he took possession of Erfurt and 
Muhlhausen. Oct. 14, 1806, he fought 
at the battle of Auerstadt. After the 
Peace of Tilsit he served in the De¬ 
partment of War at Konigsberg and 
Berlin. He then received the chief 
military command in Pomerania, but 
at the instigation of Napoleon was 
afterward, with several other distin¬ 
guished men, dismissed from the ser¬ 
vice. In the campaign of 1812, when 
the Prussians assisted the French, he 
took no part; but no sooner did Prus¬ 
sia rise against her oppressors than 
Blucher, then 70 years old, engaged 
in the cause with all his former activ¬ 
ity, and was appointed commander-in- 
chief of the Prussians, and the Rus¬ 
sian corps under General Winzinger- 
ode. His heroism in the battle of 
Lutzen (May 2, 1813), was rewarded 
by the Emperor Alexander with the 
Order of St. George. The battles of 
Bautzen and Hanau, those on the 
Ivatzbach and Leipsic, added to his 
glory. He was now raised to the rank 
of Field-Marshal, and led the Prus¬ 
sian army which invaded France early 
in 1814. After a period of obstinate 
conflict the day of Montmartre 
crowned this campaign, and, March 
31, Blucher entered the capital of 
France. His King, in remembrance 
of the victory which he had grained at 
the Katzbach, created him Prince of 
Wahlstadt, and gave him an estate 
in Silesia. On the renewal of the 
war in 1815 the chief command was 
again committed to him, and he led 
his army into the Netherlands. June 
15 Napoleon threw himself upon him, 
and Blucher, on the 16th, was de¬ 
feated at Ligny. In this engagement 
his horse was killed, and he was 
thrown under his body. In the battle 
of the 18th Blucher arrived at the 
most decisive moment upon the 
ground, and taking Napoleon in the 
rear and flank assisted materially in 
completing the great victory of Belle 
Alliance or Waterloo. He was a 
rough and fearless soldier, noted for 




Blue 


Blue Laws 


his energy and rapid movements, 
which had procured him the name of 
Marshal Vorwarts (Forward). He 
died at Krieblowitz, Silesia, Sept. 12, 

1819. 

Blue, one of the seven colors into 
which the rays of light divide them¬ 
selves when refracted through a glass 
prism, seen in nature in the clear ex¬ 
panse of the heavens; also a dye or 
pigment of this hue. 

Blue, Victor, an American naval 
officer, born in Marion, S. C., Dec. 6, 
1865; entered the United States Naval 
Academy in 18S3; was commissioned 
a passed naval cadet in 1887; trans¬ 
ferred to the Engineer Corps in 1889, 
and promoted to Ensign, Dec. 12, 
1892. After serving on the “ Alli¬ 
ance ” and “ Thetis ” he was assigned 
to duty at the Naval Academy in 
1896, and early in 1898 was promoted 
to Lieutenant, junior grade. Soon 
after the declaration of war against 
Spain he was promoted to full Lieu¬ 
tenant. He traversed the enemy’s 
lines during the bombardment of San¬ 
tiago de Cuba in the Spanish-Ameri- 
can War, and reported the location of 
Cervera’s vessels. 

Blue Beard, the name of the 
blood thirsty husband in the familiar 
tale of “ Blue Beard,” best described 
in Perrault’s “Tales” (1697). The 
original of this monstrous personage 
was a character celebrated in Breton 
legend, Gilles de Laval, Baron de Retz 
1396-1440), famous in the wars of 
harles VII. According to tradition 
he used to entice the children of peas¬ 
ants into his castle, and there sacri¬ 
fice them to the Devil and practice 
sorcery with their remains. After 14 
years of such a course he grew so bold 
that his crimes were discovered, and 
a heap of children’s bones found in 
his castle. He was condemned to 
death, strangled, and his corpse 
burned at the stake at Nantes in 
1440. Another Breton legend repre¬ 
sents de Retz with a red beard aboilt 
to marry a beautiful girl after haying 
already made away with seven wives. 
The bride expostulates at the altar. 
De Retz offers her fine clothes, cas¬ 
tles, all his possessions, finally his 
body and soul. “ I accept! ” shrieks 
the bride, turning into a blue devil 
and making a sign which transforms 
de Retz’s beard from red to blue. 

E.20. 


Henceforth he belonged to Hell, and 
became the dread of the country 
round, under the name of Blue Beard. 

Blue Berry, a name given in the 
United States to the genus vaccinium, 
that which contains the bilberry, 
called in Scotland the blae berry. 

Blue Bird, a beautiful bird. Its 
whole upper parts are sky blue, shot 
with purple, with its throat, neck, 
breast, and sides reddish chestnut, and 
part of its wings and its tail feathers 
black. 

Blue Book, a printed volume, is¬ 
sued by authority of the British Par¬ 
liament containing a report. 

Blue Bottle, a two-winged fly, the 
body of which has some faint resem¬ 
blance to a bottle of blue glass. 

Bluefields, town, seaport, and cap¬ 
ital of the former Mosquito Indian 
Reservation; now the Department of 
Zelaya, Nicaragua, on the Atlantic 
coast near the mouth of the Bluefields 
river, and 165 miles E. of Managua. 
The reservation lies along the Atlan¬ 
tic coast extending S. almost to Gray- 
town, one of the termini of the pro¬ 
jected Nicaragua canal. 

Blue Fish, a species of coryphsena 
found in the Atlantic; also, a fish like 
a mackerel but larger, found on the 
Atlantic coast, and sometimes called 
horse mackerel and salt water tailor. 

Blue Grass, a grass cultivated for 
pasturage in Northern and Central 
Kentucky, deriving its name from the 
underlying strata of blue limestone 
which gives it a luxuriant growth. 

Blue Hen State, a sobriquet for 
the State of Delaware. During the 
War for Independence, a certain pop¬ 
ular officer of Delaware, named Cap¬ 
tain Caldwell, asserted that a game 
cock to be unconquerable must be 
“ a blue hen’s chicken.” This name 
was at once applied to his regiment 
and later to the State and its people. 

Blue Jay, a common North Amer¬ 
ican bird of the crow family, and oc¬ 
cupying in the New World the place 
held by the jays of the Old. 

Blue Laws, a name given to cer¬ 
tain rulings or decisions of colonial 
magistrates reported by Rev. Samuel 
A. Peters, a Church of England cler¬ 
gyman, of Connecticut, as the actual 
laws of the Now Haven colony. 




Blue Monday 


Blunt 


Though one of them forbade a woman 
to kiss her child on the Sabbath or a 
fast day, and another provided in what 
fashion men should cut their hair, 
they have been soberly accepted by 
great numbers of people as actually 
enacted laws, illustrative of Puritan 
illiberality. They appear in Peters’ 
“ General History of Connecticut,” 
and were evidently a somewhat spite¬ 
ful satire upon the Puritan legislation, 
which contained many statutes con¬ 
cerning Sabbath observances and the 
vices of drinking and gambling that 
would now be deemed inquisitorial. 
The term is generally applied to any 
law one does not like that affects per¬ 
sonal habits. 

Blue Monday, in Bavaria and 
some other parts of Europe, a name 
formerly given to the Monday before 
Lent, when the churches were deco¬ 
rated with blue. It was kept as a 
holiday by classes whose ordinary avo¬ 
cation required them to labor on Sun¬ 
days. As this led to violent disturb¬ 
ances the custom was legally abol¬ 
ished. 

Blue Mountains, a beautiful 
wooded range of mountains in Oregon, 
from 8,000 to 9,000 feet high, which, 
with the Powder River Mountains, 
separate the Columbia valley from the 
Great Basin. 

Blue Mountains, the central 
mountain range of Jamaica, the main 
ridges of which are from 6,000 to 
8,000 feet high. 

Blue Point, the S. extremity of 
Patchogue Bay, Long Island, N. Y., 
which lends its name to the well 
known oysters — blue points. 

Blue Print Paper, paper sensi¬ 
tized by potassium ferricyanide and 
citric acid; used for making blue 
print photographs and print plans, 
mechanical drawings, etc., giving 
white lines on blue ground. 

Blue Ridge, the most easterly 
range of the Alleghany Mountains. It 
forms the continuation of the chain 
called South Mountain in Pennsylva¬ 
nia and Maryland. It is known as the 
Blue Ridge till it crosses the James 
river; thence to North Carolina as Al¬ 
leghany Mountains ; and in North Car¬ 
olina again as Blue Ridge. 

Blue Stockings, a literary wom¬ 
an, generally with the imputation that 


she is more or less pedantic. Boswell, 
in his “ Life of Johnson,” states that 
in his day there were certain meet¬ 
ings held by ladies to afford them op¬ 
portunity of holding converse with 
eminent literary men. The most dis¬ 
tinguished talker at these gatherings 
was a Mr. Stillingfleet, who always 
wore blue stockings. His absence was 
so felt that the remark became com¬ 
mon, “We can do nothing without 
the blue stockings.” Hence the meet¬ 
ings at which he figured began to be 
called sportively Blue Stocking Clubs, 
and those who frequented them blue 
stockings. 

Blum, Robert, a German Liberal 
leader, born in very humble circum¬ 
stances at Cologne, Nov. 10, 1807; 
was secretary and treasurer of a thea¬ 
ter at Cologne, and subsequently at 
Leipsic, until 1847, when he estab-^ 
lished himself as bookseller and pub-” 
lisher. His leisure was devoted to 
literature and politics, and in 1840 he 
founded at Leipsic the Schiller So¬ 
ciety, which celebrated the poet’s an¬ 
niversary, as a festival in honor of 
political liberty. When the revolu¬ 
tionary movement broke out in 1848, 
he was one of its foremost leaders. 
At Vienna he joined the insurgents, 
was arrested, and was shot on Nov. 9. 

Blumenbach, Johann Fried- 
Rich, a German naturalist, born in 
Gotha, May 11, 1752. He advocated 
the doctrine of the unity of the human 
species, which he divided into five va¬ 
rieties, Caucasian, Mongolian, Negro, 
American, and Malay. His anthrop¬ 
ological treatises, and memoirs 'of his 
life by Marx and Flourens, were 
translated into English. He died in 
Gottingen, Jan. 22, 1840. 

Blunderbuss, a short gun, unri¬ 
fled and of large bore, widening 
toward the muzzle. It is by no means 
to, be ranked with arms of precision, 
but is loaded with many balls or slugs, 
which scatter when fired, so that there 
is a certainty of some one of them hit¬ 
ting the mark. 

Blunt, Edmund March, an 

American author, born in Ports¬ 
mouth, N. H., June 20, 1770; was 
noted for his publication of the 
“American Coast Pilot” (1796), de¬ 
scribing all the coasts of the United 
States, and containing a vast amount 






Blunt 


Boardman 


of invaluable information for seamen. 
More than 30 editions of this work 
have been published, and it is still in 
use in the United States and the prin¬ 
cipal European countries, having been 
translated into nearly every foreign 
language. He also compiled a num¬ 
ber of nautical books and charts. He 
died in Sing Sing, N. Y., Jan. 2, 1862. 

Blunt, George William, an 
American hydrographer, born in New- 
buryport, Mass., March 11, 1802; a 
son of Edmund March Blunt. He 
went to sea when 14 years old and 
served as a sailor till nearly 21; and 
in 1822-1866 was a publisher of 
charts and nautical books in New 
York. He made original surveys of 
many American harbors; was one of 
the committee that organized the pres¬ 
ent system of pilotage for New York 
city; made several revisions of the 
“ American Coast Pilotand was in¬ 
fluential in causing the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment to adopt the French system 
of lighthouses and to organize the 
Lighthouse Board. He died in New 
York city, April 19, 1878. 

Blunt, Stanhope English, an 
American military officer; born in 
Boston, Mass., Sept. 29, 1850; was 
graduated at the United States Mili¬ 
tary Academy and commissioned '2d 
lieutenant in 1872. He rose through 
the ranks to major in the ordnance 
department. 

Blushing, a sudden reddening of 
the skin, induced by various mental 
states, particularly those involving 
shame or humiliation, shyness or mod¬ 
esty. 

Blyden, Edward Wilmot, a ne¬ 
gro author, born at St. Thomas, W. 
I., Aug. 3, 1832. After vainly seek¬ 
ing, in 1845, admission to some col¬ 
lege in the United States, he went to 
Liberia, and graduated at the Alex¬ 
ander High School, of which he after¬ 
ward became principal. In 1880 he 
became President of Liberia College, 
has held important government posi¬ 
tions, and was commissioner to the 
Presbyterian General Assembly of the 
United States in 1861 and 1880. 

Blythe, Herbert (better known as 
Maurice Barrymore), an American 
actor; born in * India in 1847; was 
graduated at Cambridge University, 
England; studied for the civil service; 


was admitted to the bar but did not 
practise this profession, giving it up 
for the stage. 

Boa, the name of a genus of rep¬ 
tiles belonging to Cuvier’s tribe of 
serpents proper. 

The species properly belonging to 
this genus are among the largest of 
the serpent tribe, some of them, when 
full grown, being 30, and even 40 feet 
long. Though destitute of fangs and 
venom, nature has endowed them 
with a degree of muscular power 
which renders them terrible. Hap¬ 
pily, they are not common in situa¬ 
tions much frequented by mankind, 
but are chiefly found in the vast 
marshy regions of Guiana and other 
hot parts of the American continent. 

Boabdil (properly Abu-Abdallah, 
and nicknamed Ez-Zogoiby, “ the un¬ 
lucky”), the last Moorish King of 
Granada, dethroned his father, Abu-I- 
Hasan, in 1481, and two years later 
was defeated and taken prisoner by the 
Castilians near Lucena. He was set 
free on condition of paying tribute, 
and returned to Granada to struggle 
with his father and with his heroic 
uncle, Bz-Zaghal, for the throne. 
Going to Africa, he there flung away 
his life in battle. 

Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni, in 
Britain, during the reign of Nero. 
Having been treated in the most igno¬ 
minious manner by the Romans, she 
headed a general insurrection of the 
Britons, attacked the Roman settle¬ 
ments, reduced London to ashes, and 
put to the sword all strangers to the 
number of 70,000. Suetonius, the 
Roman general, defeated her in a de¬ 
cisive battle (a. d. 62), and Boadicea, 
rather than fall into the hands of her 
enemies, put an end to her own life by 
poison. 

Boanerges, a Greek word trans¬ 
lated in Mark iii: 17, “ sons of thun¬ 
der.” It is of doubtful etymology, 
but is probably the Aramaic pronun¬ 
ciation of Hebrew beni regesh, regesh 
in Hebrew meaning tumult or uproar, 
but in Arabic and Aramaean thunder. 
It is an appellation given by Christ 
to two of His disciples, the brothers 
James and John, apparently on ac¬ 
count of their fiery zeal. 

Boardman, George Dana, an 
American missionary, born in Liver- 






Boardman 


Bock 


more, Me., Feb. 8, 1801. He studied 
at Andover and was ordained in the 
Baptist Church. In 1825 he went to 
Burma, where he labored assiduously 
in spreading Christianity. The mis¬ 
sion planted by him became the cen¬ 
tral point of all Baptist missions in 
Burma. He died in Burma, Feb. 11, 
1831. 

Boardman, George Dana, an 

American clergyman and author, 
born in Tavoy, British Burma, Aug. 
18, 1828; son of the American Bap¬ 
tist missionary of the same name. He 
was educated in the United States, 
graduating at Brown University in 
1852, and at Newton Theological In¬ 
stitution in 1855. He became pastor 
at Barnwell, S. C.; afterward at 
Rochester, N. Y., till 1864, when he 
became pastor of the First Baptist 
Church in Philadelphia. 

Boardman, Rickard, an English 
missionary, born in 1738. He became 
a member of Wesley’s conference in 
1763, and volunteered for service in 
America in 1769. He preached in 
New York and through the Middle 
States till 1774, and then, returning 
to England, continued his itinerant 
ministry. He is known as one of the 
founders of Methodism in the United 
States. He died in Cork, Ireland, Oct. 
4, 1782. 

Boas, Franz, a German ethnolo¬ 
gist, born in Minden, Westphalia, 
July 9, 1858; studied at Heidelberg, 
Bonn, and Kiel Universities, in 1877- 
1882; traveled in the Arctic regions 
in 1883-1884; was assistant in the 
Royal Ethnographical Museum in 
Berlin, and privat docent in geogra¬ 
phy at the University in 1885-1886; 
and teacher of anthropology in Clark 
University, Worcester, Mass., in 
1888-1892 

Boat Bill, the English name of 
a genus of birds belonging to the true 
herons. The bill, from which the 
English name comes, is very broad 
from right to left, and looks as if 
formed by two spoons applied to each 
other on their concave sides. It in¬ 
habits the hot and humid parts of 
South America. 

Boatswain, an officer on board 
a ship, whose function it is to take 
charge of the rigging, cables, cordage, 
anchors, sails, boats, flags and stores. 


Pie must inspect the rigging every 
morning and keep it in good repair; 
and must either by himself or by dep¬ 
uty steer the life boat. If on a ship 
of war he must call the men to their 
duty by means of a silver whistle given 
him for the purpose; besides taking 
into custody those condemned by a 
court martial, and, either by himself 
or by deputy, inflict on them the pun¬ 
ishment awarded. 

Boaz, a Bethlehemite of means, 
who took upon himself the duty of 
providing for Ruth, as the near rela¬ 
tion of her dead husband’s family. 
From him Jesus Christ was directly 
descended. 

Bobbin, a reel or other similar 
contrivance for holding thread. 

Bobbin Net, a machine made cot¬ 
ton net, originally imitated from the 
lace made by means of a pillow and. 
bobbins. 

Bobolina, a Greek woman, cele¬ 
brated for her courage in aid of the 
Greek revolt. After her husband had 
been slain by the Turks in 1812, she 
resolved to avenge his death. In 1821, 
she equipped three vessels at her own 
expense, fought with extraordinary 
courage at Tripolitiza and Naupha 
and was killed in action, in 1825. 

Bob-o-link, Boblink, Reed 
Bird, or Rice Bird, a common 
American bird found from Paraguay 
to Canada, the only one of its kind, 
and that difficult to classify. Some 
place it near the Baltimore bird, 
others near starlings, but both the 
characteristics and the character of 
the bob-o-link exhibit much that is 
unique. 

The name — originally Bob Lin¬ 
coln — is an imitation of the bird’s 
note. In song, the full throated male 
bob-o-link is unique, rivaling the lark, 
inimitable by the mocking bird. 

Bob White, popular name of a 
small game bird of the United States, 
given because of its peculiar call. In 
the Northern States it is known as 
Quail, and in the Southern as Part¬ 
ridge. 

Boccaccio, Giovanni, an Italian 

novelist and poet, son of a Florentine 
merchant, born in 1313; died in Cer- 
taldo, in 1375. 

Bock, Karl Ernst, a German 
anatomist, born in 1809; died in 





Bock Beer 


Bog 


1847. His title to fame rests chiefly 
on his “ Handbook of Human Anat¬ 
omy.” 

Bock Beer. (See Beer). 

Bode, John Elert, German astron¬ 
omer, bom 1747, died 1826. His best 
works are his Astronomical Almanac 
and his large Celestial Atlas (Him- 
melsatlas), giving a catalogue of 17,- 
240 stars (12,000 more than in any 
former chart).— Bode’s Law is the 
name given to an arithmetical formula, 
previously made known by Kepler and 
Titius of Wittenberg, expressing ap¬ 
proximately the distances of the plan¬ 
ets from the sun. It assumes the se¬ 
ries 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, etc., each 
term after the second being double the 
proceeding term ; to each term 4 is add¬ 
ed, producing the series 4, 7, 10, 14, 28, 
56, 100, etc. These numbers are, with 
the exception of 28, roughly propor¬ 
tional to the distances between the 
planets and the sun. The law has no 
theoretical foundation. 

Bodin, Jean, a French political 
writer; born in 1530, or 1529. His 
great work “ De la Republique ” 
(1576) has been characterized as the 
ablest and most remarkable treatise 
on the philosophy of government and 
legislation produced from the time of 
Aristotle to that of Montesquieu. Ac¬ 
cording to his view, the best form of 
government is a limited monarchy. 
He died in Laon in 1596. 

Bodleian, or Bodleyan, Libra¬ 
ry, a library founded at Oxford, Eng¬ 
land, by Sir Thomas Bodley, in 1597. 
All members of Oxford University who 
have taken a degree are allowed to 
road in it, as are literary men of all 
countries. 

Bodmer, Georg, a Swiss inven¬ 
tor, born in Zurich, Dec. 6, 1786. He 
invented the screw and cross wheels; 
and made valuable improvements in 
fire arms and in various kinds of ma¬ 
chinery, particularly in that of wool 
spinning. He died in Zurich, May 26, 
1864. 

Bodmer, Johann Jakob, a Swiss 
literary critic, born near Zurich, July 
19, 1698; was the first to make Eng¬ 
lish literature known in Germany; 
and wrote dramas, and epics. He was 
leader of the movement which released 
German literature from French clas¬ 
sicism. He died Jan. 2, 1783. 


Boece, or Boyce, Hector, a Scot¬ 
tish historian, born in Dundee about 
1465; died in 1536. 

Boehm, Sir Joseph Edgar, a 

British sculptor, born in Vienna, July 
6, 1834. He executed busts of Glad¬ 
stone, John Bright, John Ruskin, etc., 
and designed the effigy of Queen Vic¬ 
toria for the coinage commemorative 
of the 50th year of her reign. He 
died in London, Dec. 12, 1890. 

Boehme, Jacob, a German mysti¬ 
cal writer, born in 1575. A sect, tak¬ 
ing their name from Boehme, was 
formed in England. He died in 1624. 

Boeotia, a division of ancient 
Greece, lying between Attica and 
Phocis, and bounded E. and W. by the 
Euboean Sea and the Corinthian Gulf 
respectively, had an area of about 
1,100 miles square miles. Along with 
Attica, Boeotia now forms one of the 
nomes of the Kingdom of Greece, with 
a population of about 57,000. 

Boerhaave, Hermann, a cele¬ 
brated Dutch physician, one of the 
most influential medical authorities 
living in the 18th century; born in 
Woorhout, near Leyden, Dec. 12, 1668. 
He died Sept 23, 1738. 

Boers (Dutch, boer, a peasant or 
husbandman), the name commonly ap¬ 
plied to the South African colonists of 
Dutch descent. 

Boethus, a Greek sculptor, born 
in Chalcedon in the 2d century b. c. 
He is celebrated for his statues of 
children. 

Boethins, Anicius Manlius Se¬ 
verinus, a Roman statesman and 
philosopher, called “ the last of the 
classic writers ”; born in Rome or 
Milan, of an ancient family, about 
a. d. 470; was educated in Rome, in 
a manner well calculated to develop 
his extraordinary abilities. Theodoric, 
King of the Ostrogoths, then master 
of Italy, loaded him with marks of 
favor and esteem, and raised him to 
the first offices in the empire. 

Later, however, he was accused of a 
treasonable correspondence with the 
court of Constantinople. He was ar¬ 
rested, imprisoned, and executed A. d. 
524 or 526. 

Bog, a piece of wet, soft, and 
spongy ground, where the soil is com¬ 
posed mainly of decaying and decayed 
vegetable matter. Such ground is 




Bogardus 


Bohemia 


valueless for agriculture until reclaim¬ 
ed, but often yields abundance of peat 
for fuel. 

Bogardus, Everardus, a minis¬ 
ter of the Dutch Reformed Church 
in New Amsterdam, now New York; 
husband of Anneke Jans. The latter 
owned a farm of 60 acres, comprising 
now one of the most valuable sections 
of New York city. The Bogardus 
heirs have for many years endeavored 
unsuccessfully, to recover this proper¬ 
ty, which is held by the corporation 
of Trinity Church. He died Sept. 27, 
1647. 

Bogardus, James, an American 
inventor, born in Catskill, N. Y., 
March 14, 1800; was apprenticed to a 
watchmaker, and early showed the 
bent of his mind by improvements in 
the construction of eight-day clocks, 
and by the invention of a delicate en¬ 
graving machine. The dry gas meter 
is his invention, as is also the trans¬ 
fer machine to produce bank note 
plates from separate dies; and in 1839 
his plan for manufacturing postage 
stamps was accepted by the British 
Government Later he introduced 
improvements in the manufacture of 
india rubber goods, tools, and machin¬ 
ery ; and invented a pyrometer, a deep 
sea sounding machine, and a dynamo¬ 
meter. He died in New York, April 
13, 1874. 

Boggs, Cliarles Stuart, an Amer¬ 
ican naval officer, born in New Bruns¬ 
wick, N. J., Jan. 28, 1811; entered the 
navy in 1826; served on the 
“ Princeton ” in the Mexican War; 
was assigned to the gunboat “ Ya- 
runa ” in Farragut’s Gulf Squadron 
in 1861. In the attack on Forts St.' 
Philip and Jackson, in April, 1862, he 
destroyed six Confederate gunboats 
and two rams, and in the last mo¬ 
ments of the fight his own vessel was 
sunk. In 1869-1870 he served with 
the European Squadron; in the lat¬ 
ter year was promoted to Rear-Ad¬ 
miral; and in 1873 was retired. He 
died in New Brunswick, April 22, 
1888. 

Bogomiliau, a Sclavonic Chris¬ 
tian sect, founded in the 12th cen¬ 
tury by a monk called Basil. His 
tenets were akin to those of the Mani- 
cheans and of the Gnostics. He be¬ 
lieved that the human body was cre¬ 


ated by a demon cast from Heaven, 
and was burned for his heresy. 

Bogoslof Islands, a volcanic trip¬ 
let in the Aleutian chain. The first 
appeared May, 1796; the second Sept., 
1883; the third May, 1906, after the 
San Francisco earthquake. 

Bogota, capital of the United 
States of Colombia, situated within 
the limits of the province of Cundina- 
marca, on a tableland which, at an 
elevation of 8,694 feet above the sea, 
separates the basin of the Magdalena 
from that of the Orinoco. The table¬ 
land has an area of about 400 square 
miles, and is bounded on all sides by 
mountains, which, though lofty 
enough to give shelter, are yet below 
the line of perpetual snow. This ex¬ 
tensive plain — a temperate zone on 
the verge of the equator, with a salu¬ 
brious climate and an average temper¬ 
ature of 60° F. — is exceedingly fer¬ 
tile, being as rich in pasture as in 
grain. The few manufactures of the 
city include soap, leather, cloth, and 
articles made from the precious met¬ 
als. In 1800 it contained 21,464 in¬ 
habitants, and in 1821, 30,000; its 
population in 1902 was 120,000. 

Bog Spavin, an encysted tumor 
filled with gelatinous matter inside 
the hock of a horse. 

Bogue, David, one of the found¬ 
ers of the London Missionary Society, 
was born in Berwickshire, in 1750. 
Bogue also took an active part in the 
establishment of the British and For¬ 
eign Bible Society and the Religious 
Tract Society. He was on the point 
of going as a missionary to India in 
1796, when the East India Company 
refused to sanction the scheme. Bogue 
died at Brighton, Oct. 25, 1825. 

Bohemia, a former Kingdom, now 
a Province of the Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy (Austrian or Cisleithan por¬ 
tion ), bounded by Bavaria, Saxony, 
the Prussian Province of Silesia, Mora¬ 
via, and the Archduchy of Austria; 
area about 20,060 square miles, of 
which less than 1 per cent, is not till¬ 
able. Population (1900) 6,318,697, 

(over 2,000,000 Germans). The pre¬ 
vailing religion is the Roman Catholic, 
the country being an archbishopric with 
three bishoprics. The language of the 
country is the Czech dialect of the 
Slavonic in some districts, and in most 






BENDING ROLLS 




PLANER 



COMBINED SHEARING AND PUNCHING MACHINE 

MODERN PLATE WORKING MACHINERY 


RIVETING MACHINE 






































Bohlen Lectures 


Boise 


of the cities, German is spoken. Bo¬ 
hemia is surrounded on all sides by 
mountains, and has many large for¬ 
ests. Its plains are remarkably fer¬ 
tile. The chief rivers are the Elbe 
and its tributary the Moldau, which 
is even larger. 

Bohlen Lectures, a lecture course 
on a foundation of $10,000 furnished 
by John Bohlen, a lay member of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. They 
are delivered each year in Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., by eminent representatives 
of that Church. 

Bohol, one of the Philippine 
Islands, belonging to the Visayas or 
Bisayas group. It has an area of 
about 1,300 square miles and an esti¬ 
mated population (1900 ) of 245,000. 
Sugar cane is grown and the island is 
reputed rich in gold deposits. 

Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Count 
of Scandiano, one of the greater 
Italian poets, was born in 1434 at 
Scandiano, a village situated at the 
foot of the Lombard Apennines. He 
died at Reggio, in 1494. 

Boieldieu, Francois Adrien, a 
French musical composer, born in 
1775; died in 1835. 

Boies, Horace, an American law¬ 
yer, born in Aurora, Erie co., N. Y., 
Dec. 7, 1827. His opposition to the tar¬ 
iff and prohibition policy of the Re¬ 
publican Party caused him to unite 
with the Democrats; and, in 1890- 
1894, he served two terms as Governor 
of Iowa, being defeated for a third 
term in 1893. He was a conspicuous 
candidate for the presidential nomina¬ 
tion in the National Democratic Con¬ 
ventions in 1892 and 1896; and in the 
campaign of 1896 he supported Mr. 
Bryan. 

Boii, a powerful Celtic people who 
dwelt originally in Transalpine Gaul, 
part of whom settled in the modem 
Bohemia, and bequeathed their name 
to that country. 

Boil, a disease called by medical 
men furunculus. It is a phlegmonous 
tumor, which rises externally, attend¬ 
ed with redness and pain, and some¬ 
times with a violent, burning heat. 
Ultimately it becomes pointed, breaks, 
and emits pus. A substance called the 
core is next revealed. It is purulent, 
but so thick and tenacious that it 
looks solid, and may be drawn out in 


the form of a cylinder, more pus fol¬ 
lowing. The boil then heals. A 
blind boil is one which does not sup¬ 
purate. 

Boilean, Nicolas, a French poet, 
born at Paris, Nov. 1, 1636. He died 
March 13, 1711. 

Boiler, the name applied to any 
vessel or cauldron for boiling large 
quantities of liquor, but most com¬ 
monly used as the designation of a 
metallic vessel in which water is con¬ 
verted into steam by the action of 
fire, the steam being intended by its 
expansive force to give motion to a 
steam engine, or to be used for a va¬ 
riety of manufacturing purposes. 
Boilers may be subdivided into the fol¬ 
lowing clases: (a) Shell or tank 
boilers, (b) Water-tube boilers. 

Boiling, in general, the change of 
a substance from the liquid to the 
gaseous state which takes place 
throughout the liquid. The boiling 
point, in science, is the point or de¬ 
gree of the thermometer at which any 
liquid boils. 

Boisard, Francois Marie, a 

French fabulist, born in 1774; died 
in 1833. 

Bois d’Arc (sometimes corrupted 
into Bodock), also bow-wood, or os- 
age orange, a tree which is a native 
of the Southern United States. Its 
large, beautiful orange like fruits are 
scarcely eatable, but its pines make it 
useful as a hedge plant. Its wood is 
strong, and hard, and elastic, and 
hence was used by the Indians in the 
manufacture of their bows. 

Bois de Bologne, a pleasant 
grove near the gates on the W. of 
Paris, so named after the suburb Bou- 
logne-sur-Seine. 

Boise, city, capital of the State of 
Idaho, and county-seat of Ada co.; on 
the Boise river and the Union Pacific 
railroad; 45 miles S. W. of Idaho 
City. It occupies the site of a for¬ 
mer trading post of the Hudson Bay 
Company; is in an agricultural and 
a rich mining region; and is supplied 
with pure hot water from a flowing 
boiling well. The city is said to be 
the only one in the world having a 
natural supply of hot water. Pop. 
(1900 ) 5,957. 

Boise, James Robinson, an 

American educator, born in Bland- 





Boisgobey 


Bolivar 


ford, Mass., Jan. 27, 1815; died in 
Chicago, Feb. 9, 1895. 

Boisgobey, Fortune-Abraham 
du, a French novelist, born in Gran¬ 
ville, Sept. 11, 1821; died February, 
1891. 

Bok, Edward William, an Amer¬ 
ican editor; born in 1863. He edited 
the “ Ladies’ Home Journal,” and is 
a popular literary authority. 

Boker, George Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican poet and dramatist; born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 6, 1823. He 
graduated from Princeton in 1842; 
studied law; and was United States 
minister to Turkey in 1871-1875, and 
to Russia in 1875-1879. He died 
Jan. 2, 1890. 

Bokhara, a khanate of Central 
Asia, practically vassal to Russia, 
bounded on the N. by Russian Turke¬ 
stan, W. by Khiva and the Russian 
Trans-Caspian Territory, S. by Af¬ 
ghanistan, and E. by Russian Turkes¬ 
tan. It formerly occupied consider¬ 
ably more territory than it does now, 
having been reduced by the conquests 
and encroachments of Russia, which 
have been only partially compensated 
by some additions. The present area 
of the khanate is estimated at about 
80,000 square miles. The population 
is about 1,250,000. 

Bokhara, the capital of the above 
khanate, is 8 or 9 miles in circuit, and 
is surrounded by a mud wall. It is 
poorly built, consisting «of extremely 
narrow streets and paltry houses. The 
principal edifices are the palace of the 
khan, crowning a height near the cen¬ 
ter of the town and surrounded by a 
brick wall 70 feet high; and numer¬ 
ous mosques, the largest of which is 
enameled with tiles of azure blue, and 
has a tower 210 feet high. The trade 
was formerly large with India, but 
has now been almost completely ab¬ 
sorbed by Russia. The pop. is esti¬ 
mated at 75,000. 

Boldrewood, Rolf, pseudonym of 
Thomas Alexander Browne, an 
Australian author, born in England 
in 1827. 

Boleyn, Anne, second wife of 
Henry VIII. of England, was the eld¬ 
est daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, 
and Elizabeth Howard, daughter of 
the Duke of Norfolk. She was born 
according to some accounts, in 1507, 


but according to more probable ones 
about 1501. About 1522 she became 
lady of honor to Queen Catharine, 
whom she soon supplanted. The king, 
passionately enamored of her, found 
an unexpected opposition to his wishes, 
and Anne firmly declared that she 
could be had on no terms but those of 
marriage. She knew that the king 
already meditated a divorce from his 
wife, Catharine of Arragon; but she 
also knew what difficulties the Catho¬ 
lic religion opposed to the execution 
of this plan. Cranmer offered his ser¬ 
vices to bring about the accomplish¬ 
ment of the king’s wishes, and thus 
gave the first occasion to the separa¬ 
tion of England from the Roman 
Church. But the impetuous Henry 
did not wait for the ministers of this 
new religion to confirm his divorce; 
on the contrary, he married Anne in 
January, 1533, having previously 
created her Marchioness of Pembroke. 
Cranmer declared the first marriage 
void, and the second valid, and Anne 
was crowned queen at Westminster 
with unparalleled splendor. In 1533 
she became the mother of the famous 
Elizabeth. She could not, however, 
retain the affections of the king, as 
inconstant as he was tyrannical; and 
as she had supplanted her queen while 
lady of honor to Catharine, she was 
now supplanted herself by Jane Sey¬ 
mour, her own lady of honor. She 
was tried and condemned to death on 
false changes of infidelity, and was 
executed May 19, 1536. 

Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, 
Viscount, an English statesman and 
political writer; born in Battersea, 
near London, of an ancient family, in 
1678. He died in Battersea in 1751. 

Bolivar, Simon, an American 
military officer and statesman (named 
El Libertador, from his having res¬ 
cued Central South America from the 
Spanish yoke), born in Caracas, 
July 24, 1783. At Venezuela he en¬ 
tered upon his military career as a 
colonel in the service of the newly 
founded republic. At length, in 1821, 
the Independent troops were successful 
in the battle of Carabobo, where the 
Royalists lost upward of 6,000 men, 
and which decided the cause against 
Spain. On Aug. 20 of the same year 
a Republican Constitution was adopt¬ 
ed, and decreed to continue, as then 




Bolivia 


Bolo 


defined, till 1834. Bolivar was chosen 
President, and he turned his attention 
to the internal administration of the 
country. In 1823 he assisted the Pe¬ 
ruvians to obtain their independence, 
and was declared their liberator, and 
invested with supreme authority. On 
Feb. 10, 1825, however, he convoked a 
Congress, and resigned his dictator¬ 
ship. He now visited the Upper Prov¬ 
inces of Peru, which, calling a con¬ 
vention at Chuquisaca, gave the name 
of Bolivia to their country, in honor 
of their liberator, and appointed him 
Perpetual Protector, and to draw up 
a constitution. On May 25, 1826, he 
presented his Bolivian code to the 
Congres of Bolivia, which was after¬ 
ward adopted, with some dissatisfac¬ 
tion, however, although it was also 
subsequently adopted by the Congress 
of Lima, .where, under its provisions, 
he himself was elected President for 
life. He now set out for Colombia, 
where disaffection and party strife 
were at their height. His conduct 
here was misconstrued, and he was 
supposed to be assuming the powers 
of a dictator. In 1829 new disturb¬ 
ances arose, and, in 1830, a conven¬ 
tion was called for the purpose of 
framing a new constitution for Colom¬ 
bia. The proceedings were begun by 
Bolivar, who once more tendered his 
resignation. This was his. last act 
which had relation to public affairs. 
He died at San Pedro, near Cartha- 
gena, Dec. 17, 1830. 

Bolivia, a republic of South Amer¬ 
ica ; bounded on the N. by Pern and 
Brazil; on the E. by Brazil and Para¬ 
guay; on the S. by the Argentine Re¬ 
public and Chile; and on the W. by 
Peru and Chile; area about 515,000 
square miles since the war of 1879- 
80. The population in 1900, estimat¬ 
ed about 2,500,000. The capital and 
the largest city is La Paz ; pop. (1900) 
60,000. . , 

Agriculture is still in a backward 
condition. Wheat, maize, barley, 
beans, and potatoes are produced for 
local consumption; coffee is raised 
chiefly for export; sugar cane is 
grown for distillation; and rubber, 
cinchona, and cocoa are important 
and increasing products. Cattle, 
sheep, and llamas are extensively bred. 
Bolivia has a very large mineral 
wealth in silver, copper, tin, lead, 


zinc, antimony, bismuth, gold, borax 
and salt. In a single year the produc¬ 
tion of silver, the most valuable min¬ 
eral resource, aggregated 14,579,296 
ounces, and averages 10.000,000 ounces. 

The constitution (Oct. 28, 1880) 
vests the executive power in a Presi¬ 
dent, elected by direct popular vote, 
for a term of four years, and ineligi¬ 
ble for re-election at the end of his 
term of office. The legislative au¬ 
thority rests in a Congress, comprising 
a Senate of 18 members, elected for 
six years, and a Chamber of Deputies 
of 64 members, elected for four years. 
There are also two Vice-Presidents, 
and a Ministry divided into the De¬ 
partments of Foreign Relations and 
Worship, Finances and Industry, Gov¬ 
ernment and Colonization, Justice and 
Public Instruction, and War. The 
suffrage is possessed by all who can 
read and write. The republic is di¬ 
vided into eight departments and 
these into provinces and cantons. The 
Roman Catholic is the recognized re¬ 
ligion of the republic, and the exercise 
of other forms of worship is permit¬ 
ted. Primary instruction is free and 
nominally obligatory, and is under the 
care of the several municipalities. 

In 1879 Chile declared war against 
Bolivia. Peru came to the aid of 
the latter and the Chilians de¬ 
feated their allied opponents. As a 
result of this war Bolivia mortgaged 
to Chile the Littoral Department, 
which has an area of 29,910 square 
miles, and contains the important port 
of Antofagasta, thus losing her entire 
seacoast. 

Bollandist, pertaining to Bolland, 
a Jesuit of Tillemont, in Flanders, 
who commenced a large work, the 
“ Acta Sanctorum,” of which vol. I. 
was published in 1643. Five more 
were issued during his lifetime. After 
his death, in 1665, the work was con¬ 
tinued by Henschen, a Jesuit of Ant¬ 
werp, who died in 1682, and Pape- 
broch, also an Antwerp Jesuit, who 
died in 1714. The word is also ap¬ 
plied to the continuators of Bolland’s 
work. A new association was formed 
in 1837 under the patronage of the 
Belgian government, and the publica¬ 
tion of the “ Acta Sanctorum ” has 
been continued. 

Boll worm, the caterpillar of the 
nocturnal moth, Heliothis Armigera. 





Bolo 


Boma 


The creature feeds on almost every va¬ 
riety of vegetable and cultivated crop, 
and is known in each locality by the 
name of the plant on which it feeds, 
as the corn-worm, tobacco-worm, cot¬ 
ton-worm, etc. Its first choice is cot¬ 
ton, and then corn, and in the South 
where both crops grow it has proven 
very destructive wherever it has been 
permitted to make headway. There 
are 4 or 5 broods each year; the July 
brood attacks corn, the August brood 
eats the cotton, and the last brood con¬ 
tinues the race. It is as the cotton- 
worm that it is called boll-worm, as 
the young grub eats the unfolded boll 
or bud of the cotton plant. The gen¬ 
eral government is making strenuous 
efforts to kill the pest. 

Bolo, a short, broad, lance-shaped 
weapon; used by the Filipinos in their 



FILIPINO BOLO. 

operations against the American 
troops. The blade is about 18 inches 
in length by nearly 3 inches in 
breadth at its broadest dimension. It 


tapers from the middle toward the 
haft as well as toward the point, mak¬ 
ing it strongly resemble the ancient 
short sword. It is not double edged, 
however, but tapers from a thick back 
to an extremely keen edge. In April 
1904, the United States troops operat¬ 
ing in the Philippines, were supplied 
with bolos. 

Bologna, one of the oldest, largest 
and richest cities of Italy, capital of 
the Province of same name, in a fer¬ 
tile plain at the foot of the Apen¬ 
nines, between the rivers Reno and 
Savena, surrounded by an unfortified 
brick wall. In the 12th and 13th cen¬ 
turies it was one of the most flourish¬ 
ing of the Italian republics; but the 
feuds between the different parties of 
the nobles led to its submission to the 
papal see in 1513. Several attempts 
were made to throw off the papal yoke, 
one of which, in 1831, was for a time 
successful. In 1849 the Austrians 
obtained possession of it. In 1860 it 
was annexed to the dominions of King 
Victor Emmanuel. Population (1901) 
152,009. 

Bolognese School, an Italian 

school of painting, founded in the 14th 
century, probably by Franco. The 
great master of the school was Fran¬ 
cesco Francia, a contemporary of Ra¬ 
phael, celebrated for the purity and 
serenity of his Madonnas. 

Bolometer, a most sensitive elec¬ 
trical instrument invented by Langley 
in 1883 for the measurement of ra¬ 
diant heat. 

Bolton Abbey, a notable English 
structure in Yorkshire ; in a highly-pic- 
turesque district on the river Wharfe, 
6 miles E. of Skipton, and 21 N. W. 
of Leeds. Founded for Augustinian 
canons about 1150, it has been cele¬ 
brated by Wordsworth in “ The White 
Doe of Ryl stone ” and “ The Force of 
Prayer.” 

Bolton, Sarah Tittle, an Ameri¬ 
can poet, born in Newport, Ky., Dec. 
18, 1815. She is known for her pa¬ 
triotic and war poems, including “Pad¬ 
dle Your Own Canoe,” “Left on the 
Battlefield,” etc. She died in Indian¬ 
apolis, Ind., Aug. 4, 1893. 

Boma, city and capital of the 
Kongo Free State, on the left bank of 
the Kongo river, till 1876 was the ex¬ 
treme inland post of the Dutch and 





















Bomb 


Bombay 


Portuguese traders. It contains the 
establishment of the governor-general 
and also the local government of the 
administrative district of the same 
name. It is an important shipping 
centre with an extensive import and 
export trade. 

Bomb, in ordnance, the same as 
a bomb shell; a hollow iron ball, 
spheroid, or anything similar, filled 
with gunpowder, and provided with a 
time or percussion fuse. It is fired 
from a mortar or howitzer. 

Modern political upheavals have in¬ 
duced a traffic in packages of ex¬ 
plosives, which have been christened 
bombs. These terrific agents of de¬ 
struction have been used with murder¬ 
ous effect in the larger European cit¬ 
ies : St. Petersburg,. Madrid and 
Paris; also in Chicago. The anar¬ 
chists have regularly established fac¬ 
tories for the production of these mis¬ 
siles, in which the elements are com¬ 
bined with great nicety and scientific 
precision. The usual method of con¬ 
struction is to fill a hollow sphere 
with some high explosive together 
with pieces of scrap iron, nails, bul¬ 
lets, or anything that will wound. 

Bomba, a title popularly conferred 
upon King Ferdinand II. of Naples 
and by which he will be recorded in 
history. This appellation he received 
from the violation of his solemn oath 
to the citizens of Palermo, which city 
he perfidiously bombarded in 1840; 
thus outraging his own plighted word, 
the laws of humanity, and the consti¬ 
tutional policy he had sworn to ob¬ 
serve. 

Bombardier Beetle, a name ap¬ 
plied to many coleopterous insects. 
They are called bombardier beetles on 
account of a remarkable property they 
possess of violently expelling from the 
anus a pungent acrid fluid, which, if 
the species be large, has the power of 
producing discoloration of the skin, 
similar to that produced by nitric acid. 
It also changes blue vegetable colors 
to red, and then to yellow. Found in 
this country and the tropics. 

Bombardment, an attack with 
bombs. Specifically, the act of throw¬ 
ing shells and shot into a town, fort, 
or ship. 

Bombaz, also known as the silk 
cotton tree. The fruit is larger than 


a swan’s egg, and when ripe opens in 
five parts, displaying many roundish, 
pea-like seeds enveloped in dark cot¬ 
ton. This tree yields a gum, given in 
conjunction with spices in certain 
stages of bowel complaints. The five 
leaved silk cotton tree, rises to a great 
height. Its native country is South 
America and the adjacent West India 
Islands, where its immense trunk is 
scooped into canoes. 

Bombay, a former Presidency, new 
one of the great Provinces of British 
India. It stretches along the west of 
the Indian peninsula, and is irregular 
in its outline and surface, presenting 
mountainous tracts, low, barren hills, 
valleys, and high tablelands. It is di¬ 
vided into a Northern, a Central, and 
a Southern Division, the Sind Divi¬ 
sion, and the town and island of Bom¬ 
bay. Total area, 184,235 square 
miles; pop. (1901) 18,584,496, in¬ 

cluding the city and territory of Aden 
in Arabia, 70 square miles (pop. 44,- 
079). The native or feudatory States 
connected with the province (the chief 
being Kathiawar) have an area of 
65,761 square miles; pop. (1901) 
6,908,648. The Portuguese possess- 
sions, Goa, Daman, and Diu, geogra¬ 
phically belong to it. Many parts, 
the valleys in particular, are fertile 
and highly cultivated; other districts 
are being gradually developed by the 
construction of roads and railroads. 
The southern portions are well sup¬ 
plied with moisture, but great part of 
Sind is the most arid portion of India. 
The climate varies, being unhealthful 
in the capital, Bombay, and its vicin¬ 
ity, but at other places, such as Poo- 
nah, very favorable to Europeans. 
The chief productions of the soil are 
cotton, rice, millet, wheat, barley, 
dates, and the cocoa palm. The man¬ 
ufactures are cotton, silk, leather, etc. 
The great export is cotton. The ad¬ 
ministration is in the hands of a Gov¬ 
ernor and council. The chief source 
of revenue is the land, which is large¬ 
ly held on the rayatwar (small farmer) 
system. Revenue and expentiture 
(1902) $64,257,425 and $47,569,422. 

Bombay, the chief seaport on the 
W. coast of India, and capital of the 
Presidency of the same name; at the 
southern extremity of the island of 
Bombay; is divided into two portions, 
one known as the Fort, and formerly 





Bombazine 


Bonaparte 


surrounded with fortifications, on a 
narrow point of land with the harbor 
on the E. side and Back Bay on the 
W.; the other known as the City, a 
little to the N. W. In the Fort are 
Bombay Castle, the Government offi¬ 
ces, and almost all the merchants’ 
warehouses and offices; but most of 
the European residents live outside of 
the mercantile and native quarters of 
the city in villas or bungalows. Bom¬ 
bay has many handsome buildings, 
both public and private, as the cathe¬ 
dral, the university, the secretariat, 
the high court, the post and telegraph 
offices, etc. Various industries, such 
as dyeing, tanning, and metal work¬ 
ing, are carried on, and there are 
large cotton factories. The commerce 
is very extensive, exports and imports 
of merchandise reaching a total value 
of over $300,000,000 annually. The 
harbor is one of the largest and safest 
in India, and there are commodious 
docks. There is a large traffic with 
steam vessels between Bombay and 
Great Britain, and regular steam com¬ 
munication with China, Australia, 
Singapore, Mauritius, etc. The island 
of Bombay, which is about 11 miles 
long and 3 miles broad, was formerly 
liable to be overflowed by the sea, to 
prevent which substantial walls and 
embankments have been constructed. 
The harbor is protected by formidable 
rock batteries. After Madras, Bom¬ 
bay is the oldest of the British pos¬ 
sessions in the East, having been ceded 
by the Portuguese in 1661. Pop. 
(1901) 770,843. 

Bombazine, a mixed silk and 
woolen twilled stuff, the warp consist¬ 
ing of silk and the weft of worsted. 
Black bombazine has been much in 
use for mourning garments. 

Bomb Lance, a harpoon used in 
whale fishing which carries a charge 
of explosive material in its head. 

Bombon, a large, fresh water lake 
in Luzon, Philippine Islands, about 50 
miles S. of Manila. It is 105 square 
miles in area. There is a small 
island in the center, from which rises 
the volcano of Taal, the lowest in the 
world, its height being only 850 feet. 
The waters of the lake find an outlet 
to the sea through the Pansipit river. 

Bona Dea, a mysterious Italian 
goddess of fertility, who is variously 


described as the wife, sister, or daugh¬ 
ter of Faunus. She was worshipped 
at Rome from the most ancient times, 
but only by women, even her name 
being concealed from men. Her sanc¬ 
tuary was a grotto on Mons Aven- 
tinus; but her festival (the 1st of 
May) was celebrated in the house of 
the consul. The solemnities were per¬ 
formed generally by high born vestals. 
At this celebration, no males were al¬ 
lowed to be present; even portraits of 
men were veiled. During the celebra¬ 
tion in the house of Caesar the in¬ 
famous Clodius was discovered dis¬ 
guised as a female musician. The 
symbol of the goddess was a serpent. 

Bona Fides, literally, good faith; 
honesty, as distinguished from mala 
fides (bad faith). The law requires 
all persons in their transactions to 
act with good faith; and a contract, 
when the parties have not acted bona 
fide, is void at the pleasure of the in¬ 
nocent party. 

Bonanno, an Italian architect and 
sculptor of the 12th century. In 1174 
he commenced, with Wilhelm of Inns¬ 
bruck, the famous Leaning Tower of 
Pisa. He was also the designer of 
the celebrated bronze doors of the 
cathedral of that city, which were, all 
but one, destroyed by a conflagration 
in 1596. 

Bonaparte (pronounced in Italian 
in four syllables; in French and Eng¬ 
lish in three), the name of a famous 
family, which was spelt Buonaparte 
by the Emperor Napoleon and his 
father till 1796, though the more 
usual, modern form also occurs in old 
Italian documents. In the 13th cen¬ 
tury and afterward, several families 
named Bonaparte figure with distinc¬ 
tion in Italian records — at Florence, 
San Miniato, Sarzano, and Genoa. 
But as the nqme of Bonaparte occurs 
in Corsica as early as the 10th cen¬ 
tury, it is probable that the island 
may have been their original home. In 
the 16th century mention is again 
found of the Bonapartes in Corsica, 
where in Ajaccio they occupied a re¬ 
spectable position as a patrician or 
leading family. In the 18th century 
this family was represented by three 
male descendants, all residing at Ajac¬ 
cio : the archdeacon, Lucien Bona¬ 
parte; his brother, Napoleon Bona¬ 
parte; and his nephew, Charles. 




Bonaparte 


Bonaparte 


Charles Bonaparte, father of the 
Emperor Napoleon, was born at Ajac¬ 
cio in 1746; studied law at Pisa; and 
married, in 1767 — without the con¬ 
sent of his uncles — a beautiful young 
patrician lady, named Letizia Ramo- 
lino. He died in 1785. 

Maria Letizia Ramolino, mother 
of Napoleon I., lived to see her fam¬ 
ily placed on the thrones of Europe, 
and also witnessed their downfall. 
She was born at Ajaccio in 1750. Af¬ 
ter the death of her husband she lived 
for some time in Corsica, and in 1793, 
when the island came under British 
rule, removed with her family to Mar¬ 
seilles, where she lived in poverty, 
mainly supported by the pension given 
to Corsican refugees. After her son 
became First Consul she removed to 
Paris, and when her son was crowned 
in 1804 received the title Madame 
Mere, and was made patroness of all 
the benevolent institutions of the em¬ 
pire. A brilliant court household was 
given to her, which, however, was 
never pleasing to her modest tastes. 
Remembering former adversities, and 
foreboding reverses of the splendid 
success of her sons, she was prepared 
for all that followed. After the down¬ 
fall of Napoleon, Letizia lived with 
her stepbrother, Cardinal Fesch, in 
winter at Rome, and in summer at Al- 
bano, and submitted to her change of 
fortune with remarkable dignity. She 
died in 1836, leaving a considerable 
property, the result of saving habits 
during her prosperity. 

Joseph Bonaparte, eldest brother 
of Napoleon, was born at Corte, in 
Corsica, in 1768. After the coronation 
of Napoleon Joseph Bonaparte was 
made commander-in-chief of the army 
of Naples; in 1805, ruler of the Two 
Sicilies; and in 1806, King of Naples. 
In 1808 Joseph Bonaparte was sum¬ 
marily transferred by his brother to 
the throne of Spain, and Murat took 
his place as King of Naples. For Jo¬ 
seph, this was no favorable change; 
he found himself unprepared to cope 
with the Spanish insurgents, and after 
the defeat of the French at Vittoria in 
1813, he returned to his estate at Mor- 
fontaine, in France. After Waterloo 
Joseph sailed to the United States, 
became an American citizen, and lived 
for some years at Bordentown, N. J., 
where he employed himself in agri¬ 


culture, and was highly esteemed by 
his neighbors. In 1832 he returned to 
Europe, and he died at Florence in 
1844 

Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Ca- 
nino, and brother of Napoleon, was 
born at Ajaccio in 1775, and received 
his education in the college of Autun, 
the military school at Brienne, and 
the seminary at Aix. Lucien was a 
Republican in opinion, and, therefore, 
opposed to the absolute rule of his 
brother; and his second marriage to 
the widow of a stockbroker did not 
improve their relations. On condi¬ 
tion that he would divorce his wife, 
the crowns of Italy and Spain were 
offered him; but he refused them, and 
preferred living in retirement at his 
estate of Canino, in the Province of 
Viterbo, near the frontiers of Tus¬ 
cany, where he devoted his .time to art 
and science. Here he enjoyed the 
friendship of the Pope, who created 
him Prince of Canino and Musignano; 
but, having denounced in his private 
capacity the arrogant and cruel policy 
of his brother toward the Court of 
Rome, he was advised to leave the 
city in which he was at that period 
residing. In 1810 he took ship for 
America, but fell into the hands of 
the English. After the defeat at 
Waterloo, Lucien Bonaparte alone 
seems to have preserved his presence 
of mind. He immediately advised his 
brother to dissolve the Chambers, and 
assume the place of absolute dictator. 
After the second ascent of the throne 
by Louis XVIII., Lucien lived in and 
near Rome, and died at Viterbo in 
1840. 

Louis Bonaparte, third brother of 
Napoleon, born in 1778, was educated 
in the artillery school at Chalons, 
where he imbibed anti-Republican 
principles. After rising from one 
honor to another he was made King 
of Holland in 1806; but, in fact, was 
never more than a French Governor 
of Holland, subordinate to the will of 
his brother. Yet he seems to have 
done his best to govern in the interests 
of his Dutch subjects, and when he 
found his efforts useless, he resigned 
in favor of his son in 1810. He re¬ 
turned to Paris in 1814, where he was 
coldly received by the Emperor. * After 
living for some years in Rome — 
where he separated from his wife — 





Bonar 


Bond 


he removed in 1826 to Florence, where 
he lived in retirement. He died at 
Leghorn in 1846. 

The amiable and accomplished 
Hortense Eugenie Beauharnais, 
the adopted daughter of Napoleon, 
Queen of Holland and Countess St. 
Leu, was born at Paris in 1783. She 
became the wife of Louis Bonaparte, 
Napoleon’s third brother, and their 
son, Charles Louis Napoleon, became 
Emperor of the French as Napoleon 
the Third. She died at Arenenberg 
in 1837, and was buried near the re¬ 
mains of her mother, Josephine, at 
Ruel, near Paris. 

Jerome Bonaparte, youngest broth¬ 
er of Napoleon, was born at Ajaccio 
in 1784. After receiving his education 
in the college at Juilly, he served as 
naval lieutenant in the expedition to 
Haiti. When war broke out between 
France and England in 1803, Jerome 
was cruising off the West Indies, and 
was compelled to take refuge in the 
port of New York. While in the 
United States he married Elizabeth 
Patterson (1785-1879), daughter of a 
merchant in Baltimore. He fought in 
the war against Prussia, and in 1807 
was made King of Westphalia. His 
administration of his kingdom was 
careless, extravagant, and burdensome 
to his subjects. The battle of Leipsic 
brought the reign of Jerome to a close. 
He fought by the side of the Emperor 
at Waterloo. After his brother’s ab¬ 
dication he left Paris and visited 
Switzerland and Austria, but ulti¬ 
mately settled in Florence. At the 
outbreak of the February Revolution 
(1848), Jerome Bonaparte was in 
Paris, where he was appointed Gover¬ 
nor of the Invalides, and in 1850 was 
made a French marshal. He died in 
1860. 

His marriage with Elizabeth Patter¬ 
son having been declared null by Na- 
oleon, Jerome was forced, after he 
ad gained the Westphalian crown, to 
marry Catharine, daughter of King 
Frederick I. of Wurtemberg. After 
the battle of Waterloo, her father 
wished to annul the marriage; but 
she declared her resolution to share 
through life the fortunes of her hus¬ 
band. Jerome Bonaparte left in the 
United States one son, Jerome Na¬ 
poleon (1805-1870), by his first mar¬ 
riage, who was a wealthy resident, 


though he never became a naturalized 
citizen. He left two sons, (1) Jerome 
Napoleon Bonaparte, born in Balti¬ 
more, in 1832. He served with credit 
in the United States and French ar¬ 
mies. (2) Charles Joseph Bona¬ 
parte, b. Baltimore, 1851; graduated 
in law at Harvard; became a promi¬ 
nent public man ; U. S. Sec. of Navy 
1905; and in 1906 U. S. Atty. Gen. 
By his second wife, Jerome Bonaparte 
had three children. Of the Emperor 
Napoleon I. and his brothers, Joseph 
and Louis, male issue is now extinct. 
The Emperor’s brothers, Lucien and 
Jerome, are represented by living de¬ 
scendants. (See Napoleon). 

Bonar, Horatius, a celebrated 
Scotch hymnist, born in Edinburgh, 
Dec. 19, 1808; wrote “ Hymns of 
Faith and Hope,” many of which have 
been taken into the hymnals of most 
of the Protestant Churches. He also 
wrote more than 20 volumes on theo¬ 
logical and religious subjects. He died 
July 31, 1889. 

Bonaventura, St., an Italian 

friar of the Order of St. Francis, born 
in Tuscany in 1221. He died July 
15, 1274, from sheer ascetic exhaus¬ 
tion. 

Bona Vista, a bay, cape, and town 
on the E. coast of Newfoundland. The 
town is a port of entry, and one of 
the oldest settlements in the island. 

Bonckamp, Charles, Marquis 
de, a Vendean leader, was born in 
Anjou, May 10, 1760. He served as 
a volunteer in the American Revolu¬ 
tionary War, and was a captain in 
the French army at the outbreak of 
the French Revolution. A strong 
Royalist, he naturally disliked the 
Revolution, and consequently lived in 
retirement until chosen leader of the 
Anjou insurgents. In the encounter 
at Cholet, Oct. 17, 1793, Bonchamp 
received a fatal shot in the breast, 
and when his followers vowed to re¬ 
venge his death on 5,000 Republican 
prisoners, the dying hero exclaimed: 
“ Spare your prisoners. I command 
it! ” This, his last command, was 
obeyed. 

Bond, a written acknowledgment 
or binding of a debt under seal. The 
person who gives the bond is called 
the obligor, and he to whom it is 
given the obligee. 




Bond 


Bone Manure 


Bond, in masonry, a stone or brick 
which is laid with its length across a 
wall, or extends through the facing 
course into that behind, so as to bind 
the facing to the backing. Such 
stones are known also as binders, bond 
stone, binding stones, through stones, 
perpent stones and headers. 

Bond, George Phillips, an Amer¬ 
ican astronomer, born in Dorchester, 
Mass., May 20, 1825; a son of Wil¬ 
liam Cranch Bond; assisted his father 
in the Harvard College Observatory, 
and at the time of the latter’s death 
was appointed director. He discov¬ 
ered independently 11 new comets, and 
was the author of an elaborate me¬ 
moir on the appearance of Donati’s 
comet in 1858, and of important in¬ 
vestigations on the subject of pertur¬ 
bations of cometary orbits, as well 
as an investigation into the theory of 
the constitution of Saturn’s rings. 
His drawing of the nebula in Orion, 
of which a fine steel plate engraving 
was made, was also a remarkable work, 
and astrononiical photography received 
its first impulse at his hands. He 
died Feb. 17, 1865. 

Bond, William Cranch, an 
American astronomer, born in Port¬ 
land, Me., Sept. 9, 1789; began life 
as a watch maker, and constructed the 
first ship’s chronometer made in the 
United States. He established a pri¬ 
vate observatory at Dorchester, Mass., 
which was at the time the finest in 
the country. Invited to move his ob¬ 
servatory to Cambridge, he accepted 
the invitation of the Harvard College 
authorities, and in 1840 was appointed 
Astronomical Observer to the univer¬ 
sity, and later to the directorship of 
the observatory erected there in 1843- 
1844. He was the inventor of the 
method of registering the beats of a 
clock by galvanic circuit, together 
with the observed transits of stars 
over the wires of a transit instrument, 
upon a chronograph, and he invented 
the spring governor, which bears his 
name, for controlling the motion _ of 
the chronograph barrel. His most im¬ 
portant work was in connection with 
the determination of longitudes, both 
of points in the United States from 
the Harvard College Observatory, and 
that of the observatory itself from 
Greenwich by the observation of a 
vast number of ocultations of stars by 


the moon, both at Dorchester and 
Cambridge. He died Jan. 29, 1859. 

Bonded Warehouses, places 
where taxable imports or manufac¬ 
tures may be left in government cus¬ 
tody, under bond for payment of the 
duty, till the importer or manufac¬ 
turer is prepared to make full pay¬ 
ment of duty. 

Bondi, Clemente, one of the most 
popular poets of modem Italy; born 
in Mizzano, in the duchy of Parma, 
June 27, 1742; died in Vienna, June 
20, 1821. 

Bone. The bones are the hardest 
and most solid parts of animals; they 
constitute the frame, serve as points 
of attachment to the muscles, and af¬ 
ford support to the softer solids. They 
are the instruments, as muscles are 
the organs, of motion. In the mam¬ 
malia, birds, fish, and reptiles, the 
whole system of bones united by the 
vertebral column is called the skele¬ 
ton. 

Bone, or Bona, a town and sea¬ 
port of Algiers, 85 miles N. E. of Con¬ 
stantine, at the mouth of the Sey- 
bouse river. It is built on the site of 
Aphrodisium, the port of ancient Hip¬ 
po. The Vandals having destroyed 
Aphrodisium, an Arab town arose on 
its ruins. The city having outgrown 
its former limits, the present ramparts 
are beyond the old walls. Bone has 
been modernized to some extent, many 
old buildings being removed to make 
room for new ones. The surface is 
irregular and some of the streets steep. 
Thete are mosques, a cathedral and 
other churches and a synagogue. 

Bone Ash, ash made of calcined 
bones. 

Bone Bed, in geology, a bed con¬ 
taining numerous fragments of fossil 
bones, teeth, etc. 

Bone Back, animal charcoal. It 
is obtained by charring bones. It has 
the power of absorbing gases, remov¬ 
ing the coloring matter and alkaloids, 
etc., from their solutions. It is used 
to disinfect ulcers, etc., also to decol¬ 
orize sugar and other organic sub¬ 
stances ; its properties can be re¬ 
stored by heating it to redness in 
closed vessels. 

Bone Manure, one of the most im¬ 
portant fertilizers in agriculture. The 
value of bones as manure arises chief- 




Boner 


Bonner 


ly from the phosphates and nitro¬ 
genous organic matters they contain. 
It is of most service, therefore, 
where the soil is deficient in this re¬ 
spect, or in the case of crops whose 
rapid growth or small roots do not en¬ 
able them to extract a sufficient sup¬ 
ply of phosphate from the earth, tur¬ 
nips, for instance, or late sown oats 
and barley. 

Boner, John Henry, an Ameri¬ 
can poet and literary worker, born at 
Salem, N. C., Jan. 31, 1845. 

Boneset, or Thoroughwort, a 

useful annual plant, indigenous to the 
United States, and easily recognized 
by its tall stem, 4 or 5 feet in height, 
passing through the middle of a large, 
double, hairy, leaf, and surmounted 
by a broad, flat head of light purple 
flowers. It is much used as a domes¬ 
tic medicine. 

Bongabong, a town in the S. E. 
part of Luzon, Philippine Islands, 
with an estimated popplation of 20,- 
000. It lies in a mountainous dis¬ 
trict, and attained military impor¬ 
tance as the headquarters of a regi¬ 
ment of United States troops. The 
town has a municipal government 
based upon popular election. 

Bonheur, Rosa, (properly Marie 
Rosa), celebrated French artist and 
painter of animals was born at Bor¬ 
deaux, March 22, 1822. She received 
early tuition from her father, a draw¬ 
ing teacher, and when only 18 years 
of age, exhibited at the Salon, two 
pictures, “ Goats and Sheep,” and 
“Two Rabbits eating Carrots.” Among 
her famous pictures are, “ Ploughing 
in the Nivernais,” “ Haymaking in 
Auvergne,” “ The Normandy Horse 
Fair,” and “ Deer in the Forest ” 
(the last two in the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art, New York city). 
She died at By, May 25, 1899. 

Boniface, St., a saint of the Ro¬ 
man calendar, and a native of Eng¬ 
land, who was sent by Gregory II. to 
convert the Germans. Gregory III. 
made him an archbishop. Born in 
Devonshire in 680, slain by some peas¬ 
ants in Friesland, in 755. His let¬ 
ters were printed in 1616. 


Bonington, Ricbard Farkes, an 

English painter in oil and water col¬ 
ors, born near Nottingham, Oct. 25, 
1801. He died Sept 23, 1828. 


Bonivard, or Bonnivard, Fran¬ 
cois de, cadet of a family holding 
large possessions under the House of 
Savoy, was born about 1496 at Seys- 
sel, on the Rhone, and in 1513 became 
prior of St. Victor at Geneva. Fall¬ 
ing under the suspicion of the Duke of 
Savoy, he was taken prisoner by him 
in 1519. After 20 months’ imprison¬ 
ment he was set free, but in 1530 he 
was again seized, and taken to the 
castle of Chillon at the E. end of the 
Lake of Geneva, where he was im¬ 
prisoned for six years, the last four 
in that subterranean vault which the 
genius of Byron has made famous by 
his. poem on the sufferings of “ The 
Prisoner of Chillon.” He died in 
1570, leaving the town his books, 
w’hich were the nucleus of the Geneva 
library. 

Bonn, a German town in the 
Rhenish Province of Prussia, beauti¬ 
fully situated on the left bank of the 
Rhine, with magnificent promenades 
and prospects in the environs. It has 
some trade and manufactures, but is 
chiefly important for its famous uni¬ 
versity, founded in 1777 by Elector 
Maximilian Frederick of Cologne, and 
for its cathedral, which has a crypt 
of the 11th century and mediaeval 
wall paintings. Enlarged and amply 
endowed by the King of Prussia, in 
1818, the university is now one of the 
chief seats of learning in Europe, 
with a library of more than 200,000 
volumes, an anatomical hall, mineral- 
ogical. and zoological collections, mu¬ 
seum of antiquities, a botanical gar¬ 
den, etc. The teachers in the five fac¬ 
ulties number about 150, and the stu¬ 
dents nearly 2,000. Lange, Niebuhr, 
Ritschl, Brandis, and other names 
famous in science or literature are 
connected with Bonn, and Beethoven 
was born here. Bonn was long the 
residence of the Electors of Cologne, 
and finally passed into the hands of 
Prussia by the arrangements of the 
Congress of Vienna, in 1815. Pop. 
(1890) 39,805, (1900) 50,737 
Bonner, Edmund, an English 
prelate of infamous notoriety, was 
born about 1495, of obscure parentage. 
He took a doctor’s degree at Oxford, 
in 1525, and, attracting the notice of 
Cardinal Wolsey, received from him 
several offices in the church. On the 
dealth of Wolsey he acquired the favor 





Bonner 


Bonsai 


of Henry VIII., who made him one 
of his chaplains, and sent him to 
Rome to advocate his divorce from 
Queen Catharine. In 1540 he was 
consecrated Bishop of London, but on 
the death of Henry (1547), having 
refused to take the oath of supremacy, 
he was deprived of his see and thrown 
into prison. On the accession of Mary 
he was restored to his bishopric, and 
he distinguished himself during this 
reign by a persecution of the Protest¬ 
ants, 200 of whom he was instrumental 
in bringing to the stake. After Eliza¬ 
beth succeeded he remained unmolest¬ 
ed until his refusal to take the oath 
of supremacy, on which he was com¬ 
mitted to the Marshalsea (1560), 
where he remained a prisoner until his 
death in 1569. 

Bonner, Robert, an American 
publisher, born near Londonderry, 
Ireland, April 28, 1824. He came to 
the United States in early youth, and 
learned the trade of a printer, In 
1844 he removed to New York, and, 
in 1851, purchased the “ Ledger,” then 
an insignificant paper. He made it 
remarkably successful. As a result 
he became very rich, and gratified 
his taste for fast horses by purchas¬ 
ing the most celebrated trotters in the 
world, though withdrawing them from 
the race course. Among these are 
“Peerless,” “Dexter,” “Maud S.,” 
which he bought from William H. 
Vanderbilt for $40,000, her record of 
speed being 2.09%, which he afterward 
reduced to 2.08%, and “ Sunol.” He 
made large gifts of money to Prince¬ 
ton University and was widely known 
for his many benefactions. He re¬ 
tired from active control of the “ Led¬ 
ger ” in 1887, giving it into the hands 
of his sons. He died in New York 
city, July 6, 1899. He prided himself 
on the facts that he had never raced a 
horse for money, never made a bet, 
never borrowed a dollar, and never 
gave a note in his life. 

Bonnet, a head dress; a dress or 
covering for the head worn by wom¬ 
en ; a cap or head covering, much used 
before the introduction of hats, and 
still worn by the Scotch Highlanders. 

Bonneville, Benjamin L. E., an 
American soldier and explorer, born 
in France, in 1793; explored in the 
Rocky Mountains and California; 
fought in the Mexican War; was 

E. 21. 


wounded at Churubusco; served as su¬ 
perintendent of barracks and recruit¬ 
ing officer in Missouri during the Civil 
War of 1861-1865. He died in Fort 
Smith, Ark., June 12, 1878. 

Bonney, Charles Carroll, Ameri¬ 
can lawyer, born at Hamilton, N. Y., 
Sept. 4, 1831; finished his scholastic 
studies at Colgate University, in which 
he ranks L.L.D. After a teaching and 
lecturing career in Illinois, aiding in 
the establishment of the State’s educa¬ 
tional system, he joined the Illinois 
bar in 1852. He was president of the 
International Law and Order League 
(1885-93) ; president of the World’s 
Congress Auxiliary of the Chicago Co¬ 
lumbus Exposition (1893) ; and is 
president of the World’s Religious 
Parliament Extension. He is the au¬ 
thor of valuable legal text books. 

Bonnivard. See Bonivabd. 

Bonnycastle, Charles, an Anglo- 
American mathematician, born in 
Woolwich, in 1792. He was Professor 
of Mathematics at Woolwich Military 
Academy, Professor of Natural Philos¬ 
ophy in the University of Virginia 
(1825-1827) and of Mathematics 
there from 1827. He died in Char¬ 
lottesville, Va., October, 1840. 

Bonnycastle, Sir Richard 
Henry, an English military engi¬ 
neer, born in 1791; spent the greater 
part of his life in British North 
America; died in 1848. 

Bonpland, Aime, a French bo¬ 
tanist, born in Rochelle, Aug. 22, 1773. 
While pursuing his studies at Paris he 
made the acquaintance of Alexander 
von Humboldt,, and agreed to accom¬ 
pany him in his celebrated expedition 
to the New World. During this expe¬ 
dition he collected upward of 6,000 
plants, previously unknown, and on 
his return to France, in 1804, was 
made Director of the Gardens at Na¬ 
varre and Malmaison. On the Restor¬ 
ation he proceeded to South America, 
and became Processor of Natural His¬ 
tory at Buenos Ayres. Subsequently, 
while on a scientific expedition up the 
river Parapa, he was arrested by Dr. 
Francia, the Dictator of Paraguay, as 
a spy and detained for eight years. 
He afterward settled in Brazil, where 
he died in 1858. 

Bonsai, Stephen, an American 
journalist, bom in Virginia in 1865. 





Bontebok 


Book of Mormon 


He was educated at Concord and Hei¬ 
delberg. In the Bulgarian-Servian 
War he was special correspondent of 
the New York “ Herald,” serving in 
the same capacity in Macedonia and 
Cuba. He has been Secretary of Le¬ 
gation of the United States in Pekin, 
Madrid, Tokio, and Korea. 

Bontebok, the pied antelope, an 
antelope of South Africa, with white 
markings on the face, allied to the 
blesbok. 

Bonze, the name given by the Por¬ 
tuguese to any member of the Budd¬ 
hist priesthood in Japan. Thence the 
name spread to the priests of the same 
faith in China and the adjacent re¬ 
gions. 

Booby, (Sula fusca), a swimming 
bird allied to the gannet, and so named 
by early mariners, owing to the stupid¬ 
ity with which it allowed itself to be 
killed without attempting to escape. 
They live on fish. There are several 
species found throughout the world, 
in America, notably along the shores 
of Georgia, Lower California, and 
Peru. 

Book Binding, the art of stitch¬ 
ing or otherwise fastening together 
and covering the sheets of paper or 
similar material composing a book. 

Bookkeeping, the art of keeping 
books in which pecuniary transactions 
are so unremittingly and so accurate¬ 
ly entered that one is able at any time 
to ascertain the exact state of his 
financial affairs, or of any portion of 
them, with clearness and expedition. 
It is generally divided into bookkeep¬ 
ing by single and bookkeeping by double 
entry. In the former every entry is 
single, i. e., is placed to the debit or 
credit of a single account, while in 
the latter it is double, that is, it has 
both a debtor and creditor account. 
In other words, by single entry each 
transaction is entered only once in 
the ledger, and by double entry twice. 

Book of Common Prayer, the 
book that forms the liturgy of the 
Church of England. It is a develop¬ 
ment from the “ Breviary Missal ” 
and “ Manual ” compiled in the 11th 
century by Osmund, Bishop of Salis¬ 
bury. A revision of the “ Breviary ” 
was made in 1516, by order of Cardi¬ 
nal Wolsey, and it was again revised 
in 1531, and the “Missal” in 1533. 


In 1542 a Committee of Convocation 
was appointed whose work, a litany, 
in English, was issued in 1544. In 
1547 Cranmer’s rendering of the “ Mis¬ 
sal ” into English appeared as the 
“ Order of Communion.” In 1548 the 
first version of the present “ Book of 
Common Prayer ” was reported to the 
convocation and adopted by Parlia¬ 
ment, as a part of the Act of Uni¬ 
formity of 1548-1549. A second re¬ 
vision was sanctioned by Parliament 
in 1552. This was repealed by Queen 
Mary, and restored by Elizabeth, with 
changes in 1559. The Puritans sup¬ 
pressed the book, but it was restored at 
the Restoration. The Savoy Confer¬ 
ence of 1661 modified it by concession 
to the Puritans. It was adopted in 
Ireland in 1662 and has since been 
used by the Anglican Church, in its 
various branches. It consists of va¬ 
rious tables, Morning and Evening 
Prayers, the Litany, Prayers and 
Thanksgivings, Collects, Epistles and 
Gospels chosen in accordance with the 
Church calendar, Order of Commun¬ 
ion and other special services, as 
Matrimony, and Burial of the Dead, 
the Catechism, the Psalter services 
connected with the imposition of the 
clerical and lay offices, and Articles 
of Religion. The “ Prayer Book ” of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church of 
the United States is a revision of the 
Anglican book, authorized in 1789, 
and revised again, 1886-1893. 

Book of Martyrs, a history of 
the persecution of Reformers in Eng¬ 
land, by John Fox. 

Book of Mormon, a book form¬ 
ing the authoritative scriptures of the 
members of the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-Day Saints. Joseph Smith, 
an American, of Manchester, N. Y., 
professed to have heard in 1823 the 
Angel Moroni reveal to him in visions 
that the Bible of the Western Conti¬ 
nent was buried in a box near his resi¬ 
dence. This, according to his own 
account, he at length found — a vol¬ 
ume six inches thick, with leaves of 
thin gold plate, eight inches long by 
seven broad, bound together with three 
gold rings; on which leaves was a mys¬ 
tic writing that he characterized as 
reformed Egyptian. With the book 
he professed to have found a pair of 
magic spectacles, by means of which 
he was able to read the contents, 






Bookplate 


Boot 


which he dictated to an amanuensis. 
This book consists of an alleged his¬ 
tory of America from 600 b. c., when 
Lehi and his family (descended from 
the dispersion after the building of the 
Babel tower) landed in Chile. Be¬ 
tween the descendants of Nephi, Lehi’s 
youngest son, and the offspring of his 
older brothers, who are the North 
American Indians, long conflicts were 
waged; the Nephites finally being al¬ 
most annihilated. There remained a 
fragment, among whom were Mormon 
and his son, Moroni. They collected 
the records of their people, and bur¬ 
ied them in the hill of Cumorah, on 
the Divine assurance that they would 
be found by the Lord’s prophet. Be¬ 
sides this history, the book, as it final¬ 
ly was received, has various moral and 
religious teachings. 

Bookplate, an English name for 
labels of ownership frequently placed 
on the inside covers of books. 

Bookworm, any grub which feeds 
on the paper of books. Most people 
are familiar with the effects of the 
bookworm’s ravages; but the creatures 
are extremely rare in the United 
States, especially since so many chem¬ 
ical substances have been introduced 
into the manufacture of paper. In 
the United States books in libraries, 
though usually free from the ravages 
of the bookworm, are infested and 
damaged by a small cockroach. 

Boom, a beam, tree, or pole. In 
navigation, a long pole run out from 
any part of a ship to stretch the foot 
of any particular sail; whence, jib 
boom, main boom, studdingsail boom, 
etc. In fortification, in marine de¬ 
fenses, a strong chain or cable 
stretched across the mouth of a river 
or harbor, to prevent the enemy’s 
ships from entering, and having a 
number of poles, bars, etc., fastened to 
it; whence the name; as, to cut or 
burst the boom. In navigation, a 
pole set up as a sea mark to point out 
the channel to seamen, when navigat¬ 
ing in shallows. The word is also ap¬ 
plied to a hollow, roaring sound; as 
the boom of a cannon; the reverberat¬ 
ing cry of the bittern; and likewise to 
a sudden rise in the market value of 
real estate, stocks or commodities; an 
enthusiastic popular movement. in 
favor of any person, cause or thing; 


as, a real estate boom, a political 
boom; a boom in sugar. 

Boomerang, a missle weapon in- • 
vented and used by the native Aus¬ 
tralians, who are generally deemed the 
lowest in intelligence of any tribe or 
race of mankind. It is a curved stick, 
round on one side and flat on the 
other, about three feet long, two inches 
wide, and three-quarters of an inch 
thick. It is grasped at one end and 
thrown sickle-wise, either upward into 
the air, or downward so as to strike 
the ground at some distance from the 
thrower. In the first case it flies with 
a rotary motion, as its shape would in¬ 
dicate, and after ascending to a great 
height in the air, it suddenly returns 
in an ellipitical orbit to a spot near 
its starting point. On throwing it 
downward to the ground, it rebounds 
in a straight line, pursuing a ricochet 
motion until it strikes the object at 
which it is thrown. The most singu¬ 
lar curve described by it is when it 
is projected upward at an angle of 
about 45°, when its flight is always 
backward, and the native who throws 
it stands with his back to the object 
he intends to hit. 

Boone, Daniel, the pioneer of 
Kentucky, born in Bucks county, Pa., 
Feb. 11, 1735. He was a Colonel in 
the United States service, and signal¬ 
ized himself by his many daring ex¬ 
ploits against the Indians, and also by 
his extensive surveys and explorations 
of the State of Kentucky. In 1793 
he removed to Upper Louisiana, then 
belonging to the Spaniards, and was 
appointed by them commandant of a 
district there. He was one of the 
most successful of the enterprising 
American pioneers of the 18th cen¬ 
tury, and may be said to have ex¬ 
plored and aided in the settlement of 
the country from the Alleghany Moun¬ 
tains to the frontier of Missouri. 
Many places have been named in his 
honor. Died in Missouri, Sept. 26,1820. 

Boot, an article of dress, general¬ 
ly of leather, covering the foot and ex¬ 
tending to a greater or less distance 
up the leg. Hence the name was given 
to an instrument of torture made of 
iron, or a combination of iron and 
wood, fastened on to the leg, between 
which and the boot wedges were in¬ 
troduced and driven in by repeated 
blows of a mallet, with such violence 




Bootes 


Booth 


as to crush both muscles and bones. 
The special object of this form of 
, torture was to extort a confession of 
guilt from an accused person. 

Bootes. In astronomy, a constella¬ 
tion called also Arctophylax, or the 
Bear river. It contains 54 stars, in¬ 
cluding 1 of the first magnitude, Arc- 
turus, 7 of the third, and 10 of the 
fourth. 

Booth, Ballington, General of 
the Volunteers of America, born in 
Brighouse, England, July 28, 1859. 
He is a son of Gen. William Booth, 
founder of the Salvation Army, with 
which body he was officially connect¬ 
ed until 1896, when he seceded and 
founded the Volunteers, a religious 
military body organized in the interest 
of the unchurched masses. His wife, 
Maude, has ably seconded her hus¬ 
band’s efforts, and is very popular on 
the lecture platform. 

Booth, Barton, an eminent Eng¬ 
lish actor, born in 1681; died in 1733. 

Booth, Edwin Thomas, an 
American actor, born near Belair, 
Md., Nov. 13, 1833; the fourth son 
of Junius Brutus Booth. When 16 
years of age, he made his first ap¬ 
pearance on the stage, in the part of 
Tressel, his father acting as Richard 
III. Two years later he himself suc¬ 
cessfully assumed the part of Richard 
in place of his father, who unexpect¬ 
edly refused to fulfill an evening’s en¬ 
gagement. The following year the 
two went to California, where the 
son remained for several years, visit¬ 
ing Australia meanwhile. Meeting 
with little pecuniary success, in 1856, 
he returned to the Atlantic States, and 
from that time forward was recog¬ 
nized as a leading member of his pro¬ 
fession. He visited England (1861- 
1862), and in 1864 produced “Ham¬ 
let ” at New York for 100 nights con¬ 
secutively. In 1869 he opened a 
splendid theater in New York, whose 
building cost over $1,000,000, but 
which involved him in pecuniary ruin. 
He revisited California in 1876, and 
in the spring of 1877 was able to set¬ 
tle with his creditors, having earned 
during the season over $600,000. 
Booth visited Great Britain and Ger¬ 
many in 1880-1882, and was every¬ 
where received with enthusiasm. He 
died in New York, June 7, 1893. 


Booth, John Wilkes, an Ameri¬ 
can actor, born in Hartford county, 
Md., in 1838; another son of Junius 
Brutus Booth. He sided with the 
Confederates in the Civil War, and 
to avenge the defeat of their cause he 
formed a conspiracy against the life 
of President Lincoln. He mortally 
wounded the President, while the lat¬ 
ter was attending a performance in 
Ford’s Theater, in Washington, on 
April 14, 1865; broke his own leg in 
escaping from the building; and con¬ 
cealed himself in Virginia till the 
26th, when, on being discovered, and 
refusing to surrender, he was shot. 

Booth, Junius Brutus, an An¬ 
glo-American tragedian, born in the 
parish of St. Pancras, London, May 
1, 1796. He received a classical edu¬ 
cation, but early manifested a predu 
lection for the stage, and when 17 
years of age appeared in some unim¬ 
portant parts. Subsequently he played 
Richard III., at Covent Garden, a part 
in which he suddenly became famous. 
In 1821 he went to the United States, 
where for the ensuing 30 years he 
followed his profession with much 
success. He died suddenly on board 
a Mississippi river steamer, Nov. 12, 
1852. 

Booth, Mary Louise, an Ameri¬ 
can journalist and author, born in 
Yaphank, Long Island, N. Y., April 
19, 1831; was widely known as the 
editor of “ Harper’s Bazar,” which 
place she held from 1867 till her 
death in New York city, March 5, 
1889. 

Booth, William, founder and 
General of the Salvation Army, was 
born at Nottingham, England, April 
10, 1829, was educated there, and 
from 1850 to 1861, acted as minister 
of the Methodist New Connection. 
From the first he was zealous in hold¬ 
ing evangelistic services, but the new 
departure which led to the creation 
of the Salvation Army on military 
lines began in 1865 with mission work 
among the lower classes in the East 
End of London. Since 1878 Booth’s 
movement has been known as the Sal¬ 
vation Army, of which he has con¬ 
tinued to be the mainspring and con¬ 
trolling power, directing its move¬ 
ments at home and abroad from his 
headquarters in London. His enthusi- 









Booth-Tucker 


Borden 


asm and wonderful organizing power 
have given life to the religious mili¬ 
tary system, of which he is really 
“ general.” The property of the Sal¬ 
vation Army is held for its exclusive 
use by Booth. His wife was associat¬ 
ed with him in the publication of sev¬ 
eral hymns and religious works deal¬ 
ing with the movement, till her death 
in 1890. 

Booth-Tucker, Emma Moss, 

daughter of William Booth of the Sal¬ 
vation Army, and wife of F. St. 
George Booth-Tucker, was born in 
1860, and died in Oct. 1903, the victim 
of a railway accident. She held the 
rank of Consul, and with her husband, 
directed the army in the United States. 
She possessed remarkable executive 
ability, and was loved by all with 
whom she came in contact. 

Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. 
George de Lautour, commander 
of the Salvation Army in the United 
States, was born in India, in 1853. 
He held important official posts in In¬ 
dia, but resigned them in 1881 to 
join the Salvation Army. Upon his 
marriage with Emma Moss Booth, 
daughter of Gen. William Booth of 
the Salvation Army, he prefixed Booth 
to his own name of Tucker. In 1896 
he became commander of the United 
States branch of the Salvation Army. 

Bora, Katharina von, wife of 
Luther, was born in 1499. She took 
the veil early; but feeling unhappy in 
her situation, applied, with eight other 
nuns, to Luther. The nuns were re¬ 
leased from their convent, and, in 
1525, Luther married her, having him¬ 
self by this time laid aside the cowl. 
After Luther’s death she kept board¬ 
ers for her support. She died at Tor- 
gau, in 1552. 

Borax, the anhydroborate of sodium, 
forms large transparent six-sided 
prisms, which dissolve readily in wat¬ 
er, effloresce in dry air, and when 
heated melt in their water of crys¬ 
tallization, swell up, and finally fuse 
to a transparent glass. In this state 
borax dissolves metallic oxides which 
frequently impart to it characteristic 
colors. From this property borax is 
employed in soldering metals, as it 
removes films of oxide, and leaves 
the metals in metallic contact with 
each other and with the solder. It is 




also employed in making fine glaze for 
porcelain, as it renders the materials 
more fusible. In medicine it is em¬ 
ployed in ulcerations and in skin dis¬ 
eases. 

Borckgrevink, Carsten Ege- 
bert, a Norwegian explorer and lec¬ 
turer, born in Christiania, in 1864, 
his mother being English and his 
father a Scandinavian. He went to 
sea at an early age, but returned to 
go to college. In 1898 he went to 
Australia, joined the Survey Depart¬ 
ment, and scaled Mount Lindsay. In 
1894-1895 he was in Antarctic waters, 
a region fully explored by him in 
1897, when he attempted to reach the 
South Pole without success. In 1899 
(Feb. 17) he had, however, reached 
Robertston Bay. Returning to Lon¬ 
don in 1900 he reported having 
reached lat. 78.50 S., long. 195.50 E., 
the furthest point S. ever reached by 
man. 

Bordeaux, a city and port of 
France, capital of the Department of 
Gironde, on the Garonne river, about 
70 miles from the sea. It is built in a 
crescent form round a bend of the 
river, which is here lined with fine 
quays and crossed by a magnificent 
stone bridge, and consists of an old and 
a new town. The former is mostly 
composed of irregular squares and 
narrow, crooked streets; while the 
latter is laid out with great regular¬ 
ity, and on a scale of magnificence 
hardly surpassed by any provincial 
town in Europe. The chief exports 
are wine and brandy; sugar and other 
colonial produce and wood are the 
chief imports. Shipbuilding is the 
chief industry, and there are sugar re¬ 
fineries, woolen and cotton mills, pot¬ 
teries, soap works, distilleries, etc. 
Bordeaux is the Burdigala of the Ro¬ 
mans. By the marriage of Eleanor, 
daughter of the last Duke of Aquitaine 
to Henry II. of England, Bordeaux 
was transferred to the English crown. 
Under Charles VII., in 1451, it was 
restored again to France. Montaigne 
and Montesquieu were born in the 
neighborhood; but the latter is buried 
in the Church of St. Bernard. Pop. 
256,906. 

Borden, Simeon, an American 
inventor and surveyor, born in the 
present Fall River, Mass., Jan. 29, 




Bordentown 


Borgia 


1798. He instructed himself in math¬ 
ematics and devised successful survey¬ 
ing instruments. The first American 
geodetic survey was his work. In 1846 
he began the construction of railroads. 
He died in Fall River, Oct. 28, 1856. 

Bordentown, a city in Burling¬ 
ton co., N. J., on the Delaware river, 
the Delaware and Raritan canal, and 
the Pennsylvania railroad; 57 miles 
S. W. of New York city. It is noted 
as being a former residence of Joseph 
Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I. and 
for many years the house and grounds 
belonging to the estate possessed much 
interest for the tourist. 

Bore, or Eagre, a sudden influx 
of the tide into the estuary of a river 
from the sea, the inflowing water ris¬ 
ing to a considerable height and ad¬ 
vancing like a wall against the cur¬ 
rent. Chief among American bores 
are those of the rivers emptying into 
the Bay of Fundy; in Europe the 
eagres of the Severn and Trent, Eng¬ 
land ; and the mascaret of the Seine, 
France. See also Eagre. 

Bore, in metallurgy, a tool bored 
to fit the shank of a forged nail, and 
adapted to hold it while the head is 
brought to shape by the hammer. The 
depression in the face of the bore is 
adapted to the shape required of the 
chamfered under part of the head. 
The word is also applied to the cavity 
of a steam engine cylinder, pump bar¬ 
rel, pipe, cannon, barrel of a firearm, 
etc. 

Boreas, a bellowing wind; the 
Northern wind; a cold, Northerly 
wind. In mythology, the son of As- 
trseus and Eos, usually worshipped as 
the god of the North Wind. The as¬ 
siduity with which the worship of 
Boreas was cultivated at Athens pro¬ 
ceeded from gratitude, the North Wind 
having on one occasion destroyed the 
fleet of the Persians when meditating 
the invasion of Attica. A similar 
cause induced the inhabitants of Me¬ 
galopolis to consider Boreas as their 
peculiar divinity, in whose honor they 
instituted an annual festival. Boreas 
was usually represented with wings 
dripping with golden dewdrops, and 
the train of his garment sweeping 
along the ground. 

Borghese, a Roman family, which 
derives its origin from Sienna, and 


which held the highest offices in this 
republic from the middle of the 15th 
century. Pope Paul V., who belonged 
to this family, and ascended the papal 
chair in 1605, loaded his relations 
with honors and riches. 

Borghese, Princess Marie 
Pauline, the beautiful sister of Na¬ 
poleon ; born in Ajaccio, Oct. 20, 
1780. She died in Florence, June 9, 
1825. She left many legacies, and a 
donation, the interest of wlych was to 
enable two young men of Ajaccio to 
study medicine and surgery. The rest 
of her property she left to her 
brothers, the Count of St. Leu and the 
Prince of Montfort. The whole prop¬ 
erty amounted to 2,000,000 francs. 

Borgia Cesare, the natural son 
of Pope Alexander VI., and of a Ro¬ 
man lady named Vanozza, born in 
1478. He was raised to the rank of 
Cardinal in 1492, but afterward di¬ 
vested himself of the office, and was 
made Due de Valentinois by Louis 
XII. In 1499 he married a daughter 
of King John of Navarre, and accom¬ 
panied Louis XII. to Italy. He then, 
at the head of a body of mercenaries, 
carried on a series of petty wars, made 
himself master of the Romagna, at¬ 
tempted Bologna and Florence, and 
had seized Urbino when Alexander VI. 
died, 1503. He was now attacked by 
a severe disease, at a moment when 
his whole activity and presence of 
mind were needed. He found means, 
indeed, to get the treasures of his 
father into his possession, and assem¬ 
bled his troops in Rome; but enemies 
rose against him on all sides, one of 
the most bitter of whom was the new 
Pope, Julius II. Borgia was arrested 
and carried to Spain. He at length 
made his escape to his brother-in-law, 
the King of Navarre, and was killed 
before the castle of Viana, March 12, 
1507. He was charged with the mur¬ 
der of his elder brother, of the hus¬ 
band of his sister Lucretia, and the 
stiletto or secret poisoning was freely 
used against those who stood in his 
way. With all his crimes he was a 
patron of art and literature. 

Borgia, Lucretia, daughter of 
Pope Alexander VI., and sister of Ce¬ 
sare Borgia, was born in 1480. She 
was accused of almost every species of 
crime; but several modern writers 
maintain that the charges against her 




Boring 


Bornu 


are false or much exaggerated. She 
patronized art and literature. She 
died in 1523. 

Boring, a process in mechanical 
and engineering operations, variously 
performed according to the medium 
dealt with. 

Bornemann, Wilhelm, a Low 

German dialect poet, born in Garde- 
legen in 1766. He is one of the fore¬ 
most representatives of modern Low 
German poetry. He died in 1851. 

Borneo, an island, next to Austra¬ 
lia and Papua, the largest in the 
world, is situated in the Indian Archi¬ 
pelago. It is bounded on the E. by 
the Sea of Celebes and the Macassar 
Strait. S. by the Sea of Java, W. and 
N. by the Gulf of Siam and the China 
Sea. Its length is about 850 miles, 
with a breadth of 600, and an area of 
about 290,000 square miles. The pop¬ 
ulation is roughly estimated at more 
than 2,000,000. 

British Borneo is north of the Madei 
Mountains; Dutch Borneo to the 
south. The lowlands are malarious 
and unhealthful; the north highlands 
temperate, the thermometer at noon 
varying from 81° to 91° F. Nutmegs, 
cloves, cinnamon, pepper, betel, gin¬ 
ger, rice, millet, sweet potatoes, yams, 
cotton in Amuntai, sugar cane in Sam¬ 
bas and Montrado ; indigo, tobacco, cof¬ 
fee in Sambas, pineapples, cocoanuts, 
etc., are cultivated. The mountains 
and forests contain many monkeys, 
among which is the orang outang. Ta¬ 
pirs, a small kind of tiger, small Ma¬ 
lay bears, swine, wild oxen or ban- 
teng, and various kinds of deer abound. 
The elephant is only found in the N., 
and the rchinoceros in the N. W. The 
few domesticated animals are buffa¬ 
loes, sheep, goats, dogs, and cats. A 
few horses are seen in Banjermassin. 
Among the birds are eagles, vultures, 
argus pheasants, peacocks, flamingoes, 
pigeons, parrots, and also the swifts, 
which construct the edible nests prized 
by the Chinese for making soup. The 
rivers, lakes, and lagoons swarm with 
crocodiles, and many kinds of snakes, 
frogs, lizards, and leeches. Fish is 
plentiful, and the coasts are rich in 
tortoises, pearl mussels, oysters, and 
trepang. Brilliant butterflies and 
moths are in great variety. Among 
the mineral products are coal, gold, 


and copper, especially in Montrado; 
antimony, iron, tin, platina, nickel, 
diamonds and other precious stones, 
rock crystals, porcelain clay, petrole¬ 
um, and sulphur. The diamond mines 
are chiefly in Landak and Pontianak; 
Sambas produces the greatest quantity 
of gold; the kingdom of Brunei, Ku- 
tei, and Banjermassin, the largest 
amount of coal. The Pengaron coal 
field, worked by the Dutch Govern¬ 
ment, is one of the most important. 

The population consists of three 
classes, the Dyaks or Dayaks, who 
are the aboriginal heathen inhabitants, 
and constitute the great bulk of the 
population; the Mohammedans or Ma¬ 
lays— for this name is extended so 
as to include all professors of Islam, 
whether true Malays, Buginese, Ja¬ 
vanese, Dyaks, or Arabs; and the Chi¬ 
nese. The Dyaks live chiefly in the 
interior, and employ themselves with 
tillage and the collecting of gutta 
percha, resin, gums, rattans, gold dust, 
and wax. They are divided into nu¬ 
merous tribes. The Malays (taking 
the name ethnographically) dwell on 
the coasts, are traders and bold sail¬ 
ors. They are more civilized than the 
Dyaks, cultivate the grounds around 
their houses, lay out gardens, keep cat¬ 
tle, and live partly by fishing. The Chi¬ 
nese, chiefly from Canton, have pene¬ 
trated far into the interior. The prin¬ 
cipal exports are gold, gold dust, dia¬ 
monds, coal, rattans, gutta percha, edi¬ 
ble nests, cotton, wax, timber, dye 
woods, mats, resins, sandalwood, cam¬ 
phor, etc.; the imports, earthenware, 
iron, steel, and copper work, piece 
goods, yarns, woolen and silk fabrics, 
medicines, provisions,, wines, spirits, 
rice, sugar, tea, tobacco, opium, tre¬ 
pang, gambir, gunpowder, etc. 

Bornier, Henri, Vicomte de, 
a French dramatist, member of the 
Academy, born at Lunel, Dec. 25, 
1825. His plays are notable for splen¬ 
dor of diction. He is the author of 
several successful novels and ro¬ 
mances. 

Bornn, or Bornoro, a negro 
kingdom of Central Africa, somewhat 
larger in extent than England, bound¬ 
ed on the E. by Lake Tchad, and N. 
by the Sahara. The soil is fertile, 
yields plentiful crops of maize, millet, 
and other tropical produce. Wild 
beasts are very numerous. Coats of 





Boro Bndor 


Bosnia 


mail are made both for horses and 
their rider's. The population, which 
is estimated at about 5,000,000, are 
mostly of negro race, and called Bor- 
nuese or Kanuri. The ruling race, 
called Shuwas, are of Arab descent 
and bigoted Mohammedans; but many 
traces of fetichism remain among the 
masses. Whatever they have of civil¬ 
ization is derived from the Arabs. The 
shores and islands of Lake Tchad are 
inhabited by negro pirates. The slave 
trade is eagerly prosecuted in Bornu. 

Boro Budor (the “Great Bud¬ 
dha”), the ruin of a splendid Bud¬ 
dhist temple in Java, Kadu Residency, 
near the junction of the Elio and 
Progo, is the most elaborate monu¬ 
ment of the Buddhist style of architec¬ 
ture anywhere existing. Buddhism was 
early introduced into Java, and Jav¬ 
anese chronicles place the building of 
the tejnple in the beginning of the 7th 
century; there are no inscriptions, but 
it was probably finished between 1400 
and 1430. 

Borodino, a village of Russia, 70 
miles W. of Moscow; on the Kaluga, 
an affluent of the Moskwa. It gave 
name to the great battle fought be¬ 
tween the French army under Napo¬ 
leon and the Russians under Kutusoff, 
Sept. 7, 1812. Out of 257,000 men 
engaged, between 70,000 and 80,000 
were killed and wounded. The Rus¬ 
sians retreated on the following day, 
but in the most perfect order, and, 
therefore, claim this battle as a vic¬ 
tory; but the French, who name the 
battle from the Moskwa, have always 
maintained a similar claim. 

Borough, originally a fortified 
town. In England, a corporate town 
or township; a town with a properly 
organized municipal government. If 
it sends a representative or representa¬ 
tives to Parliament it is a Parliamen¬ 
tary borough, if not, it is only a muni¬ 
cipal borough. The name is given to 
the five local divisions of the city of 
New York. 

Borromean Islands, a group of 
four small islands on the W. side of 
Lago Maggiore, Northern Italy. 

Borrow, George Henry, traveler, 
linguist, and writer on gypsy life, born 
in Norfolk, England, in 1803. Chief 
works, “ The Bible in Spain,” “ Laven- 
gro,” “The Romany Rye.” Died 1881. 


Borsippa, a very ancient city of 
Babylonia, the site of which is marked 
by the ruins Birs Nimrud. 

Boscawen, Edward, a British 
admiral, son of the first Viscount Fal¬ 
mouth, born in Cornwall, Aug. 19, 
1711. His chief exploit was a great 
victory, in 1759, over the Toulon fleet, 
near the entrance of the Straits of 
Gibraltar. He died in Surrey, Jan. 
10, 1761. 

Bosch Bok, the bush buck, a name 
given to several South African species 
of antelope. 

Bosch Vark, the bush hog or 
bush pig of South Africa, one of the 
swine family, about 5 feet long, and 
with very large and strong tusks. The 
Kaffirs esteem its flesh as a luxury, 
and its tusks, arranged on a piece of 
string and tied around the neck, are 
considered great ornaments. 

Boscobel, a locality in Shropshire, 
England, remarkable historically as the 
hiding place of Charles II. for some 
days after the battle of Worcester, 
Sept. 3, 1651. At one time he was 
compelled to conceal himself among 
the branches of an oak in Boscobel 
Wood, where, it is related, that he 
could actually see the men who were 
in pursuit of him and hear their voices. 
The royal oak, which now stands at 
Boscobel, is said to have grown from 
an acorn of this very tree. 

Bosna-Serai, or Serajevo, the 
capital of Bosnia, on the Migliazza, 
570 miles W. N. W. of Constantinople. 
It contains a palace, built by Moham¬ 
med II., to which the city owes its 
name. It was formerly surrounded 
with walls, but its only defense now 
is a citadel, built on a rocky height at 
a short distance E. from the town. 
Bosna-Serai is the chief mart in the 
province, the center of the commercial 
relations between Turkey, Dalmatia, 
Croatia and South Germany, and has, 
in consequence, a considerable trade, 
with various manufactures. Pop. 
(1895) 38,083. 

Bosnia, a Turkish Province in the 
N. W. of the Balkan Peninsula, W. of 
Servia, by the Treaty of Berlin 
(1878) to be administered for an un¬ 
defined future period by the Austrian 
Government; area (including Herze¬ 
govina and Novi-bazar), 23,570 square 
miles (of which Bosnia Proper occu- 




Bosporus 


Boston 


pies 16,000), with 1,568,092 inhabi¬ 
tants, mostly of Slavonian origin, and 
mainly speaking the Servian language. 
The principal religions are Moham¬ 
medanism, Catholic and Greek. 

Bosnia, in ancient times a part suc¬ 
cessively of Illyria, Pannonia and Dal¬ 
matia, was, during the great migra¬ 
tions occupied by Slavs or Slavonized 
Illyrians, at first dependent on Hun¬ 
gary; but it became a kingdom in 
1376, under Tivartko, a native prince. 
Occupied by the Turks in 1401, it was 
annexed in 1463, but not recognized 
by Europe as a Turkish Province till 
1699. Extortionate taxation caused a 
rebellion of the Christians, in 1849, 
suppressed by Omar Pasha; but a 
more determined rising in 1875, which 
the Turks failed to put down, led to 
the occupation of the Province by the 
Austro-Hungarians, which the Moslem 
•population opposed in a fierce but un¬ 
availing struggle. The Treaty of Ber¬ 
lin formally intrusted the administra¬ 
tion to Austria-Hungary, the nominal 
supremacy of the Sultan being recog¬ 
nized in 1879. Since 1880 Austrian 
methods of government have been 
gradually introduced. 

Bosporus, or Bosphorus, the 
strait, 19 miles long, joining the Black 
Sea with the Sea of Marmora, called 
also the Strait of Constantinople. It 
is defended by a series of strong forts; 
and by agreement of the European 
powers no ship of war belonging to 
any nation shall pass the Bosporus 
without the permission of Turkey. 
Over this channel (about 3,000 feet 
wide) Darius constructed a bridge of 
boats on his Scythian expedition. The 
Cimmerian Bosporus was the name 
given by the ancients to the strait that 
leads from the Black Sea into the Sea 
of Azov. There was also, anciently, 
a kingdom of the name of Bosporus, so 
called from this strait, on both sides 
of which it was situated. 

Boss, an elevated or thickened por¬ 
tion, usually around an aperture, or a 
swage or stump used in shaping sheet 
metal. In Gothic architecture it is 
the protuberance in a vaulted ceiling 
formed by the junction of the ends of 
several ribs, and serving to bind them 
together. 

Boss, Lewis, an American astron¬ 
omer, born in* Providence, R. I., Oct. 
26, 1846; was graduated at Dartmouth 


College, in 1870; astronomer of the 
Northern Boundary Survey for the de¬ 
termination of the line between the 
W. part of the United States and Brit¬ 
ish America ; and, since the completion 
of that work. Director of the Dudley 
Observatory, Albany, N. Y. He was 
chief of the United States party sent 
to Chile in 1882 to observe the transit 
of Yenus; was elected a member of 
the National Academy of Science in 
1889, and an honorary foreign asso¬ 
ciate of the Royal Astronomical So¬ 
ciety, in 1890. He is best known for 
his work upon star declinations. 

Bossuet, Jacques Benigne, ill- 
lustrious French preacher and theo¬ 
logian, was born in 1627, died in 1704. 
In 16o2 he was ordained priest, and 
made a canon of Metz. In 1670 he 
was appointed preceptor to the Dau¬ 
phin, and in 1681 he was raised to the 
see of Meaux. He drew up the fa¬ 
mous propositions adopted by the as¬ 
sembly of French clergy, which secur¬ 
ed the freedom of the Gallican Church 
against the aggressions of the Pope. 
He was unrivalled as a pulpit orator, 
and greatly distinguished for his 
strength and acumen as a controver¬ 
sialist. His life was largely occupied 
in controverting Protestantism. 

Boston, a city, capital of the State 
of Massachusetts; the commercial me¬ 
tropolis of New England; and the 
fifth city in population in the United 
States according to the Federal cen¬ 
sus of 1900. It is built at the W. end 
of Massachusetts Bay, and comprises 
Boston proper, East Boston, South 
Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Charles¬ 
town, Brighton, West Roxbury, and 
adjoining territory, giving it, in 1900, 
an area of about 40 square miles. Old 
Boston, or Boston proper, occupied a 
peninsula of about 700 acres, of un¬ 
even surface, and originally contain¬ 
ing three hills, known as Beacon, 
Copp, and Fort. These hills caused 
the early settlers to call the place Tri¬ 
mountain, since changed to Tremont. 
Boston, East Boston, Charlestown, 
and South Boston contain the slips of 
the ocean steamers. Extending about 
two miles along the harbor and sep¬ 
arated from Boston proper by an arm 
of it, is South Boston, containing 
large railroad docks and warehouses. 
Several bridges across Charles river 
connect the city with Charlestown 




Boston 


Boston 


and Cambridge. The harbor is an in¬ 
dentation of Massachusetts bay, em¬ 
bracing about 75 square miles, with 
numerous arms, and containing many 
islands presenting picturesque views. 
The population of the city, according 
to the Federal census of 1890, was 
448,477, and, according to the census 
of 1900, 560,892. 

Boston is especially noted for its 
magnificent park system. Among the 
attractions of the system are the Com¬ 
mon, a park of 84 acres in the heart 
of the city; the Public Garden, sep¬ 
arated from it by Charles street, and 
comprising 22 acres; the Back Bay 
Fens; the Jamaica Pond; Bussey 
Park; the Arnold Arboretum; Marine 
Park at City Point; and the Charles 
River Embankment. In the Common 
is a Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, 
erected near the site of the famous 
Old Elm, which was destroyed in a 
gale in 1876. In the Public Garden 
are an equestrian statue of Washing¬ 
ton, a bronze statue of Edward’ Ever¬ 
ett, a statue of Charles Sumner, one 
representing “ Venus Rising from the 
Sea,” and a monument commemorat¬ 
ing the discovery of ether as an anaes¬ 
thetic. 

The State House stands on Beacon 
Hill, and is a structure 490 feet long, 
and 211 feet wide, with a colonnade 
in front and an imposing gilded dome. 
Statues of Daniel Webster and Horace, 
Mann ornament the terrace in front 
of the building, and within it are 
statues and busts of a number of the 
eminent men of Boston and Massachu¬ 
setts, a collection of battle flags, and 
a variety of interesting historical arti¬ 
cles. The new building of the Public 
Library, which was occupied in 1895, 
is, next to the Library of Congress, 
the largest one in the country, The 
Old State-house, erected in 1748, at 
the head of State street, contains an 
historical museum in its upper floors, 
and business establishments in its 
lower. The City Hall, one of the 
most striking buildings of the city, 
on School street, is built of white Con¬ 
cord granite in the Italian Renaissance 
style, and is surmounted by a dome 
over 100 feet high. What is consid¬ 
ered the most interesting building, his¬ 
torically, in the United States, next 
to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 
is Faneuil Hall, known as “ The Cra¬ 


dle of Liberty ” erected in 1742, de¬ 
stroyed by fire in 1761, rebuilt in 1768, 
and remodeled to its present size in 
1805. The basement of the building 
is now used as a market, and the sec¬ 
ond floor for large public gatherings. 
Occupying the site of the Old Redoubt 
on Breed’s Hill, in the Charlestown 
district, is the famous Bunker Hill 
Monument. In the Charlestown dis¬ 
trict also is located the United States 
Navy Yard, which, among other ob¬ 
jects of interest, contains the largest 
rope walk in the country, and an im¬ 
mense dry dock. 

Boston is widely noted for the num¬ 
ber and high character of its educa¬ 
tional institutions. The institutions 
for higher education include Boston 
College (Roman Catholic), opened in 
1872; Massachusetts Institute of Tech¬ 
nology (non-sectarian), opened in 
1865; Boston Normal School; Massa¬ 
chusetts Normal Art School; Kinder¬ 
garten Training School, and Training 
Schools for Nurses at the Almshouse 
and Hospital, City Hospital, Chil¬ 
dren’s Hospital, Massachusetts Gen¬ 
eral Hospital, Massachusetts Homoeo¬ 
pathic Hospital, New England Baptist 
Hospital, New England Deaconess’ 
Home and Hospital, New England 
Hospital for Women and Children, St. 
Elizabeth’s Hospital, Somerville Hos¬ 
pital, and Women’s Charity Club Hos¬ 
pital. In the public school system, 
there were 12 high schools, and of 
various secondary schools there were 
12 . 

Boston was settled in 1630, by a 
party of Puritans from Salem. It was 
named after a town in Lincolnshire, 
England, from which most of the col¬ 
onists had come. In 1632 the first 
meeting house was erected, and in 
1635 a public school was built. In 
the same year the first grand jury in 
the country met here. A memorable 
massacre occurred here in 1770, and 
in 1773 several cargoes of English tea 
were thrown overboard in the harbor, 
by citizens exasperated by the impo¬ 
sition of taxes. During the early 
part of the Revolution the British 
were quartered in the town. The bat¬ 
tle of Bunker Hill was fought on 
Breed’s Hill, within the present city 
limits, June 17, 1775. Washington 
forced the British to evacuate in 1776s 
The city charter was granted in 1822, 




Boston 


Botany Bay 


and in 1872 a great fire broke out in 
the business portion of the city and 
destroyed about 65 acres of buildings. 
This part of the city was soon rebuilt, 
and, since then, Boston has been one 
of the most prosperous cities in the 
United States. 

Boston, a seaport in Lincolnshire, 
England, 107 miles N. E. of London. 
Its name is a contraction of Botolph’s 
town, and it is commonly supposed to 
occupy the site of the Benedictine Ab¬ 
bey founded on the Witham by St. 
Botolph in 654, and destroyed in 870 
by the Danes. Foxe, the martyrolo- 
gist, and Herbert Ingram, founder of 
the “ Illustrated London News,” to 
whom a statue was erected in 1862, 
were natives of Boston. The parish 
church of St. Botolph’s is one of the 
largest without transepts in England. 
The church was restored in 1843 at a 
cost of over $50,000. 

Boston College, an educational 
institution in Boston, Mass.; founded 
in 1864; under the auspices of the 
Roman Catholic Church. 

Boston Mountains, a mountain 
range in Western Arkansas, extending 
into the Indian Territory; highest 
summits, 3,000 feet above the sea. 

Boston Tea Party, Tlie, a fa¬ 
mous exploit preceding the American 
Revolution. In order to make as em¬ 
phatic a protest as possible against 
the British crown’s policy of taxing 
imports, a party of Bostonians, dis¬ 
guised as Indians, threw into the 
water on the night of Dec. 16, 1773, 
the cargoes of three English tea ships 
that had just arrived in the harbor. 
Enraged at this act, Parliament 
passed (March, 1774) the Boston 
Port Bill, taking away from that town 
the privileges of a port of entry from 
June 1, 1774, on. This bill aroused 
much indignation in the colonies and 
was an important factor in precipi¬ 
tating the outbreak of hostilities. 

Boston, The, a single screw, steel, 
protected cruiser of the United States 
Navy. The “ Boston ” was with Ad¬ 
miral Dewey’s fleet and took a promi¬ 
nent part in the battle of Manila, 
May 1, 1898. 

Boston University, a co-educa- 
tional institution in Boston, Mass.; 
organized in 1869 under the auspices 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 


Boswell, Janies, a Scotch biog¬ 
rapher ; the son of Lord Auchinleck; 
born in Edinburgh, Oct. 29, 1740. In 
1791 appeared his “ Life of Johnson,” 
a work which he had been long pre¬ 
paring, and which at once gave read¬ 
ers the same delight as it has ever 
since inspired. A second and enlarged 
edition came out in 1793. By this 
time Boswell’s health had greatly suf¬ 
fered from his too convivial habits, 
and he died in London May 19, 1795. 

Bosworth, Francke Hunting- 
ton, physician and author, born at 
Marietta, Ohio, Jan. 25, 1843, gradu¬ 
ate of Yale, and of Bellevue Hospital 
Medical College, where he became 
throat specialist. His publications 
treat mainly of his specialty. 

Botanic Gardens, establishments 
in which plants from all climates are 
cultivated for the purpose of illus¬ 
trating the science of botany, and also 
for introducing and diffusing useful or 
beautiful plants from all parts of the 
world. Until modern times their sole 
design was the cultivation of medici¬ 
nal plants. In the United States the 
chief are those of New York, Wash¬ 
ington, Philadelphia, and Cambridge. 

Botany, or Phytology, the sci¬ 
ence which treats of the vegetable 
kingdom. It thus forms one of the 
two great divisions of biology, or the 
science of organization and life, the 
other being zoology. During the 19th 
century, and especially in the latter 
half of it, enormous progress was made 
in the study of vegetable anatomy, 
histology, and physiology, and crypto- 
gamic botany was carried to great 
perfection. This was mainly due to 
the great improvement of the micro¬ 
scope, but much of the work done was 
inspired by the wider conceptions in¬ 
troduced into the science by the work 
of Darwin, Wallace, and other scien¬ 
tific evolutionists. 

Botany Bay, a bay of New South 
Wales, Australia, 5 miles S. of Syd¬ 
ney. It was discovered by Captain 
Cook, on his first voyage, in 1770, and 
named by him from the great number 
of new plants found in its vicinity. In 
1787 it received England’s first penal 
colony in the East; and, though it was 
supplanted the very next year by Port 
Jackson, yet it long continued to be 
the popular designation, not merely 
of this penal settlement, but of the 





Bot Fly 


Bottle Nose 


Australian convict settlements gener¬ 
ally. 

Bot Fly, a stout bodied, hairy fly, 
with antennae inserted in rounded 
pits, and with rudimentary mouth 
parts, developing from thick, spiny 
maggots, which are parasites in cat¬ 
tle, horses, sheep, etc. The maggots 
of the horse bot fly hang by their 
mouth hooks to the walls of the horse’s 
stomach, and cause great annoyance 
to the animal. 

Botha, Louis, a Boer commander, 
born in Greytown, Natal, about 1864. 
He began life as a farmer, and, as a 
young man, had a share in the estab¬ 
lishment of the Transvaal Republic. 
Later he fought in the Kaffir cam¬ 
paign. He was elected to the Volks- 
raad at Pretoria. Upon the outbreak 
of the Boer War with England in 
1899, he was given a subordinate com¬ 
mand, and, upon the death of General 
Joubert, in March, 1900, he became 
commander of the Boer forces. He 
demonstrated great capacity by his 
victories at Spion Kop and Colenso. 

Bothnia, Gulf of, the N. part of 
the Baltic Sea, which separates Swe¬ 
den from Finland; length about 450 
miles, breadth 90 to 130, depth from 
20 to 50 fathoms. Its water is but 
slightly salt, and it freezes in the win¬ 
ter, so as to be crossed by sledges and 
carriages. 

Both well, Janies Hepburn, Earl 

of, known in Scottish history by his 
marriage to. Queen Mary; born about 
1526. It is believed that he was 
deeply concerned in the murder of 
Darnley, Mary’s husband. He made 
love to the widowed queen, and seiz¬ 
ing her at Edinburgh, he carried her a 
prisoner to Dunbar Castle, and pre¬ 
vailed upon her to marry him. Mary 
was soon a prisoner in Edinburgh, and 
Bothwell was forced to flee to Den¬ 
mark, where he died in 1576. 

Botocudos, the most barbarous of 
the Indian tribes of Brazil, inhabit¬ 
ing the East Coast range, between the 
Rio Pardo and Rio Doce. They wear 
pieces of wood in their lower lips and 
ear lobes. 

Bo Tree, the peepul, or sacred fig 
tree of India and Ceylon, venerated 
by the Buddhists and planted near 
their temples. 


Botrychium, the rattlesnake fern, 
from its growing in such places as 
those venomous reptiles frequent. 

Bottesini, Giovanni, an Italian 
violinist, born in Crema, in Lombar¬ 
dy, Dec. 24, 1832. A concert tour, 
begun in 1840, and extending to the 
United States, established h|s fame as 
the greatest master of the double bass 
fiddle. He died in Parma, in 1889. 

Bottger, or Bottiger, Johann 
Friedrich, a German alchemist, the 
inventor of the celebrated Meissen 
porcelain, born in Schleiz, Feb. 4, 
1682. He found refuge in Saxony, 
where the Elector erected a laboratory 
for him, and forced him to turn his 
attention to the manufacture of porce¬ 
lain, resulting in the invention asso¬ 
ciated with his name. He died in 
Dresden, March 13, 1719. 

Botticelli, Sandro, (for Alessan¬ 
dro), an Italian painter of the Floren¬ 
tine school, born in 1447, died 1515. 
Working at first in the shop of the 
goldsmith Botticello, from whom he 
takes his name, he showed such talent 
that he was removed to the studio of 
the distinguished painter Fra Lippo 
Lippi. From this master he took the 
fire and passion of his style, and 
added a fine fantasy and delicacy of 
his own. He paints flowers, especially 
roses, with incomparable skill. In 
1481 Botticelli was in charge of the 
decorations in the new chapel of the 
Vatican, and painted a number of the 
portraits of the popes, and three of the 
large frescoes: Life of Moses, Temp¬ 
tation of Christ, and the Punishment 
of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. He 
also drew illustrations for Dante’s In¬ 
ferno. His Madonnas are the best ex¬ 
amples of his work, for nowhere else 
does he show such feeling and energy. 
The best known of his paintings is the 
“ Primavera ” or “ Spring ” in the 
Florence Academy of Fine Arts. In 
his later years Botticelli became an 
ardent disciple of Savonarola, and is 
said by Vasari to have neglected his 
painting for the study of mystical the¬ 
ology. 

Bottle Gourd, a gourd called 
also the white pumpkin. The Hindus 
cultivated it largely as an article of 
food. 

Bottle Nose, a cetacean, the bottle 
nosed whale, very destructive to food 







Botts 


Bouille 


fishes, and of comparatively little eco¬ 
nomic value itself. 

Botts, John Minor, an American 
legislator, born in Dumfries, Va., Sept. 
16, 1802. He studied law and, in 
1833, entered the Virginia legislature. 
He was elected to Congress in 1839 
and was frequently re-elected. Upon 
the outbreak of the Civil War he as¬ 
serted his devotion to the Union, and, 
in 1862, he suffered imprisonment on 
that account. After the war he was 
one of Jefferson Davis’ bondsmen; 
and attended the Convention of South¬ 
ern Loyalists, in Philadelphia. He 
died in Culpepper, Va., Jan. 7, 1869. 

Boucher, Jonathan, an American 
loyalist during the period prior to the 
Revolutionary War. He was born in 
England in 1738, came to America at 
the age of 21, and later became rector 
of William and Mary College in Vir¬ 
ginia. With all the force of a vigorous 
nature he opposed the Revolution with 
voice and pen, until he was forced to 
leave the country and return to Eng¬ 
land. In a volume of collected dis¬ 
courses, which he dedicated to Wash¬ 
ington with whom he was on terms of 
intimate friendship, he sets forth the 
position of the American loyalists dur¬ 
ing the agitation that led up to the 
Revolution. 

Boucicault, Dion, a dramatic 
author and actor, born in Dublin, Dec. 
26, 1822; educated at London Univer¬ 
sity. He produced his first dramatic 
work, “ London Assurance,” before he 
was 19 years old. It was signally suc¬ 
cessful, and its success determined his 
career in life. Once embarked in the 
profession of a play writer, Boucicault 
produced piece after piece in rapid 
succession, and greatly increased the 
reputation which his first attempt had 
brought him. Boucicault distinguished 
himself equally in comedy, farce and 
melodrama. When he went upon the 
stage, as he soon did, he added a high 
reputation as an actor to the reputa¬ 
tion he had previously gained as an 
author. From 1853 to 1860 he was in 
the United States, where his popular¬ 
ity was scarcely less than it had been 
in England. His chief works include 
“ The Octoroon,” “ Colleen Bawn, 

“ Arrah-na-Pogue,” “ Used up,” “ The 
Corsican Brothers,” “The Shaugraun.” 
Died, New York city, Sept. 18. 1890. 


Boudinot, Elias, a distinguished 
American patriot and philanthropist, 
born in Philadelphia, May 2, 1740; 
was President of the Continental Con¬ 
gress (1782), and first President of 
the American Bible Society (1816- 
1821). He died in Burlington, N. J., 
Oct. 24, 1821. 

Bougainville, Louis Antoine 

de, a French navigator, born in Par¬ 
is, Nov. 11, 1729. At first a lawyer, 
he afterward entered the army and 
fought bravely in Canada, under the 
Marquis of Montcalm. After the bat¬ 
tle in which Montcalm was killed, 
Bougainville returned to France and 
served with distinction in the cam¬ 
paign of 1761, in Germany. After the 
peace he entered the navy, and be¬ 
came a distinguished naval officer. 
Bougainville then made a voyage 
round the world, which enriched ge¬ 
ography with a number of new discov¬ 
eries. In the American War of In¬ 
dependence he distinguished himself 
at sea, but withdrew from the service 
after the Revolution. He died in Paris, 
April 31, 1811. 

Boughton, George Henry, an 

English-American landscape and genre 
painter, born near Norwich, England, 
in 1834. His parents came to the 
United States in 1839, and settled in 
Albany. He studied art without a 
master, and, in 1853, went to London 
and Paris" to continue his studies. He 
died in London, Jan. 19; 1905. 

Boughton, Willis, an American 
educator, born in Victor, N. Y., April 
17, 1854. He has won note in the 
work of university extension. 

Bouguereau, Guillaume 
Adolphe, a French painter, born 
1825. His admirers consider him pre¬ 
eminent as a painter of flesh, but there 
is a certain theatric air about his 
work that fails to recommend it to the 
most discriminating. He was president 
of the SociStie des Artistes in 1885 
His paintings always attract atten¬ 
tion and are well known through re¬ 
productions, his pictures of child-life 
being especially striking. Among his 
later works are “ Psyche et 1 ‘Amour,” 
“ L’Admiration,” and “ Compassion,” 
He died April 19, 1905. 

Bouille, Francois Claude, 
Amour, Marquis de, a French gen¬ 
eral, born in Cluzel, Nov. 19, 1739; 




Boulainvilliers 


Bounty Jumper 


entered the army at the age of 14 and 
served with distinction in Germany 
during the Seven Years’ War. In 
1768 he was appointed governor of the 
island of Guadeloupe, and afterward 
commander-in-chief of all the French 
forces in the West Indies. When war 
broke out in 1778, he successively took 
from the British, Dominica, Tobago, 
St. Eustache, Saba, St. Martin, St. 
Christopher’s, and Nevis. Louis XVI. 
nominated him a member of the As¬ 
sembly of Notables in 1787-1788; in 
1790 he was made commander-in-chief 
of the army of the Meuse, the Saar, 
and the Moselle. His decision of char¬ 
acter prevented the dissolution of the 
army and the outbreak of civil w T ar. 
For his share in the attempted escape 
of Louis XVI. he had to flee from 
France. In 1791 he entered into the 
service of Gustavus III., of Sweden, 
and afterward served in the corps of 
the Prince of Conde. He rejected a 
proposal, made in 1793, that he should 
take the chief command in La Vendee; 
and went to England, where his advice 
in West Indian affairs was useful to 
the government. He died in London, 
Nov. 14, 1800. 

Boulainvilliers, Henry, Count, 

a French author, descended from an 
ancient family in Picardy, born in St. 
Saire, Normandy, Oct. 11, 1658; died 
in Paris, Jan. 23, 1722. 

Boulanger, Georges Ernest 
Jean Marie, a French soldier, born 
in Rennes, April 29, 1837. After a 
successful career in Algeria and in the 
East he became Minister of War. In the 
ministerial crisis of 1887 he lost his 
portfolio, and was appointed to the 
command of the 13th Army Corps, but 
was retired March 28, 1888. In Jan¬ 
uary, 1889, he was elected Deputy to 
the National Assembly by 81,000 ma¬ 
jority, in consequence of which the 
Floquet ministry resigned. In August, 
1889, he was charged with embezzle¬ 
ment, treason and conspiracy, and 
found.guilty by the Senate; the elec¬ 
tions in the 12 cantons were annulled, 
and he was sentenced to deportation. 
He died in Brussels, Sept. 30, 1891. 

Boulder, a large, rounded block of 
stone, which, whether lying loose on 
the surface of the ground or imbedded 
in the soil, is of different composition 
from the rocks adjacent to which it 
now rests. 


Boulder Formation, a forma¬ 
tion consisting of mud, sand, and clay, 
more frequently unstratified than the 
reverse, generally studded with frag¬ 
ments of rocks, some of them angular, 
others rounded, with boulders scatter¬ 
ed here and there through the mass. 

Boulevard, a French word for¬ 
merly applied to the ramparts of a 
fortified town, but when these were 
leveled, and the whole planted with 
trees and laid out as promenades, the 
name boulevard was still retained. 
Modern usage applies it also to many 
streets which are broad and planted 
with trees. 

Boulogne, or Boulogne-sur- 

Mer, a fortified seaport of France, 
Department of Pas de Calais, at the 
mouth of the Liane. It consists of the 
upper and lower town. The former 
is surrounded with lofty walls, and has 
well planted ramparts; the latter, 
which is the business part of the town, 
has straight and well built streets. In 
the castle, which dates from 1231, 
Louis Napoleon was imprisoned in 
1840. Napoleon, after deepening and 
fortifying the harbor, encamped 180,- 
000 men here with the intention of in¬ 
vading England at a favorable mo¬ 
ment; but, upon the breaking out of 
hostilities with Austria, in 1805, they 
were called to other places. Pop. 
(1901) 49,083. 

Boulton, Matthew, an English 

mechanician, born in Birmingham, 
Sept. 3, 1728. He engaged in busi¬ 
ness as a manufacturer of hardware, 
and invented and brought to great 
perfection inlaid steel buckles, buttons, 
watch chains, etc. The introduction of 
the steam engine at Soho led to a con¬ 
nection between Boulton and James 
Watt, who became partners in trade, 
in 1769. He died in Soho, Aug. 16, 
1809. 

Bounty, a grant or benefaction 
from the Government to those whose 
services directly or indirectly benefit 
it, and to whom, therefore, it desires 
to accord some recompense, or at least 
recognition. 

Bounty Jumper, a term used 
during the Civil War in the United 
States to denote one who enlisted in 
the United States military service to 
secure the bounty paid by the Gov¬ 
ernment for volunteers, and then de¬ 
serted. 





Bouquet de la Grye 


Bourke 


Bouquet de la Grye, Jean 
Jacques Anatole, a French hydro- 
graphical engineer, born in Thiers, 
May 20, 1827. He became a member 
of the Institute; commander of the 
Legion of Honor, and a member of 
the Academy, elected in 1884. A 
project which he has long urged is to 
make Paris a seaport by means of a 
ship-canal up the Seine. 

Bourbon, an ancient French fam¬ 
ily which has given three dynasties to 
Europe, the Bourbons of France, 
Spain, and Naples. The first of the 
line known in history is Adhemar, 
who, at the beginning of the 10th cen¬ 
tury, was Lord of the Bourbonnais 
(now the Department of Allier). The 
power and possessions of the family 
increased steadily through a long series 
of Archambaulds of Bourbon, till, in 
1272, Beatrix, daughter of Agnes of 
Bourbon and John of Burgundy, mar¬ 
ried Robert, sixth son of Louis IX. of 
France, and thus connected the Bour¬ 
bons with the royal line of the Ca¬ 
pets. Their son, Louis, had the bar¬ 
ony converted into a dukedom and be¬ 
came the first Due de Bourbon. Two 
branches took their origin from the 
two sons of this Louis, Duke of Bour¬ 
bon, who died in 1341. The elder line 
was that of the Dukes of Bourbon, 
which .became extinct at the death of 
the Constable of Bourbon in 1527, in 
the assault on the city of Rome. The 
younger was that of the Counts of La 
Marche, afterward Counts and Dukes 
of Vendome. From these descended 
Antiiony of Bourbon, Duke of Yen- 
dome, who, by marriage, acquired the 
kingdom of Navarre, and whose son, 
Henry of Navarre, became Henry IY. 
of France. 

By the death of the Count of Cham- 
bord, in 1883, the elder line of the 
Bourbons of France became extinct, 
and the right of succession merged in 
the Count of Paris, grandson of King 
Louis Philippe, representative of the 
younger, or Orleans line. 

Bourbon, Charles, Duke of, or 
Constable of Bourbon, son of Gil¬ 
bert, Count of Montpensier, born in 
1489, and, by his marriage with the 
heiress of the elder Bourbon line, ac¬ 
quired immense estate. He received 
from Francis I., in the 26th year of 
his age, the sword of Constable, and 
in the war in Italy rendered important 


services by the victory of Marignano 
and the capture of Milan. On May 
6, 1527, his troops took Rome by 
storm, and the sacking and plundering 
continued for months. But the Bour¬ 
bon himself was shot as he mounted 
the breach at the head of his soldiers. 
He was but 38 years of age. 

Bourbonnais, a village of Illinois 
in Kankakee county, 55 miles south of 
Chicago. Noted since 1865 as the seat 
of the R. C. College of St. Viateur’s, 
and of Notre Dame Academy. 

Bourdaloue, Louis, a Jesuit, and 
one of the greatest preachers France 
ever produced, was born in 1632. The 
extreme popularity of his sermons in¬ 
duced his superiors to call him to 
Paris, and he became the favorite 
preacher of Louis XIV. Died in 1704. 

Bourdon (named after Mr. Bour¬ 
don of Paris, who invented it in 1849), 
a barometer consisting of an elastic 
flattened tube of metal bent to a circu¬ 
lar form and exhausted of air, so that 
the ends of the tube separate as the 
atmospheric pressure is diminished, 
and approach as it increases. 

Bourgeoisie, a name applied to a 
certain class in France, in contradis¬ 
tinction to the nobility and clergy as 
well as to the working classes. 

Bourget, Paul, a French novel¬ 
ist, born in Amiens, Sept. 2, 1852. 
He was admitted to the Academy in 
1894. He ranks among the first of 
the present day French novelists. 

Bourinot, John George, a Ca¬ 
nadian publicist, born in Sydney, 
Nova Scotia, Oct. 24, 1838. He was 
educated at Trinity College, Toronto; 
founded and edited the “ Halifax Re¬ 
porter,” became clerk of the Dominion 
Parliament in 1880; was created a 
member of the Order of St. Michael 
and St. George in 1890; and in 1892 
became President of the Royal Society 
of Canada. Died, Nov. 14, 1902. 

Bourke, John Gregory, an 
American military officer, born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., June 23, 1846. He 
was graduated at West Point in 1869, 
and saw much service against the In¬ 
dians, rising through various grades 
to the rank of major. He became an 
expert in American ethnological lore. 
He was an officer of great courage and 
ability. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., 
June 8, 1896. 






Bourmont 


Bowditcli 


Bourmont, Louise Auguste 
Victor de Ghaisne, Comte de, 

Marshal of France, born in Anjou, 
Sept. 2, 1773; died in Anjou, Oct. 27, 
1846. 

Bourne, Hugh, founder of the 
sect of Primitive Methodists, born in 
Staffordshire, England, April 3, 1772. 
In the course of his life he visited 
Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the 
United States, where his ministrations 
were attended with great success. He 
died in Bemersly, Oct. 11, 1852. 

Bourrienne, Fauvelet de, a 
French diplomatist, < born in 1769, 
and educated along with Bonaparte at 
the School of Brienne, where a close 
intimacy sprang up between them. 
Bourrienne went to Germany to study 
law and languages, but, returning to 
Paris in 1792, renewed his friendship 
with Napoleon, from whom he ob¬ 
tained various appointments, and, lat¬ 
terly, that of minister plenipotentiary 
at Hamburg. Notwithstanding that 
his character suffered from his being 
involved in several dishonorable mone¬ 
tary transactions, he continued to fill 
high State offices, and, in 1814, was 
made prefect of police. On the abdi¬ 
cation of Napoleon he paid his court 
to Louis XVIII., and was nominated 
a Minister of State. The Revolution 
of July, 1830, and the loss of his 
wealth affected him so much that he 
lost his reason, and died in a lunatic 
asylum in 1834. 

Bourse, an exchange where mer¬ 
chants, bankers, etc., meet for the 
transaction of financial business. Used 
especially of the Stock Exchange of 
Paris. 

Boussa, or Bussang, a city of 
Africa, in the Sudan, on the Niger, 
near which are rapids. It was here 
that Mungo Park met his death in 
1805. Pop. est. 12,000 to 18,000. 

Boutelle, Charles Addison, an 
American legislator, born in Damar- 
iscotta, Me., Feb. 9, 1839; served in 
the navy during the Civil War, enter¬ 
ing as an acting master, and being 
promoted to lieutenant for gallantry 
in action. In 1870 he became the edi¬ 
tor of the Bangor “ Whig and Cou¬ 
rier.” He was elected to Congress in 
1882, and held his seat till December, 
1900, when he resigned, and was made 
a captain on the retired list of the 


navy. He was author of the bill 
(1890) authorizing the construction 
of the first modern battleship of the 
United States Navy. He died in 
Waverly, Mass., May 21, 1901. 

Boutwell, George Sewell, an 
American statesman, born in Brook¬ 
line, Mass., Jan. 23, 1818; was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in 1836; served in 
the state Legislature in 1842-1851; 
Governor of Massachusetts in 1851- 
1852; was organizer of the Republican 
Party in 1854; appointed the first 
commissioner of the newly established 
Department of Internal Revenue in 
1862; a Representative in Congress in 
1863-1869; one of the managers of the 
impeachment trial of President John¬ 
son ; Secretary of the Treasury in 
1869-1873; and a U. S. Senator, 1873- 
79. He died Feb. 28, 1905. 

Bouvard, Alexis, a Swiss mathe¬ 
matician an® astronomer, born in 
1767; went to Paris about 1785 to 
study mathematics and astronomy, 
and in 1793 obtained a position in the 
Paris Observatory. He is celebrated 
for his researches in the theory of 
planetary motions, especially those of 
Jupiter and Saturn. Later he took 
up the theory of Uranus, and was the 
first to suggest that the discrepancies 
between the old and new observations 
could only be reconciled by the hypoth¬ 
esis of another undiscovered disturb¬ 
ing planet, an opinion which he re¬ 
tained till his death, three years be¬ 
fore the discovery of Neptune. 

Bovidse, the ox family of ruminat¬ 
ing animals, containing not merely 
the oxen, but many others animals, 
placed in other families, such as the 
bison, buffalo, yak, zebu, etc. They 
are generally of large size, with broad, 
hairless muzzles; most of them have 
been domesticated. 

Bowditcli, Henry Ingersoll, an 
American physician, born in Salem, 
Mass., Aug. 9, 1808. He discovered 
the law of soil moisture as a cause of 
consumption in New England; intro¬ 
duced several new features in surgical 
treatment, and was author of many 
general and special works in medical 
science. He died in Boston, Mass., 
Jan. 14, 1892. 

Bowditcli, Henry Pickering, an 

American educator, born in Boston, 
Mass., April 4, 1840; was graduated 




Bowdoin 


Box 


at Harvard in 1861, and subsequently 
studied chemistry and medicine, and, 
after the Civil War, in which he 
reached the rank of major in the 
Union service, he took a special course 
in physiology in France and Germany. 
In 1871-1876 he was Assistant Pro¬ 
fessor of Physiology in the Harvard 
Medical School, and in 1876 was 
elected to the full chair. He is a 
member of the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences, as well as of nu¬ 
merous medical societies, and has pub¬ 
lished many papers on physiological 
subjects. 

Bowdoin, Janies, an American 
patriot, born in Boston, Aug. 8, 1727. 
He was prominent in Massachusetts 
during the Revolution. He became 
governor of his State in 1785, and, in 
the following year, suppressed Shay’s 
rebellion. Bowdoin College was named 
after him. He died in Boston, Nov. 6, 
1790. 

Bowdoin College, a co-education- 
al institution in Brunswick, Me.; or¬ 
ganized in 1794 under the auspices of 
the Congregational Church; but is now 
non-sectarian. Its several departments 
have about 400 students, and 40 in¬ 
structors. 

Bowen, Henry Chandler, an 

American editor and publisher, born 
in Woodstock, Conn., Sept. 11, 1813. 
He received a common school educa¬ 
tion and entered business. In 1848 he 
helped found “ The Independent,” in 
New York. He died in Brooklyn, N. 
Y., Feb. 24, 1896. 

Bowen, Herbert Wolcott, 

United States Minister to Venezuela, 
who acquired world-wide repute as a 
diplomatist by his management in be¬ 
half of Venezuela of negotiations with 
England, Germany, and Italy, which 
brought to a close the blockade of 
Venezuela ports by those powers in 
1902-1903. Mr. Bowen was born in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., Feb. 29,1856; studied 
at the Brooklyn Polytechnic, in Europe 
and at Yale, and was graduated 
with honor from the Columbia Law 
School in 1881. He practiced law in 
New York, and was appointed in 1890 
Consul and Consul-General to Barce¬ 
lona, and afterward Minister to Per¬ 
sia. In June, 1901, he was appointed 
Minister to Venezuela. When the al¬ 
lies began war on Venezuela to compel 

E. 22. 


payment of certain claims President 
Castro requested Mr. Bowen to act in 
behalf of Venezuela in arranging terms 
for a settlement. He was a successful 
diplomat, but in June, 1905, was dis¬ 
missed from gov’t service owing to 
injudicious charges against his prede¬ 
cessor, Assist. Sec. of State F.' B. 
Loomis. 

Bower Birds, the name given to 
certain birds found in Australia. The 
name is given because these birds are 
in the habit of building bowers as well 
as nests. 

Bowery, Tbe, a New York street. 
It begins at Chatham Square and ter¬ 
minates at Cooper Union. It was long 
notorious for the resorts located along 
its length, but its character has under¬ 
gone improvement. 

Bowie, James, an American fron¬ 
tiersman, born in Burke county, Ga., 
about 1790. He took part in the re¬ 
volt of Texas against Mexico, and fell 
in the Alamo massacre, March 6, 1836. 
He gave his name to the bowie knife. 

Bowles, Francis Tiffany, an 
American naval constructor, born in 
Springfield, Mass., Oct. 7, 1858. He 
was graduated at the United States 
Naval Academy in 1879, and has ever 
since been prominent in the work of 
naval construction, with special refer¬ 
ence to the rehabilitated United States 
navy. He has been in charge of con¬ 
struction at the navy yards in Nor¬ 
folk and Brooklyn. 

Bowman, Edward Morris, Amer¬ 
ican organist and musical theorist, b. 
Barnard, Vt. in 1848; studied in Ber¬ 
lin, Paris, and London, under famous 
masters; and was the first American 
A. R. C. O. of London. In 1877 he pub¬ 
lished “Bowman-Weitzmann’s Manual 
of Musical Theory,” and soon ranked 
among America’s foremost musical 
pedagogues, in 1891 succeeding Dr. F. 
L. Ritter at Vassar. He was organist 
of the Bapt. Temple, Brooklyn, 1895- 
1905; since, of Calvary Ch., N. Y. C. 

Bowne, Borden Parker, an 
American philosophical writer, born 
in Leonardsville, N. J., Jan. 14, 1847. 
He was religious editor of the New 
York “ Independent,” 1875-1876, be¬ 
coming Professor of Philosophy at 
Boston University in 1876. 

Box, the English name of buxus, 
a genus of plants. In its wild state 








Boxers 


Boycotting 


it is a small tree. It is found all 
over the world in some form of spe¬ 
cies. It is an evergreen. 

Bo xers, members of a Chinese se¬ 
cret society which aims ostensibly at 
the expulsion of foreigners. The 
origin of the Boxers appears to have 
been due to fanatic opposition to 
Christian missionaries, and to the en¬ 
croachments of European powers upon 
Chinese territory. 

Early in 1900 the native popu¬ 
lation in Shantung were found to be 
rallying around the standard of the 
Boxers and adopting its motto, “ Up¬ 
hold the dynasty, drive out the for¬ 
eigners.” The Diplomatic Corps at 
Peking called upon the Imperial Gov¬ 
ernment to suppress the movement. 
In May, 1900, they began a 
concerted movement upon the Chinese 
capital which, notwithstanding the 
protests of the Diplomatic Corps, re¬ 
mained unchecked. 

The situation had been rendered ad¬ 
ditionally threatening by the action of 
the allies in opening fire upon the forts 
at Taku. On June 17 the warships 
of the Powers were in force at that 
port; when fired upon by the Chinese 
they opened a bombardment. The 
demonstration before Taku had been 
deprecated by the United States com¬ 
mander, Admiral Kempff, who did not 
participate in the bombardment. Plis 
warning that hostilities would unite 
the Chinese against the foreigners was 
justified by events. 

In June, 1900, Peking was reduced 
to a state of siege by the Boxers. The 
position of the foreigners in the capi¬ 
tal became precarious. The entire 
Diplomatic Corps was cut off from 
communication with the outside world. 
After capturing Tien-Tsin the forces 
of the powers advanced on Peking, de¬ 
feating the Chinese who opposed them, 
and rescuing the legations from de¬ 
struction. The troops were just in 
time to save the inmates of the lega¬ 
tions, and a large number of native 
Christians from outrage and massacre. 
The Chinese court fled from Peking, 
and after many months of desultory 
warfare and negotiation China con¬ 
sented to pay full indemnity and to 
punish the officials guilty of inciting 
the Borers. The society has not been 
thoroughly repressed, and is still a 
^menace to foreigners. 


Box Tortoise, a name given to 
one or two North American tortoises 
that can completely shut themselves 
into their shell. 

Boyaca, a Department of Colom¬ 
bia, touching Venezuela. In the W. it 
is mountainous; in the E. it has vast 
prairies, and is watered by the Meta 
and its tributaries. The Muzo emer¬ 
ald mine is the richest in the world, 
and the Department is rich in salt 
springs, coal, iron, plumbago, and 
copper ore. Area, 33,351 square 
miles; population (est.) 645,000. Capi¬ 
tal, Tunja. 

Boyar, Boiar, or Boyard, a 

name first used by the Bulgarians, 
Serbs and Russians, subsequently 
adopted by the Moldavians and Walla- 
chians, and synonymous with bojarin, 
used by the Bohemians, Poles, and 
other Slavic tribes, to qualify the high¬ 
est social condition; corresponding in 
certain respects to that of an English 
peer. 

Boycotting, a practice which 
owes its name to Capt. C. C. Boycott 
(died June 21, 1897), of Lough Mask 
House, in Mayo, Ireland, and agent, 
in 1880, of Lord Erne, an Irish noble¬ 
man. The former gentleman having 
given offense about agrarian matters to 
the people among whom he lived, dur¬ 
ing the land agitation of 1880-1881, 
no one would gather in his crops. The 
case being reported in the “ Press,” 
about 60 Orangemen, belonging to the 
North of Ireland, each man carrying 
a revolver, organized themselves into 
a “ Boycott relief expedition.” The 
Government gave them a strong es¬ 
cort of cavalry, besides foot soldiers 
and constabulary, artillery also being 
added on the return journey. The 
crops were gathered in and sent away, 
and the Captain himself brought off to 
a region of greater security. The ob¬ 
ject of a boycott is to put a person 
outside the pale of the society, amid 
which he lives, and on which he de¬ 
pends; socially to outlaw him, to re¬ 
fuse to sell to, and decline to buy from, 
him; to refuse to work for or to em¬ 
ploy him. 

In the United States and in England 
the boycott is made use of by trade 
unionists as a strike measure. It has 
in some instances been enjoined by the 
courts, and in some States laws have 
been passed against it. 




Boyd 


Boyton 


Boyd, Belle, a Confederate spy, 
born in Martinsburg, W. Va., May 9, 
1843. She rendered aid to the South¬ 
ern cause by detecting the Federal 
plans of campaign and revealing them 
to the Confederates. Gen. “ Stone¬ 
wall ” Jackson sent her a letter of 
thanks. She died at Kilbourn, Wis., 
June 11, 1900. 

Boyd, Thomas Duckett, an 

American educator, born in Wythe- 
ville, Va., Jan. 20, 1854. He was 
graduated at Louisiana State Univer¬ 
sity, and has held important posts in 
the educational institutions of Louisi¬ 
ana. Since 1896 he has been Presi¬ 
dent of Louisiana State University. 

Boyden, Seth, an American in¬ 
ventor, born in Foxboro, Mass., Nov. 
17, 1788; was brought up on a farm, 
and attended a district school. Me¬ 
chanically inclined, he spent much 
time experimenting in a blacksmith 
shop. His first invention was a ma¬ 
chine for making nails, and in 1809 
he undertook to manufacture both 
nails and files. Soon afterward he in¬ 
vented a machine for splitting leather, 
and in 1815, he took it to Newark, N. 
J., where he engaged in the leather 
business. In 1816 he invented a ma¬ 
chine for cutting brads, and followed 
this by the invention of patent leather, 
which he manufactured till 1831, when 
he began making malleable iron cast¬ 
ings, on a system of his own. In 1835 
he turned his attention to steam en¬ 
gines ; substituted the straight axle for 
the crank in locomotives; and invented 
the cut-off now used instead of the 
throttle valve. In 1849 he went to 
California, but was unsuccessful, and 
returned to New Jersey, where he ap¬ 
plied himself to farming, and devel¬ 
oped a variety of strawberry previous¬ 
ly unequaled in size or quality. He 
died in Middleville, N. J., March 31, 
1870. 

Boyer, Jean Pierre, President of 
the Republic of Haiti, was a mulatto, 
born in Port-au-Prince in 1776. He 
was educated in France, and, in 1776, 
entered the military service. He 
was unanimously elected President of 
the Republic in 1818. He arranged 
the financial affairs, collected funds 
into the treasury, improved the admin¬ 
istration, and encouraged arts and sci¬ 
ences. After the death of Christophe, 
he united the monarchical part of the 


island with the Republic in 1820; and, 
in 1821, the eastern district also, 
w r hich had hitherto remained under the 
dominion of Spain; and he urgently 
sought the recognition of the inde¬ 
pendence of the youthful State by 
France, which was obtained, in 1825, 
upon payment of an indemnity of 150,- 
000,000 francs. Boyer carried on the 
government of the Republic of Haiti 
for 15 years from this time with the 
most perfect peace; but his policy, 
which was rather arbitrary, and direct¬ 
ed to the object of depressing the ne¬ 
groes in favor of his own race, result¬ 
ed in a victorious insurrection in 1843. 
Boyer fled to Jamaica. In 1848 he 
went to Paris, and died there, July 9, 
1850. 

Boyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth, an 

American novelist, born at Frederiks- 
varn, Norway, Sept. 23, 1848. After 
completing his university studies at 
Christiania, he came to the United 
States in 1869 and was editor of a 
Norwegian journal in Chicago. He re¬ 
turned to Europe in 1872 and studied 
Germanic Philology at Leipsic two 
years; then, returning to this country, 
he was Professor of German in Cor¬ 
nell University for six years, and then 
of Germanic Languages and Litera¬ 
ture in Columbia College till his death. 
He died in New York, Oct. 4, 1895. 

Boyne, a river of Ireland, rises in 
the Bog of Allen, County Kildare, and 
flows N. E. through Meath to Dro¬ 
gheda, below which it enters the Irish 
Sea. 

Boynton, Henry Van Ness, an 

American army officer; born in West 
Stockbridge, Mass., July 22, 1835; re¬ 
moved to Cincinnati, O., in 1846; 
graduated at the Kentucky Military 
Institute in 1858; and was retained in 
the faculty of that institution. He 
served in the Civil and Spanish-Amer¬ 
ican Wars. Died June 3, 1905. 

Boyton, Paul, an Irish-Ameri- 
can swimmer, born in Dublin, June 29, 
1848; served in the United States navy 
in 1863-1865, and under Gen. Pedro 
Martinez during the revolution in So¬ 
nora, Mexico; connected with the 
United States life-saving service in 
1867—1869. He invented a life-pre¬ 
serving suit, in which, in 1874, he 
leaped from a vessel off the coast of 
Ireland, and, after remaining seven 
hours in the water, reached land safe- 




Bozrah 


Bradford 


ly. On May 28, 1875, he crossed the 
English Channel in this suit, swim¬ 
ming across in 24 hours. In 1876 he 
made the run from the Bayou Goula 
to New Orleans, La., 100 miles, in 
24 hours. In May, the same year, 
he descended the Danube from Linz to 
Budapest, 460 miles, in six days. 
Later he went from Oil City, Pa., to 
I the Gulf of Mexico, 2,342 miles, in 80 
days, being exposed at first to great 
cold and later to extreme heat. In 
November, 1879, he descended the 
Connecticut river from Canada to 
Long Island Sound. On Sept. 
17, 1881, he started from Cedar 
Creek, Mont., to swim to St. Louis, 
Mo., and accomplished the long jour¬ 
ney, 3,580 miles, Nov. 20. In 1888 he 
made a voyage down the Ohio river. 
He published an account of his travels. 

Bozrali, an ancient city of Pales¬ 
tine, E. of the Jordan, and about 80 
miles S. of Damascus. 

Bozzaris, Marcos, a Greek pa¬ 
triot, born in 1789. He was a Su- 
liote, and distinguished himself by his 
devotion to his country, in defending 
it against the Turks. He fell in a 
night attack upon a body of the Turco- 
Albanian army, who were advancing 
with the view of taking Missalonghi, 
which he had successfully defended 
for a considerable time, Aug. 20, 
1823. 

Brabant, the central district of 
the lowlands of Holland and Belgium, 
extending from the Waal to the 
sources of the Dyle, and from the 
Meuse and Limburg plains to the 
Lower Scheldt. It is divided between 
the Kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, 
into three provinces, (1) Dutch or 
North Brabant, area 1,977 square 
miles, population 516,670; (2) Bel¬ 
gian Province of Antwerp, area of 
1,095 square miles, pop., 713,740; and 
(3) the Belgian Province of South 
Brabant, area, 1,276 square miles, 
pop., 1,120,976. 

Bracbiopoda, animals with arm¬ 
like feet; one of the great classes into 
which the moluscous sub-kingdom of 
the animal kingdom is divided. 

Bracken, or Brake, a species of 
fern very common in the United States 
and Europe generally, and often cov¬ 
ering large areas on hillsides and 
waste grounds. 


Braddock, Edward, a British 
soldier, born in Perthshire, Scotland, 
about 1695, entered the Coldstream 
Guards in 1710, and was appointed 
Major-General in 1754. Nine months 
later he sailed as commander against 
the French in America, and, with a 
force of nearly 2,000 British and 
provincial troops, reached the Monon- 
gahela, a branch of the Ohio, on July 
8, 1755. Leaving the baggage behind, 
on the 9th he pushed forward with a 
chosen force to invest Fort Duquesne, 
on the present site of Pittsburg, Pa. 
On the right bank of the river his ad¬ 
vance guard was attacked by a party 
of about 900 French and Indians. No 
less than 63 out of 86 officers, and 914 
out of 1,373 men engaged, were either 
killed or wounded. The French loss 
was trifling. Braddock was carried 
from the field, and died July 13, 1755, 
at Great Meadows, about 60 miles 
from the scene of his fatal surprise. 

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth, an 
English novelist, born in London in 
1837. She is one of the most prolific 
writers of her day. 

Bradford, a municipal and par¬ 
liamentary borough and important 
manufacturing town in the W. Riding 
of Yorkshire, England, the chief seat 
in England of the spinning and weav¬ 
ing of worsted yarn and woolens. Pop. 
(1901) 280,161. 

Bradford, Alden, an American 
historian and journalist, born at Dux- 
bury, Mass., Nov. 19, 1765; originally 
a Congregational minister he became 
Secretary of State of Massachusetts 
(1812-1824), and editor of the “Bos¬ 
ton Gazette” (1826). He died in 
Boston, Oct. 26, 1843. 

Bradford, Joseph, an American 
journalist and dramatic author, born 
near Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 24, 1843. 
His real name was William Ran¬ 
dolph Hunter. Besides satirical 
verses he wrote a number of poems 
which were highly esteemed, especially 
those on the death of Victor Hugo 
and of General Grant. He died in 
Boston, Mass., April 13, 1886. 

Bradford, Boyal B., an Ameri¬ 
can naval officer, born in Turner, Me., 
July 22, 1844. He was graduated at 
the United States Naval Academy in 
1865, and received promotion through 
various grades to the rank of Com- 




Bradford 


Bragg 


mander. He has made a specialty of 
equipment, and since 1897 has been 
Chief of the Bureau of Equipment at 
the Navy Department in Washington. 

Bradford, William, an Ameri¬ 
can painter, born in New Bedford, 
Mass., in 1827. He entered business 
early in life, but abandoned it for art. 
His subjects were the ice fields of the 
North Atlantic. He died in New York 
city, April 25, 1892. 

Bradford, William, an Ameri¬ 
can colonial governor and author, born 
in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, in 
March, 1588. He was one of the sign¬ 
ers of the celebrated compact on the 
Mayflower; and, in 1621, on the death 
of the first governor, John Carver, was 
elected to the same office, which he 
continued to fill (with the exception 
of a brief period when he declined re- 
election) until his death. His admin¬ 
istration was remarkably efficient and 
successful, especially in dealing with 
the Indians. He died in Plymouth, 
Mass., May 9, 1657. 

Bradlee, Nathaniel, an Ameri¬ 
can architect, born in Boston in 1829; 
began the study of architecture in 
1846. He achieved wonderful suc¬ 
cess, having been the architect of over 
500 prominent buildings in the city of 
Boston. In 1869 he made a national 
reputation by moving bodily the large 
brick structure known as the Hotel 
Pelham to the corner of Tremont and 
Boylston streets. The work attracted 
wide attention, both in this country 
and in Europe. He subsequently su¬ 
perintended the removal of the Boyls¬ 
ton Market. He died in 1888. 

Bradley, John Edwin, an Amer¬ 
ican educator, born in Lee, Mass. He 
was graduated at Williams College, in 
1865. He served as principal of the 
High School at Pittsfield, Mass., and 
at Albany, N. Y. Since 1892 he has 
been President of the Illinois College. 

Bradley, Joseph Philo, an Amer¬ 
ican jurist, born in Berne, N. Y., 
March 14, 1843; was graduated at 
Rutgers College in 1836; admitted to 
the bar in 1839; and became a 
Justice of the United States Supreme 
Court in 1870. As a member of the 
Electoral Commission he cast the vote 
which gave the Presidency to General 
Hayes, in 1877. He died in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., Jan. 22, 1892. 


Bradstreet, Anne, the earliest 
American poet, born in Northampton, 
England, in 1612. She was a daugh¬ 
ter of Gov. Thomas Dudley. In 1630 
she emigrated to America with her 
husband, Simon Bradstreet, Governor 
of Massachusetts. Her poems are 
quhint and literal in style. She died 
Sept. 16, 1672. 

Brady, Cyrus Townsend, author 
and P. E. clergyman, born in Alle¬ 
gheny, Pa., Dec. 20, 1861; graduated 
1883 at the United States Naval Acad¬ 
emy ; and was ordained priest in 1890. 
His published writings include several 
volumes of fiction, and semi-historical 
works. 

Bragg, Braxton, an American 
military officer; born in Warren Co., 
N. C., March 22, 1817; graduated at 
West Point, in 1837; was appointed 
Second Lieutenant in the 3d Artillery; 
served with distinction under General 
Taylor in the Mexican War; and re¬ 
tired to private life in 1856. At the 
outbreak of the Civil War, he became 
a Brigadier-General in the Confeder¬ 
ate army, and was stationed at Pensa¬ 
cola to act against Fort Pickens. In 
1862, having been appointed a general 
of division, with orders to act under 
Gen. A. S. Johnston, commanding the 
Army of the Mississippi, he took an 
important part in the two days’ bat¬ 
tle of Shiloh. On Johnston’s death he 
was appointed to his command, with 
the full rank of General, and succeed¬ 
ed General Beauregard as commander 
of the Department, in July of the 
same year. The last command he re¬ 
signed in December, 1863. His chief 
success was at Chickamauga, in Sep¬ 
tember, 1863, when he inflicted a de¬ 
feat on the army of General Rose- 
crans, but was himself, in turn, de¬ 
feated by General Grant, which led to 
his temporary removal from command 
in January, 1864, and he was appoint¬ 
ed military adviser to Jefferson Davis. 
In 1864, he assumed command of the 
Department of North Carolina. After 
the war he was chief engineer of the 
State of Alabama, and superintended 
the improvements in Mobile Bay. He 
died in Galveston, Tex., Sept. 27, 1876. 

Bragg, Edward Stuyvesant, an 
American legislator, born in Unadilla, 
N. Y., Feb. 20, 1827; educated at 
Geneva, now Hobart, College, and ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in New York, in 




Bragi 


Brainard 


1848. He removed to Fond du Lac, 
Wis., served in the Union army during 
the Civil War, and won his way to 
the rank of Brigadier-General. He 
was a member of the Union Conven¬ 
tion, at Philadelphia, in 1866; Repre¬ 
sentative in Congress in 1877-1885; 
and a delegate to the Democratic Na¬ 
tional Conventions of 1872, 1884, 1892, 
and 1896. In the Convention of 1884, 
he seconded the renomination of Gro¬ 
ver Cleveland, when he uttered the 
memorable phrase, " We love him for 
the enemies he has made.” In 1888 
he was appointed minister to Mexico; 
and in June, 1902, became the first 
United States consul-general in Ha¬ 
vana under the new republic of Cuba, 
retiring the same year on account of 
a letter which he wrote reflecting on 
the Cubans. 

Bragi, the Scandinavian god of 
poetry. He is represented as an old 
man with a long flowing beard, like 
Odin; yet with a serene and unwrin¬ 
kled brow. His wife was Idunna. 

Brahe, Tycho, a Swedish astron¬ 
omer, born in Knudstrup, near Lund, 
Dec. 14, 1546. He was descended from 
a noble family, and was sent, at the 
age of 13, to the University of Copen¬ 
hagen, where he had not been more 
than a year, when an eclipse of the 
sun turned his attention to astronomy. 
His uncle destined him for the law, 
but Brahe, while his tutor slept, 
busied himself nightly with the stars. 
In 1573 he married a peasant girl. 
After some time spent in travel, Brahe 
received from his sovereign, Frederic 
II., the offer of the island of Hven or 
Hoene, in the Sound, as the site for 
an observatory, the King also offering 
to defray the cost of erection, and of 
the necessary astronomical instru¬ 
ments, as well as to provide him with 
a suitable salary. Brahe accepted 
the generous proposal, and, in 1576, 
the foundation stone of the castle of 
Uraienburg (“fortress of the heav¬ 
ens ”) was laid. Here, for a period of 
20 years, Brahe prosecuted his obser¬ 
vations with the most unwearied in¬ 
dustry. So long as his munificent pat¬ 
ron, Frederick II., lived, Brahe’s posi¬ 
tion was all that he could have de¬ 
sired, but on his death in 1588 it was 
greatly changed. For some years, un¬ 
der Christian IV., Brahe was just tol¬ 
erated; but in 1597 his persecution 


had grown so unbearable that he left 
the country altogether, having been 
the year before deprived of his ob¬ 
servatory and emoluments. After re¬ 
siding a short time at Rostock and at 
Wandsbeck, near Hamburg, he accept¬ 
ed an invitation of the Emperor Ru¬ 
dolf II.— who conferred on him a pen¬ 
sion of 3,000 ducats — to Benatek, a 
few miles from Prague, where a new 
Uranienburg was to have been erected 
for him; but he died at Prague on 
Oct. 24, 1601. 

Brahma, the name of the first of 
the three gods who constitute the triad 
of principal Hindu deities. The epi¬ 
thets applied to this divinity are very 
numerous. 

Brahman, Brahmin, Bramin, 
or Brachman, one of the Aryan 
conquerors of India, who discharged 
priestly functions, whose ascendency, 
however, over his fellows was intellec¬ 
tual and spiritual, but not yet political 
or supported by the caste system; also 
one of the four leading castes of India. 

Brahmanism, or Brahminism, 
the system of religious belief and prac¬ 
tice introduced and propagated by the 
Brahmans. 

Brahmaputra, a large river of 
Asia, whose sources, not yet explored, 
are situated near Lake Manasarovara, 
in Tibet, near those of Indus. 

Brahmo-Somaj, or the ThieStic 
Church of India, was founded in 1830 
by an enlightened Brahman, who 
sought to purify his religion from im¬ 
purities and idolatries. 

Brain, the encephalon, or center 
of the nervous system and the seat of 
consciousness and volition in man and 
the higher animals. See Illustration. 

Brainard, David Legg, an 
American explorer, born in Herkimer 
county, N. Y., Dec. 21, 1856. He re¬ 
ceived a common school education and 
enlisted as a private in the United 
States army in 1876. He rose to dis¬ 
tinction in the Greeley Arctic Expedi¬ 
tion and was promoted through the 
various grades to the rank of Colonel. 
In 1899 he was sent as Chief Com¬ 
missary to Manila, Philippine Islands. 

Brainard, John Gardiner Cal¬ 
kins, an American poet, born in New 
London, Conn., Oct. 21, 1796; died in 
New London, Conn., Sept. 26, 1828, 





Braiiie 


Bramante d’Urbino 


Braine, Daniel Lawrence, an 

American naval officer, born in New 
York city, May 18, 1829. He entered 
the United States navy in 1846 and 
became a Rear-Admiral. He served 
with distinction through the Mexican 
and Civil Wars. In 1873 he obtained 
the surrender by Spain of 102 sur¬ 
vivors of the “ Yirginius ” prisoners. 
He died in Brooklyn, N. Y., Jan. 30, 



HUMAN BRAIN. 


Median Longitudinal Section through 
Head and Upper Part of Neck, to Show 
Relation of Brain to Cranium and the 
Spinal Cord. 

c, cerebrum; cb, cerebellum; sc, spinal 
cord; spc, spinal column; mo, medulla 
oblongata _ passing, through foramen 
magnum, into the spinal cord; pv, pons 
Varolii; cp, cerebral peduncles or crura 
cerebri; cqa, anterior corpora quadrige- 
mina; cqp, posterior corpora quadrige- 
mina; pg, pineal gland; pb, pituitary 
body; cc, corpus collosum, divided trans¬ 
versely; f, fornix; mg, marginal gyrus; 
?f, gyrus fornicatus; cmg, calloso-mar- 
ginal suleus; O, occipital lobe; po, 
parieto-occipital fissure; cf, calcarine fis¬ 
sure; dm, dura mater, separating cere¬ 
brum from cerebellum. 

Brainerd, David, an American 
missionary, born at Haddam, Conn., 
April 20, 1718. He entered Yale Col¬ 
lege in 1739, but three years later was 
expelled for declaring that one of the 
college tutors had no more of the grace 
of God than a chair. That same year 


he was licensed to preach, and sent as 
a missionary to the Indians in Massa¬ 
chusetts. He labored afterward among 
the Indians in Pennsylvania, and with 
much success in New Jersey, baptizing 
there no fewer than 77 converts, of 
whom 38 were adults. He died in 
Northampton, Mass., Oct. 9, 1747. 

Brain Fever, a term in common 
use for inflammation of the lining 
membranes of the brain, meningitis; 
or of the brain itself, cerebritis. Brain 
fever is characterized by violent head¬ 
ache, intolerance of light, excitement, 
extreme sensitiveness, hyperaemia, de¬ 
lirium, convulsions, and coma. These 
are the symptoms of cerebral irrita¬ 
tion, which is often followed by cere¬ 
bral depression. 

Brake, a device for regulating or 
stopping motion by friction. Rail¬ 
road air-brakes consist of a cylinder 
and piston under each car, connected 
by tubes with a reservoir for com¬ 
pressed air, automatically filled by a 
special engine under control of the 
engineer. By a combination of con¬ 
necting levers and rods, the brakes are 
set against all the wheels. Another 
system substitutes a vacuum for com¬ 
pressed air. 

Bramah, Joseph, an English in¬ 
ventor ; born in Yorkshire in 1749; 
especially known for an ingenious lock, 
and for the hydraulic press. He died 
in Pimlico, Dec. 9, 1814. 

Bramante d’Urbino (real name 
Donato Lazzari), an Italian archi¬ 
tect, born in 1444. Showing an early 
taste for drawing, he was brought up 
to the profession of a painter, but he 
quitted it to dedicate his talents to 
architecture, which he cultivated with 
uncommon success. He first designed 
and commenced in 1513, the erection 
of St. Peter’s at Rome, carried on and 
finished by other architects after his 
death. He was a great favorite with 
Pope Julius II., who made him super¬ 
intendent of his buildings, and, under 
that pontiff, he formed the magnificent 
project of connecting the Belvidere 
Palace with the Vatican by means of 
two grand galleries carried across a 
valley. He built many churches, mon¬ 
asteries, and palaces at Rome, and in 
other Ttalian cities, and was employed 
by Pope Julius as an engineer to forti¬ 
fy Bologna, 1504. Bramante painted 
portraits with ability, and he was 









Brambanan 


Brandenburg 


skilled in music and poetry. He died 
in 1514. 

Brambanan, a district of the 
Province of Surakarta, Java, rich in 
remains of Hindu temples, of which 
there are six groups, with two appar¬ 
ently monastic buildings. The edifices 
are composed entirely of hewn stone, 
and no mortar has been used in their 
construction. The largest is a cruci¬ 
form temple, surrounded by five con¬ 
centric squares, formed by rows of de¬ 
tached cells or shrines, embracing an 
area of 500 feet square. In several of 
these dagobas the cross-legged figures 
of Buddha remain but the larger fig¬ 
ures which must have occupied the 
central temples have disappeared from 
all but one. 

Bramble, or Blackberry, a 

plant having prickly stems, which 
somewhat resemble those of the rasp¬ 
berry. The flowers do not appear till 
the summer is considerably advanced, 
and the fruit ripens toward the end 
of it, continuing to be produced till 
the frosts of winter set in. The fruit 
is too well known to need description. 
In the United States blackberries are 
extensively cultivated for their fruit. 

Bramwell, Jobn Milne, a Brit¬ 
ish physician and author, born at 
Perth, New Brunswick, Canada, 1852. 
He graduated from the University of 
Edinburgh, and made a specialty of 
hypnotism, combining with consider¬ 
able success the Parisian and Nancy 
methods of hyponosis. His published 
writings include “ What is Hypno¬ 
tism? ” 

Bran, the skins or husks of 
ground maize, wheat, rye, or other 
grain, separated from the flour. The 
nutritive value of these husks in¬ 
creases as we proceed from the out¬ 
side of the grain toward the interior. 
The outer skin, or coarse bran, is very 
indigestible, owing to the presence of a 
layer of silica. 

Branch, that part of a plant which 
is produced from a lateral leaf bud on 
the primary axis or stem. It is looked 
upon as part of the stem, and not as 
a distinct organ. 

Brancbia, the gills of fishes and 
various other inhabitants of water. 
They are the apparatus for enabling 
the animal to extract oxygen from the 

water, instead of being dependent on 


the atmosphere for that life sustain¬ 
ing element. 

Brancbiopoda, Cuvier’s first or¬ 
der of the sub-class entomostraca. The 
genera included under it, such as Cy¬ 
clops, cypris, apus, limnadia, branchi- 
pus, etc., are now generally ranked 
under several orders. 

Branco, Rio, a river of Northern 
Brazil, which rises in the Parima 
Mountains, on the very borders of 
Venezuela; and, after a S. course of 
about 400 miles, joins the Rio Negro, 
of which it is the principal tributary, 
on its way to the Amazon. 

Brand, Sir John Henry, a Boer 
statesman, born in Cape Town, Dec. 
6, 1823. Queen Victoria knighted him 
in recognition of his aid. Brandford 
was named in his honor, and Lady- 
brand was named in honor of his wife. 
He died July 15, 1888. 

Brandenburg, a province of 
Prussia, surrounded mainly by Meck¬ 
lenburg and the provinces of Pome¬ 
rania, Posen, Silesia, and Prussian 
Saxony. The soil consists in many 
parts of barren sands, heaths, and 
moors; yet the province produces much 
grain, as well as fruits, hemp, flax, to¬ 
bacco, etc., and supports many sheep. 
The forests are very extensive. The 
principal streams are the Elbe, the 
Oder, the Havel, and the Spree; but 
the first two merely skirt the territory. 
Brandenburg carries on an active 
trade in manufactured articles, and is 
well situated for commerce, since it 
has many canals, rivers, good roads, 
and is intersected by the railways from 
Berlin to Leipsic, etc. The province 
of Brandenburg includes, besides some 
other districts, the greater part of the 
former mark of Brandenburg, which 
formed the cradle of the Prussian mon¬ 
archy, and the center round which the 
present extensive kingdom has grown 
up. It is divided into the three ad¬ 
ministrative divisions of Berlin, Pots¬ 
dam, and Frankfort, and it has a total 
area of 15,381 square miles, with a 
pop. (Dec. 1, 1900) of 3,108,554. Most 
of the inhabitants are Lutherans; the 
rest are chiefly Roman Catholics and 
Jews. From 1685 to 1688 many 
French refugees, Walloons, and inhab¬ 
itants of Lorraine and of the Palatin¬ 
ate, settled in the mark. At present 
Brandenburg is the most important of 
the Prussian provinces, including as it 





Braudes 


Brass 


does the capital (Berlin), and the gov¬ 
ernments of Potsdam and Frankfort. 

Braudes, Georg, a Danish liter¬ 
ary critic of Jewish family; born in 
Copenhagen, Feb. 4, 1842, where he 
graduated at the university in 18G4. 
Several books on aesthetic and philoso¬ 
phic subjects brought on him a charge 
of skepticism which was not removed 
by an epoch-making series of lectures, 
delivered before large audiences. In 
1882 he returned to Copenhagen, 
his countrymen having guaranteed 
him an income of 4,000 crowns, 
with the one stipulation that he should 
deliver public lectures on literature. 

Branding, an ancient mode of 
punishment by inflicting a mark on 
an offender with a hot iron. It is gen¬ 
erally disused under the English civil 
law, but is a recognized punishment 
for some military offenses, as deser¬ 
tion. It is not, however, now done by 
a hot iron, but with ink, gunpowder, 
or some other preparation, so as to be 
visible, and not liable to be obliterated. 
The mark is the letter “ D,” not less 
than an inch in length, and is marked 
on the left side two inches below the 
armpit. 

Brandt, Sebastian, a German 
author; born in Strasburg, in 1458; 
studied law and the classics with zeal 
at Basel, where he received permis¬ 
sion to teach; and soon became one 
of the most influential lecturers in 
that city. The Emperor Maximilian 
showed his regard for Brandt by ap¬ 
pointing him an imperial councilor. 
His fame rests wholly upon “ The 
Ship of Fools,” a satire on the follies 
and vices of the time (1494). Its 
distinguishing note is its abounding 
humor; but it owed its great popular 
success very largely to the clever 
woodcuts with which it was illustrat¬ 
ed. He died in Strasburg in 1521. 

Brandy, a spirit produced by the 
distillation of both white and red 
wines, and largely manufactured in 
the United States. 

Brandywine Creek, in Pennsyl¬ 
vania and Delaware, is formed of two 
forks, the E. and W., which effect a 
junction in Chester county of the first 
named State, and, taking. a S. E. 
course, empties into Christiana creek 
at Wilmington. Here, Sept. 11, 1777, 
was fought a severe battle between 


the British and German troops, 18,000 
strong, under Howe, and the Ameri¬ 
cans numbering 13,000 men, under 
Washington. The consequence of this 
battle was the occupation of Philadel¬ 
phia by the British troops. 

Branner, John Casper, geolo¬ 
gist, born in New Market, Tenn., 1850, 
graduated at Cornell University in 
1874; was attached to the Brazilian 
Imperial Geological Commission 1875- 
1877, and in 1899 became vice-presi¬ 
dent of Leland Stanford University. 
His geological works are valuable. 

Brant, Joseph, a Mohawk chief, 
born in Ohio in 1742. He participat¬ 
ed in the campaign of 1755, and held 
the post of secretary to Col. Johnson, 
superintendent-general of Indian af¬ 
fairs. On the outbreak of the Ameri¬ 
can Revolution, Brant took an active 
part in raising an Indian force to op¬ 
pose the colonists, and was present at 
the action of Cherry Valley, and in 
other engagements. In 1786 he vis¬ 
ited England and collected funds for 
an Anglican Church, the first erected 
in Canada West. He passed the clos¬ 
ing years of his life at Burlington 
Bay, on Lake Ontario, on an estate 
granted him by the British Govern¬ 
ment. One of Brant’s sons command¬ 
ed a mixed Canadian and Indian force 
during the War of 1812. He died in 
Canada, Nov. 29, 1807. 

Brantome, Pierre de Bonr- 
deille, Seigneur de, a French 
chronicler, born at Perigord about 
1540. He was for many years trav¬ 
eler or soldier; retired to his estate 20 
years before his death, and used his 
leisure in writing his memoirs. He 
died, July 15, 1614. 

Brasenose, one of the colleges of 
Oxford University, founded by Wil¬ 
liam Smith, Bishop of Lincoln, and 
Sir Richard Sutton, in 1509. The 
origin of the name is doubtful, but 
there is a large nose of brass over the 
entrance. 

Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, 
of a bright yellow color, hard, ductile, 
and malleable. The best brass con- 
sits of two parts by weight of copper 
to one of zinc. Before zinc was ob¬ 
tained in its metallic form brass was 
manufactured from calamine (native 
carbonate of zinc) mixed with copper 
and charcoal. Even now this process 




Brasses 


Brazil 


is easier than the direct fusion togeth¬ 
er of the two metals. The proportion 
of copper and zinc vary. 

Brasses, Monumental, large 
plates of brass, or of the mixed metal 
called latten or laton, inlaid on slabs 
of stone, and usually forming part of 
the pavement of a church. 

Brassey, Lady Anne, an English 
descriptive writer born in London, 
about 1840. After her marriage she 
spent half of her life at sea, on Lord 
Brassey’s yacht, the “Sunbeam.” 
She died at sea Sept. 14, 1887. 

Brassey, Thomas, an English en¬ 
gineer and railroad contractor, bom 
in Baerton, Cheshire, Nov. 7, 1805. 
After receiving an ordinary education, 
he was, at the age of 16 years, ap¬ 
prenticed to a surveyor, whom he suc¬ 
ceeded in business. After building 
parts of the Grand Junction and the 
London and Southampton railways, he 
contracted in 1840, in partnership with 
another, to build the railway from 
Paris to Rouen. In a few years he 
held under contract, in England and 
France, some 10 railways, involving a 
capital of $180,000,000, and employ¬ 
ing 75,000 men. In partnership with 
Betts and Peto he undertook the 
Grand Trunk of Canada, 1,100 miles 
in length. He died Dec. 8, 1870. His 
son Thomas, 1st Lord Brassey, born 
1836, is an active British statesman. 
He has written “ Work and Wages,” 
“The British Navy,” and other eco¬ 
nomical works. 

Brassicacese, an order of plants 
more generally called cruciferse (cruci¬ 
fers). Among the well known plants 
ranked under the order may be men¬ 
tioned the wall flower, the stock, the 
watercress and other cresses, the cab¬ 
bage, the turnip, etc. 

Bravi, the name formerly given in 
Italy, and particularly in Venice, to 
those who were ready to hire them¬ 
selves out to perform any desperate 
undertaking. The word had the same 
signification in Spain. 

Bravo, Nicholas, a Mexican 
statesman, born in 1790. He partici¬ 
pated in the revolution against Spain 
(1810-1817), and later aided Iturbide 
in establishing a republic. Under 
Santa Ana he twice acted as Presi¬ 
dent. He died in 1854. 


Bravura, an air requiring great 
skill and spirit in its execution, each 
syllable being divided into several 
notes. It is distinguished from a sim¬ 
ple melody by the introduction of 
florid passages, a style of both music 
and execution designed to task the 
abilities of the artist. 

Braxy, a disease in sheep. This 
term is frequently applied to totally 
different disorders, but the true braxy 
is undoubtedly an intestinal affection, 
attended with diarrhoea and retention 
of the urine. 

Bray, a small English parish, near 
Maidenhead, Berkshire, of which Si¬ 
mon Aleyn was vicar from 1540 to 
1588, during the reigns of Henry 
VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Eliza¬ 
beth. . He kept his vicarage by chang¬ 
ing his faith according to that of the 
State for the time being, becoming a 
Protestant with Henry, Catholic again 
in the reign of Mary, and Protestant 
again on the accession of Elizabeth. 
His principle was to live and die Vicar 
of Bray, and to it he adhered. 

Bray, Anna Eliza, an English 
woman of letters, born in London, 
Dec. 25, 1790. Her maiden name was 
Kempe; was married to Charles A. 
Stothard, son of the famous artist, 
and, after his death, became the wife 
of the Rev. Edward A. Bray, Vicar of 
Tavistock. She died in London, Jan. 
21, 1883. 

Brazil, now called officially the 
United States of Brazil, a vast re¬ 
public in South America, occupying a 
space nearly equal to one-half of that 
entire continent. It is of extremely 
irregular outline and varying dimen¬ 
sions; its greatest diameter being, E. 
to W., or from Cape Augustin to the 
Yavari or Jabary river, which sepa¬ 
rates it from Peru, 2,630 miles; and, 
N. to S., from Cape Orange E. of 
Oyapok bay, to the S. extremity of 
Lake Mirim, 2,580 miles; area 3,209,- 
878 square miles. It is bounded S. E., 
E., and N. E. by the Atlantic Ocean; 
N. by French, Dutch, and English 
Guiana, and Venezuela; W. and S. 
W. by Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Para¬ 
guay, and the Argentine provinces of 
Missiones, and by the republic of Uru¬ 
guay. Its entire coast-line, from the 
extreme S. point already mentioned, 
to the head of the Bay of Oyapok is 




Brazil 


Brazil 


upward of 3,700 miles. Throughout 
this vast extent of coast there are few 
great indentations, though in some 
parts smaller harbors and inlets are 
pretty numerous, many of the former 
excellent and generally surrounded by 
flats. 

. With the exception of the Rio Fran¬ 
cisco and the Parana, all the large 
rivers of Brazil empty themselves on 
its N. shores, and nearly all run par¬ 
allel courses from S. to N., traversing 
the vast plains which occupy the cen¬ 
ter and N. W. portions of the coun¬ 
try, and presenting means of internal 
communication, unequaled in any oth¬ 
er part of the globe. 

Brazil is divided, politically, into 21 
States (formerly provinces) of which 
there are at least nine each exceeding 
Great Britain in superficial extent. It 
is, however, difficult to obtain the area 
of the States, and of the whole coun¬ 
try, the existing data being very un¬ 
satisfactory and conflicting. The fol¬ 
lowing table gives the areas of the 
States and the population in 1900, as 
revised by the Brazilian Minister to 
the United States: 


States. 


Alagoas . 

Amazonas . 

Bahia . 

Ceara . 

Espirito Santo. 

Goyaz . 

Maranhao . 

Matto Grosso. 

Minas Geraes. 

Para . 

Parahyba . 

Parana . 

Pernambuco . 

Piauhy . 

Rio ae Janeiro (city 

Rio de Janeiro. 

Rio Grande do Norte 
Rio Grande do Sul.. 

Sao Paulo. 

Santa Catharina. 

Sergipe . 


Area in 
sq. Miles. 

Pop. 1900. 

22,583 

600,440 

732,460 

300,915 

164,649 

2,901,365 

40,253 

805,687 

17,312 

250,997 

288,546 

227,572 

177,566 

530,854 

532,708 

250,827 

222,160 

4,000,099 

443,553 

850,455 

28,854 

457,232 

85,453 

349,491 

49,625 

230,224 

116,218 

267,609 

538 

752,651 

26,634 

1,250,884 

22,195 

268,273 

91,335 

1,197,455 

112,330 

2,000,753 

27,436 

383,769 

7,370 

310,926 

3,209,878 

18,386,815 


In addition to the population given 
above, it is estimated that there are 
perhaps 600,000 uncivilized Indians. 
The most important towns in Brazil 
are the capital, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, 
Pernambuco, Para or Belem, San 


Paulo, Parahyba, Ceara, and Porto 
Algre. 

In remarkable contrast to the coun¬ 
tries on the W. side of the South 
American continent, Brazil has no 
mountains of very great elevation. The 
higher mountains of Brazil, most of 
them occurring at greater and lesser 
distances from the E. coast, extend 
generally in a direction more or less 
from S. to N., though numerous in¬ 
ferior ranges traverse the country in 
various other directions. The river 
system of Brazil is unequaled, per¬ 
haps, in any other part of the world 
for the number and magnitude of the 
streams of which it is composed, the 
surface of the whole N. W. portion 
being interlaced with rivers of every 
length and volume; presenting the 
complex appearance of vessels in the 
human body, to which the Amazon 
and its larger tributaries may be said 
to stand in the relation of main ar¬ 
teries. By far the greater portion of 
these numberless streams have more or 
less. of a N. direction, and finally find 
their way, either directly or through 
their principals, to the Amazon. The 
largest river of Brazil, and the largest, 
it is believed, in the world, though not 
the longest, is the Amazon, which en¬ 
ters the country from the W., about 
lat. 4° 30' S.; Ion. 70° W., and after a 
N. E. course from the point named of 
about 800 miles, flows into the Atlan¬ 
tic near the equator. In order of mag¬ 
nitude follow the Rio Negro and Me- 
deira, both tributaries of the Amazon; 
the former flowing from the N. W., 
the latter from the S. W. The other 
large rivers in this portion of the 
country are the Branco, a tributary 
of the Rio Negro; the Tapajos and 
Xingu, other two large tributaries of 
the Amazon; the Araguay, Tocantins, 
Maranhao, and Paranahyba. The 
next in size is the Rio Francisco, 
which, after flowing N. for about 800 
miles, suddenly turns due E., and 
subsequently S. E., falling into the sea 
about lat. 11° S. Passing along the 
coast, S. from the embouchure of the 
Francisco, the following considerable 
rivers occur — the Vazabarris, Itapi- 
curu, Paraguassu, Belmonte or Jequit- 
inhonha, in the State of Bahia; Doce, 
State of Espirito-Santo; and the Pa- 
raiba-do-Sul, the S. boundary of the 
same State. In this enumeration ol 
































Brazil 


Brazil 


the rivers having their embouchures 
on the E. coast of Brazil, we have 
omitted an immense number of smaller 
streams, perhaps not many below a 
hundred. In the interior of the S. 
portion of the country occur the large 
rivers Uruguay, Yguazu, Paranapan- 
ema, Tieta, Para, Paraguay, and Pa¬ 
rana, with numerous smaller streams 
— smaller in comparison to these, but 
still large rivers —winding in all di¬ 
rections through every province. Al¬ 
though unrivalled in the number and 
magnitude of its rivers, Brazil has 
comparatively few lakes of any great 
extent. The largest is the Lagoa dos 
Patos, a lagoon in the State of Rio 
Grande do Sul, the extreme S. of the 
Brazilian States; it is about 150 miles 
in length, and 35 miles in breadth at 
the widest part, and is separated from 
the sea by a narrow strip of land only; 
it discharges its water into, the ocean 
by a channel called the Rio Grande. 
Farther N. several smaller lakes oc¬ 
cur, the largest of which may be from 
20 to 30 miles in length. There are 
hardly any others worth mentioning. 

The mineral wealth of Brazil is con¬ 
siderable, and includes gold, silver, and 
iron, diamonds, topazes, and other 
precious stones. Among the earliest 
discovered and first wrought gold 
mines were those of Jaragua, but they 
have long ceased to be regularly 
worked, the precious metal being found 
more easily and in greater abundance 
mingled with the sands and alluvial 
deposits of rivers. The process of 
separation, the gold being in small par¬ 
ticles, is effected by repeated washings, 
which are continued till nothing but 
the pure metal remains at the bottom 
of the vessel. The entire quantity of 
gold produced has now greatly fallen 
off, being hardly a fourth of what it 
formerly was, owing chiefly to the 
auriferous sand having been exhausted. 
Large quantities of diamonds have 
been obtained* in Brazil. The district 
from which most stones have been de¬ 
rived is Diamantina in Minas Geraes, 
adjoining the Serra do Espinhaco. The 
diamonds have been hitherto found in 
the beds of rivers only, and are washed 
from the sand and stones with which 
they are mingled much in the same way 
as the gold. The largest known Bra¬ 
zilian diamond was found in the Rio 
Bogagens, and weighed 254% carats. 


The negro who found * a diamond 
weighing 17 carats, used to obtain his 
liberty, a variety of proportionate re¬ 
wards being appointed for those of 
lesser value. About 20,000 negroes 
w 7 ere at one time employed in the dia¬ 
mond mines. The government re¬ 
ceived one-fifth of the total value of 
all the gold and diamonds found in 
the country. Notwithstanding the 
sounding names of these twm items of 
the mineral wealth of Brazil, neither 
of them has been nearly so profitable, 
nor so beneficial to the general inter¬ 
ests of the country as the homeliest of 
its agricultural productions. In the 
short space of a year and a half the 
exports of sugar and coffee amounted 
to more than the value of diamonds 
found throughout a period of 80 years 
within the limits of Brazil. 

As almost the whole of Brazil lies 
S. of the equator, and in a hemisphere 
where there is a greater proportion of 
sea than land, its climate is generally 
more cool and moist than that of coun¬ 
tries in corresponding latitudes in the 
Northern Hemisphere. This is partic¬ 
ularly applicable to the flat portions of 
the country, where impenetrable for¬ 
ests occupy the alluvial plains, and, 
by preventing the sun’s rays reaching 
the earth, cut off one of the principal 
sources of heat — radiation. In the 
S. parts of Brazil, in consequence of 
the gradual narrowing of the conti¬ 
nent, the climate is of an insular char¬ 
acter— cool summers and mild win¬ 
ters. The quantity of rain that falls 
in Brazil differs widely in the amount 
in different localities. The N. States 
generally are subject to heavy rains 
and violent storms; but the S. regions 
rejoice in a settled, mild, and salu¬ 
brious climate. The rainy season 
commences in October, and usually 
lasts till March, setting in with heavy 
thunder-storms. At Rio, where the 
climate has been much modified by the 
clearing away of the forests in the 
neighborhood, the mean temperature of 
the year is 72° ; and the rains have 
been so diminished as to have seriously 
reduced the supply of water to the 
city. Generally the climate of Brazil 
is delightful, diffusing and maintaining 
a perpetual summer throughout this 
favored land. In the N. parts the air 
in the lower tracts is somewhat sultry 
and oppressive; but vegetation is vig¬ 
orous and profuse, the ground being 






Brazil 


Brazil 


covered with flowers, and the trees 
with a foliage that is ever green; while 
the nights are deliciously cool. Near 
the coast the temperature is modified 
by the trade wind, which, after tra¬ 
versing the Atlantic, fans the shores 
of Brazil, imparting a refreshing cool¬ 
ness to the atmosphere. 

The soil of Brazil, so far as its 
capabilities have been tested, is highly 
fertile. Altogether but a comparative¬ 
ly small portion has yet been subjected 
to this test, probably not more than a 
hundredth part of the surface being 
under cultivation, and this portion is 
almost entirely limited to the coast, 
and to the N. E. part of the country, 
which seems peculiarly well adapted 
for the cultivation of maize, sugar, 
and coffee. The pastures, moreover, 
are of vast extent, and, as they afford 
food for immense numbers of horned 
cattle, they form one of the principal 
sources of the wealth of the country. 
Being almost wholly within the limit 
of the palm region, the vegetation of 
Brazil is characterized generally by 
the peculiar physiognomy which that 
beautiful family of vegetables impresses 
on tropical countries. Of these nearly 
200 species are known as native to the 
country. The chief food-supplying 
plants are sugar, coffee, cacao, rice, 
maize, wheat, manioc (cassava), 
beans, bananas, yams, lemons, oranges, 
figs, etc.— the two first, sugar and cof¬ 
fee, being the staple products of the 
republic. The manioc is a native of 
Brazil, and its farina is almost the 
only kind of meal used in that coun¬ 
try. An acre of manioc is said to 
yield as much nutriment as six acres 
of wheat. The Indians find in this 
beautiful and useful plant a compen¬ 
sation for the rice and other cereals 
of the Old World. But it is in the 
boundless forests of Brazil that the 
vigor of the vegetative power is ex¬ 
hibited in its most imposing form. 
Rubber, drugs, dyes, fibers, vegetable 
ivory, and cabinet woods are all prod¬ 
ucts of the Brazilian forests. Among 
the trees are the andaacu, or Purga da 
Paulistas, the seeds of which yield a 
purgative oil; the cacao or chocolate 
tree; the Brazil-wood tree, used, under 
the name of Pernambuco wood, for 
dyeing silk of a crimson color; the 
rosewood tree, the fustic, mahogany, 
and a variety of others well adapted 


for various purposes. The beauty, va¬ 
riety, and abundance of the flowers of 
this extraordinary country are no less 
remarkable than any other of its vege¬ 
table productions. 

The principal domestic animals of 
Brazil are horned cattle and horses; 
the numbers of the former are prodigi¬ 
ous, covering the boundless plains of 
the interior. The greatest part of 
them live in a wild or semi-wild state. 
Horses are numerous in the S. prov¬ 
inces ; they are of a middling size, from 
12 to 14% hands high, but strong, live¬ 
ly, and swift. Mules are reared in the 
S. States. Sheep are in little repute, 
the meat being ill flavored and the 
wool of indifferent quality. Goats 
and hogs are abundant. The woods 
of Brazil swarm with wild animals, 
including the puma, jaguar, sloth, ar¬ 
madillo, etc. Wild hogs are also com¬ 
mon, as well as an amphibious animal 
called the water hog or capybara, re¬ 
sembling a hog in form, but of the size 
of a heifer. Monkeys are likewise nu¬ 
merous ; and vampire bats are in some 
localities so destructive as to prevent 
the rearing of cattle. Among the 
feathered tribes are, the smallest, the 
humming-bird, and one of the largest, 
the rhea or ostrich. There are also 
parrots in great variety, and a power¬ 
ful eagle, the harpy. Water-fowl, es¬ 
pecially geese and ducks, abound in 
certain seasons on the lakes and la¬ 
goons at the S. extremity of Brazil. 
The reptiles consist of the boa constric¬ 
tor and other species of serpents, some 
of them venomous, especially the jar- 
raraca, which is much dreaded by the 
natives. When full grown it is usu¬ 
ally about six feet long, and is nearly 
allied to the rattlesnake genus. It 
prevails over all the S. States. Its 
bite is attended with great suffering, 
and with the most serious conse¬ 
quences, even where death is averted. 
In the marshy countries of the S. the 
boa or python is said to attain a 
length of over 20 feet. Other im¬ 
portant reptiles are several species of 
alligator and different kinds of turtle, 
which, on the Amazon in particular, 
supply abundance of food. The in¬ 
sects of Brazil are, many of them, re¬ 
markable for the beauty of their col¬ 
ors and their size, especially the but¬ 
terflies and moths, of which as many 
as 14,000 species are known. In 




Brazil 


Brazil 


some localities insects are so numerous 
in the woods that their noise is heard 
in a ship at anchor some distance 
from the shore. The white ants are 
especially numerous and destructive. 
The scorpions of Brazil attain a length 
of six inches. Most of the bees of the 
country are stingless, there being no 
fewer than 30 species of that descrip¬ 
tion. The shores and rivers abound 
with fish. Among the most valuable 
of those caught on the former is the 
garopa, which attains a length of from 
12 to 20 feet, and is well flavored; 
they are most numerous on the coast 
of Bahia, where great quantities are 
annually taken and exported. The 
numbers of fish caught in the Amazon 
and other rivers of the country are 
very great, constituting a principal 
part of the subsistence of the inhab¬ 
itants. 

In every town schools for teaching 
the first rudiments are now to be 
found, to which the children of all 
citizens are admitted free. There are 
no universities, but there are govern¬ 
ment colleges of law, medicine, etc. In 
all large towns there are professor¬ 
ships of Latin, Greek, English, French, 
philosophy, rhetoric, geometry, chem¬ 
istry, botany, etc.; and printing 
presses are now common throughout 
Brazil. 

The varied population of Brazil con¬ 
sists of people of pure Portuguese 
blood, who form a comparatively small 
minority of the whole; of full-blooded 
negroes, who form the largest unmixed 
element in the population; of abor¬ 
igines or native Indians; and of peo¬ 
ple of mixed race, the most numerous 
of all; besides a certain number of 
German and other European immi¬ 
grants. The Portuguese portion of 
the population have made Portuguese 
the national language of the country. 
The native Indians are copper-colored, 
robust, well-made, but of short stature. 
They generally go naked, paint their 
skins, and are fond of ornament¬ 
ing their heads with feathers. A 
number are nominally Christians. 
They belong to various tribes of which 
the chief are the Tupi, Guarani, and 
the Onagua. In recent years there 
has been a considerable immigration of 
European colonists, the majority 
Italians. Italy enjoys a “ favored 
nation ” tariff with Brazil. In Dec., 


1906, it was reported that the German 
govt, offered exemption from military 
service to German settlers in Rio 
Grande. The annual imports of Ger¬ 
man iron, steel and hardware were 
estimated at $20,000,000. Exports 
comprise coffee (the most valuable 
product), sugar, rubber, cotton, hides, 
drugs, gums, and diamonds. There 
are nearly 14,000 m. of railroad, over 
29,300 m. of telegraph line and ex¬ 
tending telephonic systems. A feature 
of the telegraphic system is the cable 
laid on the bed of the Amazon river 
and giving Para, Manaos and other 
towns on its banks telegraphic con¬ 
nection with the rest of the world. 

There is now no established religion 
in Brazil, but the Roman Catholic is 
the one most exclusively prevalent. 
Until recently the government was 
monarchial, hereditary, constitutional, 
and representative. Since the over¬ 
throw of the empire in 1889 republican 
institutions have been established, each 
of the old provinces being now a 
State, whose internal affairs are ad¬ 
ministered without interference from 
the central federal government. At 
the head of affairs is a president, by 
whom, and the national congress, leg¬ 
islation is carried on. The congress 
consists of a chamber of deputies and 
a senate, the former elected by direct 
vote as representative of the different 
States; while the senators are chosen 
by the State legislatures, three for each 
State for nine years. The executive 
authority is vested in the president. 
The public debt is now about $620,- 
000,000. 

The annual revenue of the republic 
has latterly amounted to about $50,- 
000,000, and has been generally ex¬ 
ceeded by the expenditure. The army 
numbers over 28,000 men, including 
officers; there are also about 20,000 
gendarmes. Service is obligatory, the 
period being three years in the active 
army and three in the reserve. The 
effective navy is of moderate strength, 
but constitutes a considerable burden 
on the finances of the country. 

Brazil was discovered Jan. 26, 1500, 
by Vincente Yanez Pincon, one of the 
companions of Columbus, and was sub¬ 
sequently taken possession of by Pedro 
Alva res de Cabral. Emanuel, King of 
Portugal, had equipped a squadron for 
a voyage to the East Indies, under the 





Brazil 


Brazil 


command of Cabral. The admiral, 
quitting Lisbon, March 9, 1500, fell in 
accidentally, April 24, with the conti¬ 
nent of South America, which he at 
first supposed to be a large island on 
the coast of Africa. In this conjec¬ 
ture he was soon undeceived, when the 
natives came in sight. Having discov¬ 
ered a good harbor, he anchored his 
vessels, and called the bay Puerto Se- 
guro. On the next day he landed with 
a body of troops, and having erected 
the cross, took possession of the coun¬ 
try in the name of his sovereign, and 
called it Terro da Vera Cruz; but the 
name was afterward altered by King 
Emanuel to that of Brazil, from the 
red wood which the country produces. 

The value of Brazil to Portugal con¬ 
tinued steadily to increase after the 
discovery of the gold mines in 1G98, 
and the discovery of the diamond mines 
in 1728. Up to the year 1810 Brazil 
had sent to Portugal 14,280 hundred¬ 
weights of gold and 2,100 pounds of 
diamonds, which foreign countries, 
and especially Great Britain, at last 
succeeded in purchasing at the Lisbon 
market. Rio Janeiro now became the 
mart for the proceeds of the Brazilian 
mines and native productions. But 
the administration was anything but 
adapted to promote the prosperity of 
the country. The attention of the gov¬ 
ernment was turned almost exclusively 
to the gold washings and to the work¬ 
ing of the diamond mines; and the 
policy of the administration consisted 
in the exaction of taxes and duties, 
which were collected from the fortified 
ports, to which trade was solely con¬ 
fined. Foreigners were excluded or 
jealously watched, and trade was par¬ 
alyzed by numerous restrictions. In 
the interior, the lands situated on the 
great rivers, after being surveyed, 
were frequently presented, after the 
year 1640, by the kings of the house 
of Braganza, to the younger sons of 
the Portuguese nobility, whom the sys¬ 
tem of entails excluded from the pros¬ 
pect of inheritance. These grantees 
enlisted adventurers, purchased negro 
slaves by thousands, and subjected the 
original inhabitants or drove them 
from their districts, and ruled their 
dominions with almost unlimited sway. 
The missions of the Jesuits also re¬ 
ceived similar donations from the 
kings. 


On the invasion of Portugal in 1808 
by the French, the sovereign of that 
kingdom, John VI., sailed for Brazil, 
accompanied by his court and a large 
body of emigrants. Soon after arriv¬ 
ing there he began to improve the con¬ 
dition of the 1 country by placing the ad¬ 
ministration on a better footing, and 
throwing open its ports to all nations. 
On the fall of Bonaparte the king 
raised Brazil to the rank of a kingdom, 
and assumed the title of King of Por¬ 
tugal, Algarve, and Brazil. The revo¬ 
lution which took place in Portugal in 

1820, compelled the king to return 
to that country; he next year sailed 
for Lisbon, leaving Pedro, his eldest 
son and successor, as lieutenant and 
regent. But as the Portuguese Cortes 
was not willing to grant the entire 
equality of civil and political relations 
demanded by the Brazilians, and had 
expressly declared that Brazil was to 
be divided into governments, and ruled 
by the ministry of State at Lisbon, 
and the prince-regent was to be re¬ 
called to Portugal — such violent con¬ 
vulsions were excited in Rio Janeiro 
and various parts of Brazil, December, 

1821, that it was explicitly declared to 
•the prince-regent that his departure 
would be the signal for establishing an 
independent republic. The prince, 
therefore, resolved to remain in Bra¬ 
zil, and gave a public explanation of 
his reasons, Jan. 9, 1822, to his father, 
to the Cortes in Portugal, and to the 
people of Brazil. The Portuguese 
troops were removed from Brazil. The 
prince-regent assumed, May 13, 1822, 
the title of “ perpetual defender of 
Brazil,” and in June convened a Na¬ 
tional Assembly, composed of 100 dep¬ 
uties, to frame a separate constitution 
for the country. The National Assem¬ 
bly of Brazil declared the separation 
of that country from Portugal, Aug. 
1, 1822, and Oct. 12, appointed Dom 
Pedro the constitutional Emperor of 
Brazil. The new emperor retained, at 
the same time, the title of “ perpetual 
defender of Brazil.” 

The king, after some slight and in¬ 
effectual attempts to re-establish the 
former relations between Portugal and 
Brazil, acknowledged the independence 
of the latter country in 1825. Some 
years afterward a series of tumultuary 
proceedings ended in the abdication of 
Dom Pedro, who left Brazil on April 






Brazilian Grass 


Brazos 


7, 1831, leaving his son, who was un¬ 
der age, as his successor. The rights 
of the latter were recognized and pro¬ 
tected, and a regency of three persons 
appointed by the Chamber of Deputies 
to conduct the government during his 
minority. In 1840 the young emperor 
was declared of age, being then in his 
15th year, and was crowned on July 
18, 1841. The new government had 
considerable difficulty in crushing the 
republican and revolutionary party, 
which kept up a series of struggles in 
several provinces for some years. In 
1845 the insurgents had all laid down 
their arms, but in 1848 a new rising 
took place, which was put down not 
without difficulty in the following 
year. In 1851 a war broke out with 
Rosas, dictator of Buenos Ayres, in 
which Brazil was joined by Paraguay, 
Uruguay, Corrientes, and Entre Rios, 
and which ended in favor of the allies. 
From this war Brazil received a cer¬ 
tain impulse. The trade now in¬ 
creased, the finances of the country 
improved, and the government began 
to further the development of the 
country by constructing roads, encour¬ 
aging immigration, and fostering the 
education of the people. In 1853 the 
Bank of Brazil was founded, and the 
construction of railways began. In 
1859 a minister for agriculture, com¬ 
merce, and public work was appointed, 
and a large government loan for the 
construction of railways was author¬ 
ized. In 1863, in consequence of the 
arrest of three English naval officers, 
a misunderstanding arose with Eng¬ 
land, which led to the termination of 
diplomatic relations for a time between 
the two countries. Meanwhile (No¬ 
vember, 1864) hostilities had been 
commenced by the Paraguayans under 
President Lopez against Brazil, in 
consequence of the interference of the 
latter in the affairs of Uruguay; and 
in May, 1865, an alliance for the pur¬ 
pose of carrying on war against Par¬ 
aguay was concluded between Brazil, 
the Argentine Confederation, and Uru¬ 
guay. This war, the brunt of which 
had to be borne by Brazil, lasted till 
1870, the Paraguayans having main¬ 
tained a heroic resistance, and having 
only given up the contest on the death 
of their leader, Lopez, in battle against 
the Brazilians (March 1, 1870). This 
struggle was attended with an im¬ 


mense expenditure of men and money 
to Brazil, but it established her repu¬ 
tation as a great power and secured 
the freedom of the navigation of the 
La Plata river system. For some 
years after this a movement toward 
greater freedom went on in Brazil. In 
1888 it took the form of a total abol¬ 
ition of slavery without compensation, 
and in 1889 it received further devel¬ 
opment in a revolution which over¬ 
threw the monarchy. On Nov. 16 a 
provisional government was formed, 
the emperor with his family sailed for 
Europe, and a new constitution pro¬ 
claimed the Republic of the Federated 
United States of Brazil. In 1893-94 
an insurrection, confined chiefly to the 
navy, was suppressed after some fight¬ 
ing by Pres. Peixoto. In 1906 the 
Third International Congress of Amer¬ 
ican Republics assembled at Rio de 
Janeiro, the object being to improve 
in every way possible the relations 
between North, Central, and South 
American republics. Mr. Elihu Root, 
Secretary of State, headed the delega¬ 
tion from the U. S., and discussions 
of the Monroe and Drago doctrines 
were features of the Congress. 

Brazilian Grass, an incorrect- 
popular name applied to a substance 
used in the manufacture of a very 
cheap kind of hats, known as Brazil¬ 
ian grass hats. 

Brazil Nuts, the seeds of a Bra¬ 
zilian tree. The nuts or seeds are 
largely exported from Para, whence 
they are sometimes called Para nuts. 

Brazil Tea, a tree — the mate, 
the leaves of which are used in South 
America as a substitute for Chinese or 
India tea. 

Brazil Wood, a kind of wood 
used for dyeing, and extensively im¬ 
ported from the West Indies, Brazil, 
and other tropical countries. 

Brazing, the act of soldering to¬ 
gether the surfaces of iron, copper, 
brass, etc., with an alloy composed of 
brass and zinc, sometimes with the ad¬ 
dition of a little tin or silver. 

Brazos, a large river of the United 
States, in Texas, rising in the N. W. 
part of the State, and flowing into the 
Gulf of Mexico, after a course of 900 
miles, 40 miles W. S. W. of Galves¬ 
ton. During the rainy season, from 
February to May inclusive, it is navi- 




Breach 


Breakwater 


gable by steamboats for about 300 
miles. 

Breach, the aperture or passage 
made in the wall of any fortified place 
by the ordnance of the besiegers for 
the purpose of entering the fortress. 

Breach, in law, any violation of a 
law, or the non-performance of a duty 
imposed by law. 

Bread. In the earliest antiquity 
we find the flour or meal of grain used 
as food. Bread, as is well known, is 
made from the flour or meal of the 
cereals, Indian corn, millet, and rice 
being principally used for the purpose 
in the more S. countries, rye, barley, 
and oats in the more N., and wheat in 
the intermediate and temperate re¬ 
gions ; but other vegetable products, 
such as beans, peas, lentils, turnips, 
carrots, potatoes, and even the bark of 
trees, are also sometimes employed 
either alone or mixed with the flour 
of the cereals. 

Breadfruit. The breadfruit is a 
large, globular fruit of a pale-green 



BREADFRUIT. 


color, about the size of a child’s head, 
marked on the surface with irregular 
eix-sided depressions, and containing a 
white and somewhat fibrpus pulp, 
which when ripe becomes juicy and 
yellow. The tree that produces it 
grows wild in Tahiti and other is¬ 
lands of the South Seas. It is about 
40 feet high, with large and spreading 
branches, and has large bright green 

E. 23 


leaves, deeply divided into seven or 
nine spear-shaped lobes. The eatable 
part of this fruit lies between the skin 
and the core, and it is as white as 
snow and somewhat of the consistence 
of new bread. When gathered it is 
generally used immediately; if it be 
kept more than 24 hours, it becomes 
hard and choky. The inhabitants of 
the South Sea Islands prepare it as 
food by dividing the fruit into three 
or four parts and roasting it in hot 
embers. Its taste is insipid, with a 
slight tartness. 

As the climate of the South Sea Is¬ 
lands is not very different from that 
of the West Indies, it was thought de¬ 
sirable that some of the trees should 
be transferred in a growing state to 
the British islands there; and it was 
for this purpose that the “ Bounty ” 
sailed in 1787 to the South Seas, un¬ 
der the command of the well-known 
Bligh. This expedition being unsuc¬ 
cessful, a second, also under Bligh, 
was fitted out in 1791. He arrived in 
safety at Tahiti, and after an ab¬ 
sence from England of about 18 
months, landed in Jamaica with 352 
breadfruit trees in a living state, hav¬ 
ing left many others at different places 
in his passage thither. From Jamaica 
these trees were transferred to other 
islands; but the negroes, having a 
general and long-established predilec¬ 
tion for the plantain, the breadfruit 
is not much relished by them. Where, 
however, it has not been generally 
introduced as an article of food, it is 
used as a delicacy; and whether em¬ 
ployed as bread or in the form of pud¬ 
ding, it is considered highly palatable 
by the white inhabitants. 

Breakwater, a pier, wall, mole, 
sunken hulk, or anything similar, 
placed at the entrance of a harbor, at 
the exposed part of an anchorage, or 
in any such situation, with the view 
of deadening the force of the waves 
which roll in from the ocean. There 
are several notable breakwaters in this 
country — one of the longest and most 
notable being that in Lake Michigan, 
protecting the harbor of the city of 
Chicago. It is peculiar in its con¬ 
struction, being built perpendicularly 
and encased with wooden beams. The 
Delaware breakwater, in Delaware 
Bay, is built with sloping sides, being 
much broader at its base than on top. 





Bream 


Breech 


Bream, the carp bream. It is of a 
yellowish white color, which changes, 
through age, to a yellowish brown. 
The sides are golden, the cheeks and 
gill covers silver white, the fins, light 
colored, tinged, the ventral one with 
red and others with brown. It is 
found in deep waters and lakes. It 
is sought after by anglers, who, how¬ 
ever, consider the flesh insipid. 

Breastwork, in fortification, a 
hastily constructed parapet made of 
material at hand, such as earth, logs, 
rails, timber, and designed to protect 
troops from the fire of an enemy. In 
architecture, the parapet of a build¬ 
ing. In shipbuilding, a railing or bal¬ 
ustrade standing athwartships across 
a deck, as on the forward end of the 
quarter deck or roundhouse. The 
beam supporting it is a breastbeam. 

Breckinridge, Clifton R., an 
American legislator and diplomatist, 
born in Lexington, Ky., Nov. 25, 1846; 
received a public school education and 
served in the Confederate army and 
navy. After the war he attended 
Washington College (now Washing¬ 
ton and Lee University) for three 
years, and engaged in mercantile busi¬ 
ness in Pine Bluff, Ark. He was 
elected to Congress in 1882 as Repre¬ 
sentative-at-large. On July 19, 1894, 
he was appointed United States Min¬ 
ister to Russia, serving until 1897. 

Breckinridge, or Breckenridge, 
John, an American statesman, born 
in 1760. In 1795 he was made Attor¬ 
ney-General of the new State of Ken¬ 
tucky, and he served in its Legislature 
from 1797 to 1800. He entered the 
United States Senate, in 1801, becom¬ 
ing four years later Attorney-General 
in Jefferson’s cabinet, in which office 
he died in 1806. 

Breckinridge, John Cabell, 

Vice-President of the United States, 
born near Lexington, Ky., Jan. 21, 
1821: practiced law in Lexington un¬ 
til 1847, when he was chosen major of 
a volunteer regiment for the Mexican 
War. He sat in Congress in 1851- 
1855, and in 1856 was elected Vice- 
President, with James Buchanan as 
President. In 1860 he was the pro¬ 
slavery candidate for the presidency, 
but was defeated by Abraham Lin¬ 
coln. A United States Senator from 
March to December, 1861, he then en¬ 


tered the Confederate army, was ap¬ 
pointed a Major-General, in 1862, and 
held some important commands during 
the Civil War. He was Secretary of 
War in Jefferson Davis’ cabinet at the 
close of the struggle, and escaped to 
Europe, whence he returned in 1868. 
He died in Lexington, May 17, 1875. 

Breckinridge, Joseph Cabell, 
an American military officer, born in 
Baltimore, Md., Jan. 14, 1842; a 
cousin of Gen. John C. Breckenridge 
of the Confederate army. He prac¬ 
ticed law in Danville, Ivy., till the be¬ 
ginning of the Civil War, when he 
joined the Union army. He was made 
a First Lieutenant in the Regular 
army Aug. 1, 1863, a Captain in 1874, 
Brigadier and Inspector-General in 
1889, and Major-General of Volun¬ 
teers, May 4, 1898. He served in the 
Santiago campaign and had a horse 
shot under him. 

Breckinridge, Robert Jeffer¬ 
son, a Presbyterian clergyman and 
theological writer, born at Cabell’s 
Dale, Ky., March 8, 1800. He was 
originally a lawyer. He was Presi¬ 
dent of Jefferson College in 1845- 
1847; from 1847 he was pastor at 
Lexington, Ky. He was a leader in 
the division of the Presbyterian Church 
in 1837 into Old and New Schools. 
He died in Danville, Ky., Dec. 27, 
1871. 

Breda, a town in Holland, Pro¬ 
vince of North Brabant, at the conflu¬ 
ence of the Merk and the Aa. Breda 
was once a strong fortress and of 
{great military importance as a strat¬ 
egical position. From the 16th to the 
end of the 18th century Breda has an 
interesting military history of sieges, 
assaults and captures, with which the 
names of the most famous generals of 
their time, the Duke of Parma, Mau¬ 
rice of Orange, the Marquis Spinola, 
Dumouriez, and Pichegru, etc., are 
connected. It was the residence for a 
time of the exiled Charles II. of Eng¬ 
land, and it was in the Declaration of 
Breda that he promised liberty of 
conscience, a general amnesty, etc., 
on his restoration. 

Breech, in firearms and ordnance, 
the rear portion of a gun; the portion 
behind the chamber; in shipbuilding, 
the outer angle of a knee timber; the 
inner angle is the throat. 




Breeches Bible 


Bremen. 


Breeches Bible, a name given to 
a Bible printed in 1579; and so called 
from the reading of Gen. iii: 7: 
“ They sowed figge tree leaves together 
and made themselves breeches.” 

Breech Loader, a firearm in 
which the charge is introduced at the 
rear instead of at the muzzle. 

Breech Pin, in firearms, a plug 
screwed into the rear end of a barrel, 
forming the bottom of the charge 
chamber. Otherwise called a breech 
plug or breech screw. 

Breech Screw, in firearms, the 
plug which closes the rear end of the 
bore of a firearm barrel. The parts 
are known as the plug, the face, the 
tenon, the tang, and the tangscrew 
hole. 

Breech Sight, the hinder sight of 
a gun. In conjunction with the front 
sight, it serves to aim the gun at an 
object. 

Breeding, the art of improving 
races or breeds of domestic animals, 
or modifying them in certain direc¬ 
tions, by continuous attention to their 
pairing, in conjunction with a similar 
attention to their feeding and general 
treatment. 

No sooner had the Revolutionary 
War closed than importations of im¬ 
proved stock began. This was kept 
up till the War of 1812 temporarily 
checked it. 

Mr. Rommel says that the year 1817 
will always be memorable in American 
cattle history. In that year, follow¬ 
ing the short-horn importations of 
1812, came the beginning of the Devon 
and Hereford importations, together 
with still another arrival of short¬ 
horns. Growth was slow up to 1827, 
when there came renewed activity, es¬ 
pecially in short-horns. Companies 
were formed and the improvement of 
cattle was marked. In point of num¬ 
bers the shorthorn breed rapidly as¬ 
sumed the foremost position, and till 
about the year 1880 was the only beef 
of prominence. 

The expansion of the cattle business 
was rapid. Up to the opening of the 
Union Pacific railroad it was mainly 
carried on in the part of the country 
E. of the Missouri river. Then came 
the discovery of the great opportuni¬ 
ties offered by the far Western plains 
for grazing. The growth in the cat¬ 


tle raising industry was then abnor¬ 
mal. “ In the early eighties,” says 
Mr. Rommel, “ pure-bred cattle by the 
thousands were brought from England 
to supplement the American herds in 
breeding bulls for the range, and the 
nearest that the Hereford and Angus 
breeds ever came to having a boom in 
this country was at this time. After 
the collapse, which was bound to fol¬ 
low, the cattle business is now on 
what is thought to be a substantial 
and healthy foundation. 

Breed’s Hill, a slight elevation in 
the Charlestown district of Boston, 
Mass., about 700 yards from Bunker 
Hill. Although the famous engage¬ 
ment of June 17, 1775, is known as 
the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the 
fighting was done on Breed’s Hill. 
Here was located the American re¬ 
doubt, against which the British made 
their three historical charges, and here 
Warren fell. The Bunker Hill monu¬ 
ment stands on Breed’s Hill. 

Breitenfeld, a village of Saxony, 
5 miles N. of Leipsic, remarkable for 
three battles fought in its neighbor¬ 
hood. In the first, fought on Sept. 17 
(old style, 7th), 1631, Gustavus Adol¬ 
phus inflicted a decisive defeat upon 
the imperialists under Tilly, who, as 
well as his generals, Pappenheim and 
Furstenberg, was wounded. The sec¬ 
ond battle was also a victory of the 
Swedes under Torstenson over the im¬ 
perial forces under the Archduke Leo¬ 
pold and Piccolomini, Nov. 2 (old 
style, Oct. 23), 1642. The third bat¬ 
tle was one act of the great “ Battle 
of the Nations ” at Leipsic, Oct. 16, 
1813. 

Bremen, a free city of Germany, 
an independent member of the Empire, 
one of the three Hanse towns, on the 
Weser, about 50 miles from its mouth, 
in its own small territory of 99 square 
miles, besides which it possesses the 
port of Bremerhaven, at the mouth of 
the river. The city is partly on the 
right, partly on the left, bank of the 
Weser, the larger portion being on the 
former. Its situation renders Bremen 
the emporium for Hanover, Bruns¬ 
wick, Hesse, and other countries tra¬ 
versed by the Weser, and next to Ham¬ 
burg it is the principal seat of the ex¬ 
port and import and emigration trade 
of Germany. Only small vessels can 
pass up to the city itself; the great 







Bremer 


Breslau 


bulk of the shipping trade centers in 
Bremerhaven and in Geestemunde. 
Bremerhaven is now a place of over 
20,000 inhabitants, has docks capable 
of receiving the largest vessels, and is 
connected by railway with Bremen, 
where the chief merchants and brokers 
have their offices. The chief imports 
are tobacco, raw cotton and cotton 
goods, wool and woolen goods, rice, 
coffee, grain, petroleum, etc., which 
are chiefly re-exported to other parts 
of Germany and the Continent. The 
yearly imports, 759,703,471 marks; 
the exports, 714,736,065 marks. Pop¬ 
ulation of city (1900) 163,418. 

Bremer, Fredrika, a Swedish 
novelist, was born at Tuorla, Finland, 
Aug. 17, 1801; was brought up at 
Arsta, about 20 miles from Stockholm. 
She varied her literary labor by long 
journeys in Italy, England, the United 
States, Greece, Palestine. She died in 
Arsta, Dec. 31, 1865. 

Brennus, the name of two individ¬ 
uals known in history. (1) The first 
was the hero of an early Roman leg¬ 
end which relates to the migration of 
the Gauls into Italy and their march 
to Clusium and Rome. In the account 
given by Livy, he figures as the Regu- 
lus Gallorum, or chieftain of the 
Gauls. When he arrived at Clusium, 
the inhabitants called on the Romans 
for aid. He engaged with and de¬ 
feated the Romans on the banks of the 
Allia, the name of which river they 
ever after held in detestation. The 
whole city was afterward plundered 
and burned, and the capitol would 
have been taken but for the bravery 
of Manlius. At last, induced by fam¬ 
ine and pestilence, the Romans agreed 
that the Gauls should receive 1,000 
pounds of gold, on the condition that 
they would quit Rome and its terri¬ 
tory altogether; the barbarian 
brought false weights, but his fraud 
was detected. The tribune Sulpicius 
exclaimed against the injustice of 
Brennus, who immediately laid his 
sworn and belt in the scale, and said, 
“ Woe to the vanquished.” The dicta¬ 
tor, Camillns, arrived with his forces 
at this critical time, annulled the ca¬ 
pitulation, and ordered him to prepare 
for battle. The Gauls were defeated; 
there was a total slaughter, and not 
a man survived to carry home the 
news of the defeat. (2) A king of 


the Gauls, who, b. c. 279, made an ir¬ 
ruption into Macedonia with a force 
of 156,000 men and 10,000 horse. Pro¬ 
ceeding into Greece, he attempted to 
plunder the temple at Delphi. He 
engaged in many battles, lost many 
thousand men, and himself received 
many wounds. In despair and morti¬ 
fication he killed himself. 

Brent, Charles Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican clergyman; born in Newcastle, 
Ontario, Canada, in 1862; was grad¬ 
uated at the University of Trinity Col¬ 
lege in 1884; ordained deacon in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in 1886, 
priest in 1887, and consecrated the 
first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church for the Philippine Islands in 
December, 1901. 

Brent Goose, a wild goose, smaller 
than the common barnacle goose and 
of much darker plumage, remarkable 
for length of wing and extent of mi¬ 
gratory power, being a winter bird of 
passage in the United States, Can¬ 
ada, etc. It breeds in high northern 
latitudes; it feeds on drifting seaweeds 
and saline plants, and is considered the 
most delicate for the table of all the 
goose tribe. 

Brescia, a city of Lombardy, North 
Italy. Brescia is a place of consider¬ 
able trade and manufacturing indus¬ 
try. Near it are large iron-works, 
and its firearms are esteemed the best 
that are made in Italy. It has also 
silk, linen, and paper factories, tan- 
yards, and oil mills, and is an impor¬ 
tant mart for raw silk. But it de¬ 
rives its greatest interest from its fine 
Roman remains, having been at one 
time the seat of a Roman colony. In 
1796 it was taken by the French, and 
was assigned to Austria by the general 
treaty signed at Vienna on June 9, 
1815. In 1849 it was involved in the 
commotions of Continental Europe; 
its streets w r ere barricaded; but the 
city was eventually captured by the 
Austrians under General Haynau. It 
was ceded to Sardinia by the treaty 
of Zurich in 1859. Pop. (1901) 70,- 
618. 

Breslau, a large city of the Ger¬ 
man empire, and the second in the 
Prussian dominions, being excelled in 
population only by the capital, Ber¬ 
lin ; is the capital of the province of 
Silesia. It is situated in a spacious 






Brest 


Brewer 


plain at the confluence of the Ohlau 
and the Oder, the latter dividing it 
into two main portions, which, with 
islands in the river, are connected by 
a large number of bridges. There are 
electric and other tramways. The 
public squares and buildings are hand¬ 
some. The fortifications which sur¬ 
rounded the old or inner city have been 
converted into promenades, and the 
ditch into an ornamental sheet of 
water. Pop. (1900) 422,738. 

Brest, a seaport in the N. W. of 
France, Department of Finistere. It 
has one of the best harbors in France, 
and is the chief station of the French 
marine, having safe roads capable of 
containing 500 men-of-war in from 8 
to 15 fathoms at low water. The en¬ 
trance is narrow and rocky, and the 
coast on both sides is well fortified. 
The design to make it a naval arsenal 
originated with Richelieu, and was 
carried out by Duquesne and Vauban 
in the reign of Louis XIV., with the 
result that the town was made almost 
impregnable. Brest stands on the 
summit and sides of a projecting ridge, 
many of the streets being exceedingly 
steep. Several of the docks have been 
cut in the solid rock, and a break¬ 
water extends far into the roadstead. 
Pop. (1901) 81,948. 

Bretagne or Brittany, one of the 
Provinces into which France was di¬ 
vided. It now forms the Departments 
of Finistere, Cotes-du-Nord, Morbihan, 
and Loire-Inferieure. In ancient 
times, under the name of Armorica, it 
was the central seat of the confeder¬ 
ated Armorican tribes, who were of 
Celtic and Kymric origin. Traces of 
them still remain in the old Kymric 
dialect of the three most westerly De¬ 
partments, and in the numerous so- 
called Druidical monuments. The 
Breton has generally a tinge of melan¬ 
choly in his disposition; but often 
conceals, under a dull and indifferent 
exterior, lively imagination and strong 
feelings. The greater number of the 
people are found to be ignorant and 
coarse in their manners, and their ag¬ 
riculture is of a very rude character, 
by no means calculated to develop the 
natural resources of the country. 

The Duchy of Bretagne was incor¬ 
porated with France in 1532, by Fran¬ 
cis I., to whom it had come by mar¬ 
riage, and subsequently shared in the 


general fortunes of the kingdom, but 
retained a local parliament until the 
outbreak of the Revolution. During 
the Revolution Bretagne, which was 
intensely loyal, was the arena of san¬ 
guinary conflicts, and especially of the 
movements of the Chouans, who re¬ 
appeared as recently as 1832. The 
Bretons are also intensely Roman 
Catholic, and have made violent re¬ 
sistance in 1903 to the enforcement of 
the law closing unauthorized religious 
establishments. 

Breton, Jules Adolphe, a French 
painter, born in Courrieres in 1827; 
was educated at St. Omer and at 
Douai, and trained as a painter under 
Felix Devigne at Ghent, and in Droll- 
ing’s atelier at Paris. The subjects of 
his earlier pictures are taken from the 
French revolutionary period; but he 
soon turned to the scenes from peasant 
life which he has treated in a most 
poetic and suggestive manner, with an 
admirable union of style with real¬ 
ism. Breton was also known as a poet 
and author. Many of his pictures 
are in this country. He died July 6, 
1906. 

Brets, Brettys, or Brits, Britons, 
the name given to the Welsh, or an¬ 
cient Britons, in general; also, 4 to 
those of Strathclyde, as distinguished 
from the Scots and Piets. 

Bretten, a town of Baden, Ger¬ 
many, the birthplace of Melanchthon, 
16 miles E. N. E. of Karlsruhe by 
rail. The house in which the Reform¬ 
er was born belongs now to a founda¬ 
tion bearing his name for the support 
of poor students, established in 1861. 
A monument was erected in 1867. 

Breughel, the name of a celebrated 
Dutch family of painters, the first of 
whom adopted this name from a vil¬ 
lage not far from Breda. 

Breve, in music, a note or charac¬ 
ter of time, equal to two semibreves 
or whole notes. It was formerly 
square in shape, but is now oval. It 
is the longest note in music. 

Brewer, David Josiah, an Ameri¬ 
can jurist, born in Smyrna, Asia Mi¬ 
nor, June 20, 1837; graduated at Yale 
College, 1856. He studied law in the 
office of his uncle, David Dudley 
Field, and was admitted to the bar in 
New York city in 1858. Removing to 
Kansas, he became prominent in his 




Brewer 


Brice 


profession. He was judge of the Su¬ 
preme Court of Kansas, 1870-1881, 
and was appointed United States 
Judge for the 8th Circuit in 1884. He 
rendered a memorable decision on the 
Kansas Prohibition Law, affirming the 
right of liquor manufacturers to com¬ 
pensation, for which he was severely 
criticised by the Prohibitionists. Pres¬ 
ident Harrison elevated him to the 
Supreme Court of the United States 
in 1889. He was made a member of 
the Venezuelan Commission by Presi¬ 
dent Cleveland in 1896, and was 
chosen its chairman. 

Brewer, Thomas Mayo, an 
American ornithologist, born in Bos¬ 
ton, Mass., Nov. 21, 1814; died in 
Boston, Mass., Jan. 23, 1880. 

Brewer, William Henry, an 
American scientist, born in Poughkeep¬ 
sie, N. Y., Sept. 14, 1828. He was 
graduated at Yale Scientific School in 
1852. He has made important gov¬ 
ernment surveys, and since 1864 has 
been Professor of Agriculture at Shef¬ 
field Scientific School (Yale). 

Brewing, the operation by which 
beer is made, including under this term 
all kinds of liquors produced from 
grain by fermentation. The name 
beer, may be given to any drink pro¬ 
duced by the fermentation of a fluid 
consisting of water sweetened with 
honey, sugar, or molasses; but, strict¬ 
ly speaking, the term should only be 
applied to beverages prepared, either 
wholly or partially, from malted grain 
by fermentation. 

Brewster, Benjamin Harris, an 

American lawyer, born in Salem Co., 
N. J., Oct. 13, 1816. He was grad¬ 
uated at Princeton in 1834, was ad¬ 
mitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1838, 
and in 1881 became Attorney-General 
of the United States in President Ar¬ 
thur’s cabinet, in which capacity he 
prosecuted the Star Route cases. He 
died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 4, 
1888. 

Brewster, Sir David, a Scotch 
natural philosopher, born in Jedburgh 
in 1781. His discoveries in reference 
to the properties of light have led to 
great improvements in the illumina¬ 
tion of lighthouses. He died in Mon¬ 
trose, Scotland, Feb. 2, 1868. 

Brewster, William, one of the 
Massachusetts Pilgrims, born in 


Scrooby, England, in 1560. He came 
of a well known family; was educated 
at the University of Cambridge, and 
was for a time postmaster at Scrooby. 
He accepted the Separatist doctrines 
taught by Hooker and others, and, in 
consequence, had to flee to Holland, 
where he supported himself by print¬ 
ing. He was one of the leaders of 
those who sailed for the New World 
in the “ Mayflower,” and, as elder of 
the church, encouraged his fellow 
colonists at Plymouth both by his 
preaching and his example. He died 
in Plymouth, Mass., April 10, 1644. 

Brian (surnamed Boroimhe) , 
King of Ireland, continued for many 
years to rule his dominions with vigor 
and prosperity. Having, however, dis¬ 
puted with Maelmora, the King of 
Leinster, Maelmora revolted, and, in¬ 
viting Danes to his assistance, brought 
on the battle of Clontarf, in which 
King Brian fell, after gaining a glori¬ 
ous victory over the united forces of 
the invaders and revolted natives, on 
Good Friday, 1014. 

Briareus, a famous giant, son of 
Coelus and Terra, who had 100 hands 
and 50 heads, and was called by men 
iEgeon, and only by the gods Briareus. 
He assisted the giants in their war 
against the gods, and, according to the 
accounts of some, was thrown under 
Mt. iEtna. 

Bribery, in the United States, the 
word applied to an attempt to cor¬ 
ruptly influence, by means of offers of 
reward, the course of legislation, the 
result of an election, the verdict of a 
jury, the decision of a magistrate, etc. 
It is not necessary to constitute an in¬ 
dictable offence that the bribe be ac¬ 
cepted. The tender of the bribe is the 
essence of the crime. If a bribe be 
offered a witness to swear falsely the 
crime is not bribery, but is merged 
into subordination of perjury. The 
penalty for bribery is fine or imprison¬ 
ment, or both. 

Brice, Calvin Stewart, an Amer¬ 
ican capitalist, born in Denmark, O., 
Sept. 17, 1845; attended Miami Uni¬ 
versity, and while there enlisted in a 
university company in 1861. In 1862 
he resumed his studies and graduated 
in 1863. He practiced law in Cincin¬ 
nati from 1866 to 1880, when he be¬ 
came interested in railroad and various 




Brick 


Bridge 


other financial undertakings. He was 
presidential elector on the Tilden tick¬ 
et in 1870 and the Cleveland ticket in 
1884, and chairman of the Democratic 
National Committee in 1888. In 1890 
he was elected United States Senator 
from Ohio, and served on the Appro¬ 
priations, Pensions, Pacific Railroad, 
and Public Buildings and Grounds 
Committees. Shortly before his death, 
in New York city, Dec. 15, 1898, he 
formed a syndicate which secured vast 
railroad and mining concessions in 
China. 

Brick, a kind of artificial stone, 
made of clay, molded in prismatic 
form, dried in the sun and baked in a 
kiln. The word is also applied to the 
block in its previous condition as a 
molded plastic mass, and as a dried 
block in which the water hygrometri- 
cally combined with the clay is driven 
off. When this condition is accepted 
as a finality, the block so dried is an 
adobe. Bricks were made at a re¬ 
mote period of antiquity by the Egyp¬ 
tians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, 
and some of them, being inscribed with 
written characters, have been of price¬ 
less value in conveying historic facts 
to the present age. 

Bridewell, a house of detention and 
correction for offenders. The name is 
derived from the old London house 
of correction, originally a hospital 
founded by Edward VI. on the site of 
St. Bride’s Well, in Blackfriars, a 
well known object of pilgrimage in Ro¬ 
man Catholic times. 

Bridge, a structure consisting of an 
arch or series of arches supporting a 
roadway above it, designed to unite 
two banks of a river or the two sides 
of an open space. A bridge is gener¬ 
ally made of wood, iron, stone, steel, 
or of brick. The extreme supports of 
the arches at the two ends are called 
butments, or abutments; the solid 
parts between the arches, piers, and 
the fences, parapets. 

The Brooklyn Suspension bridge, 
across the East river, between New 
York and Brooklyn, opened in 1883, is 
built of steel. It has a central span 
of 1,595% feet, and two land spans of 
930 feet each; making, with ap¬ 
proaches, a total length of 5,989 feet, 
or about one mile and one furlong. 
The anchorage at each end is a solid 
cubical structure of stone, measuring 


119 feet one way, by 132 feet the 
other, rising to a height of 90 feet 
above high water mark, weighing 60,- 
000 tons each. The towers are 278 
feet high. The weight of the whole 
structure suspended between the tow¬ 
ers is nearly 7,000 tons. The stress of 
suspension is borne by four cables of 
5,296 steel wires each, 15% inches in 
diameter. The foundations of the 
towers were laid by means of caissons 
and compressed air, at a level of about 
80 feet below high water mark. The 
roadway presents five parallel avenues 
of an average width of 16 feet each. 
The two outmost avenues, 19 feet 
wide, are devoted to vehicles; the cen¬ 
tral avenue, 15% feet wide, for foot 
passengers; and on the two intermedi¬ 
ate avenues are laid railways for car 
traffic. 

Cantilever Bridges.— A cantilever 
is a bracket. It is a structure over¬ 
hung from a fixed base. The bridge 
across the river Forth on the North 
British railway system is one of the 
largest and most magnificent bridges 
in the world. The site of the bridge 
is at Queensferry. At this place, the 
estuary of the Forth is divided by the 
Island of Inchgarvie into two chan¬ 
nels, whose depth, as much as 200 
feet, precluded the construction of in¬ 
termediate piers. Hence, two large 
spans of 1,700 feet each were adopted. 
Between these, the central pier is 
founded on the island midway across, 
and is known as Inchgarvie pier. 
There are two other main piers, shore 
piers, known respectively as the Fife 
pier and the Queensferry pier. Of 
these three piers respectively three 
double lattice work cantilevers like 
scalebeams, 1,360 feet, or a quarter of 
a mile in length, are poised in line, 
reaching toward each other, and con¬ 
nected at their extremities by ordi¬ 
nary girders 350 feet long, by which 
the two main spans are completed. 
The bridge consists of two main spans 
of 1,700 feet, or nearly one-third of a 
mile each; two of 675 feet each, being 
the shore ends of the outer cantilev¬ 
ers ; and 15 spans of 168 feet each. 
The total length of the viaduct, in¬ 
cluding piers, is 8,296 feet or a little 
over 1% miles, of which almost exact¬ 
ly one mile is covered by the great 
cantilevers. The clear headway under 
the center of the bridge is 152 feet at 




Bridge 


Bridgewater 


high water, and the highest part of the 
bridge is 361 feet above the same level. 

There are several of these bridges 
in the United States, the first of any 
size being the Niagara cantilever, 
built in 1883. Its total length is 910 
feet, and it is 295 feet above the sur¬ 
face of the river, with steel towers 130 
feet high. The Hudson river bridge 
at Poughkeepsie, built in 1889, has a 
length of 6,767 feet and is built in five 
spans; the first, third and fifth being 
true cantilever spans with fixed con¬ 
tinuous spans connecting them. 

The new East River bridge is also 
a late example of the suspension 
bridge. The new Blackwell’s Island 
bridge is an example of the cantilever. 
There are four channel piers, 85 by 45 
feet at the base, and 135 feet above 
high tide. These piers contain 810,- 
000 cubic feet of granite. The bridge 
is 2 miles in length, with two channel 
spans of 846 feet each, and a span 
across Blackwell’s Island of 613 feet. 
The distance from the floor of the 
bridge to the top of the girders form¬ 
ing the span is 100 feet, making the 
top of the structure 235 feet above 
high tide. Other notable cantilever 
bridges are those across the Colorado 
river at Red Rock, Cal., and across 
the Mississippi river at Memphis, 
Tenn. 

Bridges in the shape of arches are 
often built in places where a more 
artistic structure than a truss is de¬ 
sired. The High Bridge and Washing¬ 
ton Bridge across the Harlem river in 
New York city are examples of this 
style of bridge. The High Bridge was 
built to carry the Croton Aqueduct 
across the Harlem river. It consists 
of 13 granite arches, the highest one 
being 116 feet above the river. The 
bridge, crossing the river and valley, 
is 1,460 feet long. The Washington 
Bridge is situated a short distance N. 
of the High Bridge and consists of 
nine arches, three of granite on the E. 
side, four of granite on the W. and 
two central steel spans connecting 
them. The entire length of the bridge 
is 2,300 feet, and width, 80 feet; the 
central spans being each 510 feet long 
and 135 feet above high water. An¬ 
other noted bridge built 1906-07 is 
the suspension span, 230 ft. long, 
across the Grand Canon Gorge, 2,627 
ft. above the Arkansas River between 


Florence and Canon City, Col. The 
floor is glass set in steel, to allow the 
view beneath. 

One of the best examples of Amer¬ 
ican long-span iron-bridge construc¬ 
tion is the bridge across the Kentucky 
river on the Cincinnati Southern rail¬ 
road, noteworthy for its economical 
design and comparatively light weight. 
The iron work of the bridge is 1,138 
feet in length, and it consists of three 
spans of 375 feet each. It crosses a 
limestone canon at a height of 280 
feet above the bed of the stream. The 
piers are of stone to a height of 60 
feet, to clear the highest recorded 
floods; and they are about 34 feet 
thick at the flood level. Above the 
stonework the piers are of iron. 

The iron lattice bridge, so called 
from having sides constructed with 
cross bars, like lattice work, is the 
natural outcome of the tubular bridge 
for long spans, developing equal 
strength with considerable economy of 
material and labor. Lattice girders 
are now almost universally adopted 
for iron bridges for long spans. 

Of the rock formations called nat¬ 
ural bridges, the most remarkable is 
the natural bridge over Cedar Creek, 
in Virginia, 125 miles W. of Rich¬ 
mond. The mass of siliceous lime¬ 
stone through which the little river 
passes is presumably all that remains 
of a once extensive stratum. The 
cavern or arch is 200 feet high and 60 
feet wide. The solid rock walls are 
nearly perpendicular, and the crown 
of the arch is 40 feet thick. 

Bridge, Sir Frederick, an Eng¬ 
lish organist and composer, born in 
Oldbury, Worcestershire, Dec. 5, 1844; 
was organist of Trinity Church, Wind¬ 
sor, Manchester Cathedral, and, since 
1875, full organist of Westminster 
Abbey. 

Bridgeport, Conn., a city and port 
of entry, at the mouth of the Pequon- 
nock, on an inlet of Long Island 
Sound, 58 miles N. E. of New York. 
It has fine buildings, and statues to 
Elias Howe and P. T. Barnum, prom¬ 
inent citizens. Its main importance 
is due to its large sewing machine, 
cartridge, and other factories. A 
large coasting trade also is carried on. 
Pop. (1900) 70,996. 

Bridgewater, Francis Fgerton, 
third Duke of, the “ Father of In- 




Bridgman 


Brig 


land Navigation in Great Britain,” 
born in 1736. For the purpose of con¬ 
necting the two rising cities of Liver¬ 
pool and Manchester, he conceived the 
idea V>f cutting a navigable canal 
which would commercially unite their 
interests. With the assistance of his 
celebrated engineer, Brindley, and af¬ 
ter enormous expense and years of 
difficulty, this great undertaking was 
successfully accomplished in 1761. He 
afterward promoted the Grand Trunk 
Canal navigation, and by the two 
schemes, for a while, so impoverished 
himself that he was frequently at a 
loss for $50, lived in a style of the 
closest frugality and denied himself 
almost the commonest comforts of life. 
He became ultimately the possessor of 
immense wealth, realized from the re¬ 
sults of his life’s labors. The annual 
value of the Bridgewater canal estate 
is estimated at about $1,250,000. He 
died in London, March 3, 1803. 

Bridgman, Frederic Arthur, an 
American artist, born in Tuskegee, 
Ala., Nov. 10, 1847. He studied at 
the Brooklyn Art School and National 
Academy of Design, and was a pupil 
of J. L. Gerome, and at the Ecole des 
Beaux Arts. He has since 1871 had 
a studio in Paris. He is noted for 
figure pieces and Oriental and archaeo¬ 
logical pictures. 

Bridgman, Laura, an American 
blind mute, born in Hanover, N. H., 
Dec. 21, 1829. At two years of age 
both sight and hearing were entirely 
destroyed by fever. In 1839 Dr. Howe, 
of Boston, undertook her care and edu¬ 
cation at the deaf and dumb school. 
The first attempt was to give her a 
knowledge of arbitrary signs, by which 
she could interchange thoughts with 
others. Then she learned to read em¬ 
bossed letters by touch; next, em¬ 
bossed words were attached to differ¬ 
ent articles, and she learned to asso¬ 
ciate each word with its corresponding 
object. Her touch grew in accuracy 
as its power increased; she learned to 
know people almost instantly by the 
touch alone. In a year or two more 
she was able to receive lessons in 
geography, algebra, and history. She 
learned to write a fair, legible, square 
hand, and to read with great dexter¬ 
ity, and at last even to think deeply, 
and to reason with good sense and 
discrimination. She died May 4, 1889. 


Bridle Bit, a bit connected with a 
bridle. Such bits are seen in Assyr¬ 
ian and Egyptian paintings and sculp¬ 
tures, and are subsequently mentioned 
by Xenophon. 

Brief, from the Latin brevis, short, 
a brief or short statement or summary, 
particularly the summary of a client’s 
case which the solicitor draws up for 
the instruction of counsel. 

Briel, or Brielle, sometimes The 
Brill, a fortified seaport town of 
South Holland, on the N. side of the 
Island of Voorne, near the mouth of 
the Maas. It contains a government 
arsenal and military magazines, and 
possesses a good harbor. The tower of 
St. Peter’s Church serves as a light¬ 
house. Pop. 5,000, chiefly engaged as 
pilots and fishermen. Briel may be 
considered as the nucleus of the Dutch 
republic, having been taken from the 
Spaniards by William de la Marck in 
1572. This event was the first act of 
open hostility to Philip II., and paved 
the way to the complete liberation of 
the country from a foreign yoke. 

Brienne, a town of France, in the 
Department of Aube; 15 miles N. W. 
of Bar-sur-Aube. It is remarkable as 
formerly possessing a military college 
where the Emperor Napoleon I. re¬ 
ceived the first rudiments of his edu¬ 
cation. Here also he attacked Blu- 
cher, Jan. 29, 1814, forcing him from 
the town, which was reduced to ashes, 
and compelling him, on the following 
day, to retreat to Trannes. 



BRIG. 

Brig, (contracted from brigantine), 
a vessel with two masts, square-rigged 
on both. 









Brigade 


Brindisi 


Brigade, a portion of an array, 
whether infantry, cavalry, or artil¬ 
lery, consisting of two or more regi¬ 
ments, under the command of a briga¬ 
dier-general. A division consists of 
two or more brigades under the com¬ 
mand of a major-general, and an army 
corps, the largest division of our 
army, consists of two or more divi¬ 
sions, and is commanded by a major- 
general. 

Brigade Major, a staff officer at¬ 
tached to the brigade to assist the offi¬ 
cer by whom it is commanded. 

Brigadier, an abbreviation of brig¬ 
adier-general. It is in common use in 
the armies of modern civilized na¬ 
tions, the forces being divided into 
brigades in charge of brigadiers. 

Brigadier-General, a military 
officer of intermediate rank between 
a major-general and a colonel. 

Brigands, a name originally given 
to the mercenaries who held Paris 
during King John’s imprisonment 
(1358), and who made themselves no¬ 
torious for their ill behavior. It was 
applied by Froissart to a kind of ir¬ 
regular foot soldiery, and from them 
was transferred to simple robbers; it 
is now used especially of such of these 
as live in bands in secret mountain or 
forest retreats. 

Brigantine, a sailing vessel with 
two masts, the foremast rigged like a 
brig’s, the main mast rigged like 
a schooner’s. 

Briggs, Charles Augustus, an 

American clergymen and religious 
writer, born in New York city, Jan. 
15, 1841. In 1874 he was appointed 
Professor of Hebrew in Union Theo¬ 
logical Seminary in New York city. 
He was tried for heresy in 1892, but 
was aquitted. In 1899 he formally 
severed his connection with the New 
York Presbytery and was ordained a 
clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. 

Briggs, Henry, an English mathe¬ 
matician, born near Halifax, York¬ 
shire, in 1561; died in Oxford, Jan. 
26, 1631. 

Bright, John, an English states¬ 
man, son of Jacob Bright, a Quaker 
cotton spinner and manufacturer at 
Rochdale, Lancashire, born in Lan¬ 
cashire, Nov. 16, 1811. When the 
Anti-Corn Law League was formed in 


1839 he was one of its leading mem¬ 
bers, and, with Mr. Cobden, engaged 
in an extensive free-trade agitation 
throughout the kingdom. He was in¬ 
cessant, both at public meetings and 
in Parliament, in his opposition to the 
Corn Laws. In 1845 he obtained the 
appointment of a select committee of 
the House on the Game Laws, and 
also one on the subject of cotton cul¬ 
tivation in India. Elected in 1857 
for Birmingham, he seconded the mo¬ 
tion against the second reading of the 
Conspiracy Bill which led to the over¬ 
throw of Lord Palmerston’s govern¬ 
ment. Though he only once held office 
in the administrations of his time — as 
president of the Board of Trade 
in 1868 and Chancellor of the Duchy 
of Lancaster — he is credited with 
having exercised a greater influence 
upon the conduct of public affairs in 
England and abroad than, perhaps, 
any other man. He was the greatest 
English orator of modern times. He 
died in London, March 27, 1889. 

Bright, Richard, an English phy¬ 
sician, born in Bristol, Sept. 28, 1789. 
His name is associated with Bright’s 
Disease, he being the first who inves¬ 
tigated its character. He died Dec. 
16, 1858. 

Bright’s Disease, a granular dis¬ 
ease of the cortical portion of the kid¬ 
neys, so called because it was first 
diagnostically described by Dr. Rich¬ 
ard Bright, an English physician. It 
is first emphasized by the secretion of 
urine containing a large amount of al¬ 
bumen, and this symptom is followed 
by other complications, usually in 
rapid sequence. The most commonly 
observed pathological effects are drop¬ 
sy, uraemia, and, in some cases, petri¬ 
fication of the kidneys and ureters. 

Brindaban, or Brindraban, a 
town of the Northwest Provinces, 
British India; on the right bank of 
the Jumna, 6 miles N. of Muttra. It 
is one of the holiest cities of the Hin 
dus, and crowds of pilgrims go there 
from all parts of India. 

Brindisi, (ancient Brundusium), 
a seaport and fortified town, Province 
of. Lecce, Southern Italy, on the Adri¬ 
atic. In ancient times Brundusium 
was an important city, and with its 
excellent port became a considerable 
naval station of the Romans. Its im- 




Brindley 


Bristol 


portance as a seaport declined in the 
Middle Ages, but has now risen to 
large importance. 

Brindley, Janies, an English civil 
engineer, born in 1710. After distin¬ 
guishing himself by the contrivance of 
water engines and other mechanical 
apparatus, he became known to the 
Duke of Bridgewater, then planning 
his great scheme of inland navigation 
for connecting Liverpool and Manches¬ 
ter by means of a canal, and after al¬ 
most insuperable difficulties, the suc¬ 
cess of this bold attempt was triumph¬ 
antly established. In 1766 Brindley 
commenced the formation of the Grand 
Trunk Canal, uniting the rivers Trent 
and Mersey; which undertaking was 
completed after his death (1772), in 
1777. 

Brine, water saturated with com¬ 
mon salt. It is naturally produced in 
many places beneath the surface of the 
earth, and is also made artificially, for 
preserving meat, a little saltpetre 
being generally added to the solution. 

Brine Shrimp, the only animal, 
except a species of fly, which lives in 
the Great Salt Lake of Utah. It is a 
phyllopod crustacean, with stalked 
eyes, a delicate, slender body, which is 
provided with 11 pairs of broad, pad¬ 
dle-like or leaf-like feet. It is about 
% of an inch long. Similar forms 
live in brine vats in various parts of 
the world. 

Brinton, Daniel Garrison, an 

American surgeon, archaeologist and 
ethnologist, born at Thornbury, Pa., 
May 13, 1837. During the Civil War 
he was a surgeon in the Union army. 
From 1867 to 1887 he was editor of 
the “ Medical and Surgical Reporter.” 
He was a high authority on all Amer¬ 
ican archaeological topics. He died in 
Atlantic City, N. J., July 31, 1899. 

Briquette, the name, originally 
French (“small brick”), given to a 
comparatively new form of fuel, made 
.mostly from waste coal dust, and used, 
not merely for household purposes, but 
in various industries. A briquette is 
simply an admixture of coal dust with 
pitch, molded under pressure and heat, 
the pitch or some similar substance 
being introduced to form the cement¬ 
ing material. 

Brisbane, the capital, a seaport 
and chief seat of trade of Queensland, 


Australia, situated about 500 miles N. 
of Sydney, in Moreton District. It 
stands about 25 miles from the mouth 
of a river of its own name, which falls 
into Moreton Bay, and it is divided 
into the four divisions of North Bris¬ 
bane, South Brisbane, Kangaroo Point, 
and Fortitude Valley. Pop. of por¬ 
tions within a 10-mile radius (1901) 
119,428. 

Brisson, Eugene Henri, a French 

politician and journalist, born in 
Bourges, July 31, 1835. He entered 
the Chamber of Deputies, in 1871, and 
won much attention by urging am¬ 
nesty for the Communists and other 
political offenders. Since then he has 
been one of the foremost members of 
the Radical Party. He was elected 
President of the Chamber, in 1881, 
and retained that office until the over¬ 
throw of the Ferry ministry in 1885, 
when he accepted the Premiership. 
He was re-elected to the Presidency 
of the Chamber in 1894, and, in 1895, 
he retired from the ministry and was 
a conspicuous candidate for the Presi¬ 
dency of France. 

Brissot de Warville, Jean 
Pierre, a French political writer; 
born in 1754. Embracing the Revolu¬ 
tion, he was elected to the National 
Assembly for Paris and to the Con¬ 
vention for the Department of the 
Eure et Loir. As leader of the Giron¬ 
dist party, his history belongs hence¬ 
forward to the history of France. He 
voted, out of policy, for the death of 
Louis XVI., subject to confirmation 
by the vote of the people; and he 
caused war to be declared against 
Holland and England in February, 
1793. This was his last political act. 
He was executed in Paris, Oct. 30, 
1793. 

Bristles, the strong hairs growing 
on the back of the hog and wild boar, 
and extensively used in the manufac¬ 
ture of brushes, and also by shoemak¬ 
ers and saddlers. 

Bristol, a cathedral city of En¬ 
gland, a municipal and a parliamentary 
borough, situated partly in Gloucester¬ 
shire, partly in Somersetshire, but 
forming a county in itself. It stands 
at the confluence of the rivers Avon 
and Frome, which unite within the 
city, whence the combined stream (the 
Avon) pursues a course of nearly 7 
miles to the Bristol Channel. The 






Bristol Bay 


British Empire 


Avon is a navigable river, and the 
tides rise in it to a great height. Se¬ 
bastian Cabot, Chatterton, and Sou¬ 
they were natives of Bristol. Pop. 
(1901) 328,842. 

Bristol Bay, an arm of Bering 
Sea immediately N. of Alaska. 

Bristol Channel, an arm of the 
Atlantic, extending between the S. 
shores of Wales and the S. W. penin¬ 
sula of England, and forming the con¬ 
tinuation of the estuary of the Severn. 
It is remarkable for its high tides. 

Bristow, Benjamin Helm, an 
American lawyer, born in Elkton, Ky., 
June 20, 1832. He was admitted to 
the bar in Kentucky in 1853. He 
served with distinction in the Civil 
War, and at its close was appointed 
United States District Attorney of 
Kentucky. In 1874 he became Secre¬ 
tary of the Treasury, and made his 
name memorable by the exposure and 
prosecution of a notorious whiskey 
ring. He died in New York city, June 
22, 1896. 

Bristow Station (old form, now 
Bristoe), a village in Prince William 
Co., Ya.; 4 miles S. W. of Manassas 
Junction. On Aug. 27, 1862, a drawn 
battle took place here between the 
Federal army under General Hooker, 
and a Confederate one under General 
Early, and on Oct. 14, 1863, the Fed¬ 
eral troops under General Warren re¬ 
pulsed with severe loss a Confederate 
attack under Gen. A. P. Hill. 

Brittannia, the name applied by 
Caesar and other Roman writers to the 
island of Great Britain. 

Britannia Metal, an alloy of 
brass, tin, antimony, and bismuth, used 
to make cheap spoons, teapots, etc. 

Brittany. See Bretagne. 

British Association for the 
Advancement of Science, a society 
first organized in 1831, mainly through 
the exertions of Sir David Brewster, 
whose object is to assist the progress 
of discovery, and to disseminate the 
latest results of scientific research, by 
bringing together men eminent in all 
the several departments of science. 

British Central Africa Protec¬ 
torate, The, a portion of British 
Central Africa, lying around the 
shores of Lake Nyassa, and extending 
to the banks of the Zambezi. It in¬ 
cludes all British Nyassaland, as well 


as the Shire Highlands, and the great¬ 
er part of the basin of the river Shire. 
The area of the Protectorate is about 
38,000 square miles; the European in¬ 
habitants number about 300, and the 
native inhabitants are about 850,000. 

British Columbia, a Province 
(including Vancouver Island) of the 
Dominion of Canada, bounded on the 
N. by the 60th parallel of lat.; E. by 
the Rocky Mountains; S. by the 
United States; and W. by Alaska, the 
Pacific Ocean, and Queen Charlotte’s 
Sound; area, 383,300 square miles; 
pop. (1901) 177,272; capital, Victoria. 

It is to its mineral wealth that 
British Columbia owes its present im¬ 
portance. Gold was discovered in 
1857, and was the cause of the estab¬ 
lishment of the separate colony. In 
1897 the disclosing of the phenomenal 
gold field in the Klondike region led 
to great excitement throughout both 
Canada and the U. S., and since gold 
mines have been worked extensively 
at Rossland. Branch lines of the Can¬ 
adian Pacific and the U. S. Great 
Northern railroads have opened up 
rich mineral, farming, and fruit-grow¬ 
ing districts. 

This Province has probably the 
richest fisheries in the world, the only 
obstacle to their rapid development 
being their remoteness from the con¬ 
sumers. Salmon is the principal 
catch, and is famous all over the 
world. British Columbia was origin¬ 
ally a portion of the Hudson Bay Ter¬ 
ritory, and known as New Caledonia. 
In 1858 it was created a colony; in 
1866 the colony of Vancouver Island 
was united to it; and in 1871 the 
united colony was admitted to the 
Dominion of Canada. 

British East Africa, an immense 
territory of East Africa, between Ger¬ 
man East Africa and the Italian pro¬ 
tectorate of Somaliland; area, over 
1,000,000 square miles; pop. estimated 
at between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000. 
The British East Africa Company is 
rapidly opening up the country, con¬ 
structing roads and telegraphs, and 
taking steps to suppress slavery and 
the slave trade. The seat of adminis¬ 
tration is at Mombasa. The coast is 
unhealthy for Europeans, but most of 
the interior plateaus are salubrious. 

British Empire, The. Britain, 
or rather Britannia, was the name 




British. Empire 


British Empire 


which was given by the Romans to 
modern England and Scotland. The 
name Great Britain w r as applied to 
England and Scotland after James I. 
ascended the English throne in 1603. 

Extent of Empire.— The European 
dominions of the British empire com¬ 
prise— in addition to Great Britain, 
Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the 
Channel Islands — the rocky promon¬ 
tory of Gibraltar, captured from Spain 
in 1704; and Malta, Gozo, and ad¬ 
jacent islets, ceded to Great Britain 
in 1800. The most important of the 
Asiatic possessions of Great Britain 
is India, acquired gradually since the 
incorporation of the East India Com¬ 
pany in 1600, and especially during the 
great struggle with France in the 18th 
century. Great Britain also possesses 
Ceylon, acquired by conquest from the 
Dutch and from native rulers in 1796- 
1815; the Straits Settlements of Sin¬ 
gapore (ceded in 1824), Penang 
(1786), Wellesley Province (1800), 
and Malacca (1824), on which are de¬ 
pendent various native States of the 
Malay peninsula; the island of Hong- 
Kong (taken in 1841) and territory 
on the adjacent mainland; portions of 
the islands of Borneo, namely British 
North Borneo (company chartered in 
1881), to which is attached the island 
of Labuan (ceded 1846), the sultan¬ 
ate of Brunei, and Sarawak (practi¬ 
cally British since 1842) ; Aden 
(1839), the island of Perim, the Koo- 
ria Mooria Islands, and the Bahrein 
Islands. Cyprus, though belonging to 
Turkey, has since 1878 been adminis¬ 
tered by Great Britain. In Africa 
Great Britain owns Cape Colony, 
gradually developed since its final ac¬ 
quirement in 18C6, and including Wal- 
fisch bay; Basutoland (British since 
1868) ; the Bechuanaland Protector¬ 
ate (acquired in 1884) ; Natal (pro¬ 
claimed British in 1843), to which are 
now annexed Zululand, and Tonga- 
land (acquired in 1887) ; Rhodesia, 
including Matabeleland, Mashonaland, 
Barotseland, etc., recently begun to be 
developed by the British South Africa 
Company; the Central Africa Protec¬ 
torate (acquired in 1889-1890, and 
proclaimed a protectorate in 1891) ; 
the West African Colonies; # namely, 
Gambia (recognized as British in 
1783), the Gold Coast (partly ac¬ 
quired in the 17th century), Sierra 


Leone (ceded 1787), and Lagos, with 
dependencies (occupied in 1861) ; Ni¬ 
geria, including the Niger Coast Pro¬ 
tectorate (1884) and the territories 
formerly administered by the Royal 
Niger Company (chartered in 1886) ; 
the East Africa Protectorate, pro¬ 
claimed in 1895 over territories pre¬ 
viously under the Imperial British 
East Africa Company (chartered 
1888) ; the Uganda Protectorate, now 
including also Unyoro, Usoga, etc. 
(proclaimed in 1894) ; the Zanzibar 
Protectorate, consisting of the islands 
of Zanzibar and Pemba (under the 
protection of Great Britain since 
1890) ; the Somali Coast Protectorate 
(acquired in 1884) ; the islands of 
Mauritius (taken from France in 
1810), with its dependencies the Sey¬ 
chelles, etc.; the island of Socotra 
(1886) ; and the Atlantic islands, St. 
Helena (1651), Ascension (1815), 
and Tristan d’Acunha (1816). Be¬ 
sides Great Britain virtually rules 
Egypt and the reconquered Egyptian 
Sudan (1898), though the former is 
nominally part of the Ottoman em¬ 
pire ; and, since the South African 
War, the former territories of the 
Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. 
Her possessions in the New World 
comprise the Dominion of Canada, 
most of which was obtained from 
France by conquest and treaty be¬ 
tween 1713 and 1763; the island of 
Newfoundland, the oldest English col¬ 
ony (discovered by John Cabot in 
1497), with its dependency Labrador; 
British Honduras (1783) ; the Bermu¬ 
das Islands (1609) ; the West Indian 
Islands, namely, Jamaica (1655), the 
Bahamas (1629), several of the Lee¬ 
ward Islands (Antigua, St. Christo¬ 
pher, Dominica, etc.), the Windward 
Islands (Barbados, St. Lucia, St. 
Vincent, Grenada, the Grenadines, To¬ 
bago, etc.), and Trinidad (1797) ; 
British Guiana (1814) ; and the 
Falkland Islands (organized 1833) 
and South Georgia. The British em¬ 
pire in Australasia includes Australia 
(explored and settled from the latter 
part of the 18th century onward) ; 
Tasmania (settled by Englishmen in 
1803) ; New Zealand (begun to be 
colonized in 1839) ; a portion of New 
Guinea (1884) ; the Fiji Islands 
(1874) ; and many small islands in 
the Pacific, 





British Museum 


Broccoli 


The British Empire rules or con¬ 
trols nearly one-fifth of the land sur¬ 
face of the globe, and more than one- 
fourth of the world’s population. Its 
territories cover 11,000,000 square 
miles, and its people number 400,000,- 
000 . 

British Museum, the great na¬ 
tional museum in London, owes its 
foundation to Sir Hans Sloane, who, 
in 1753, bequeathed his various collec¬ 
tions, including 50,000 books and 
MSS., to the nation, on condition 
of $100,000 being paid to his heirs. 
This offer was agreed to by Parlia¬ 
ment. The British Museum is under 
the management of 48 trustees, among 
the chief being the Archbishop of Can¬ 
terbury, the Lord-Chancellor, and the 
Speaker of the House of Commons. 
In all the staff of the institution num¬ 
bers over 320 persons. The museum 
is open daily, free of charge. Admis¬ 
sion to the reading-room as a regular 
reader is by ticket, procurable on ap¬ 
plication to the chief librarian, there 
being certain simple conditions at¬ 
tached. The institution contains some¬ 
thing like 2,000,000 volumes in the 
department of printed books. A copy 
of every book, pamphlet, newspaper, 
piece of music, etc., published any¬ 
where in British territory, must be 
conveyed free of charge to the museum. 

British South Africa Com¬ 
pany, a corporation founded in 1889, 
with a royal charter, by Cecil Rhodes 
and others, for the purpose of con¬ 
trolling, settling, administering and 
opening up by railways and telegraphs, 
etc., certain territories in Central 
South Africa. Mashonaland was first 
settled, and, in 1893, Matabeleland 
was annexed and settled after the de¬ 
feat of King Lobengula. In 1895, 
North Zambezia, in British Central 
Africa, was added, as well as a strip 
of territory in the Bechuanaland Pro¬ 
tectorate. This territory has been 
called Rhodesia, or British Zambezia; 
area, about 500,000 square miles. In 
consequence of the filibustering raid of 
Dr. Jameson, an officer of the com¬ 
pany, near the close of 1895, Rhodes 
resigned his connection with the com¬ 
pany in 1896, and a joint administra¬ 
tor of the territory was appointed by 
the British crown. 

Britton, Nathaniel, Lord, an 
American scientist; born on Staten 


Island, N. Y., Jan. 15, 1858. He was 
Professor of Botany in Columbia 
School of Mines in 1888-1896, and 
later Director of the New York Bo¬ 
tanical Garden. 

Broad Arrow, the mark cut or 

stamped on all English government 
property and stores. It was the cog¬ 
nizance of Henry, Viscount Sydney, 
Earl of Romney, Master-General of 
the Ordnance, 1693-1702, and was at 
first placed only on military stores. 
It is also the mark used in the Brit¬ 
ish Ordnance Survey to denote points 
from which measurements have been 
made. 

Broad Bill, a species of wild duck, 
the shoveler; also the spoon bill. 

Broadhead, Garland Car, an 
American geologist; born in Albemarle 
Co., Va., Oct. 30, 1827. He studied at 
the University of Missouri and was 
long the State Expert in Geology. 
From 1887 to 1897 he was Professor 
of Geology at the University of Mis¬ 
souri. 

Broad Mountain, a mountain 

ridge of Pennsylvania, in Carbon and 
Schuylkill counties, about 50 miles 
long. 

Broad River, a river of North 
Carolina, rising in the Blue Ridge 
mountains, and making a junction 
with the Saluda at Columbia to form 
the Congaree; about 200 miles long. 

Broad Top Mountain, a moun¬ 
tain in Bedford and Huntington coun¬ 
ties, Pennsylvania; extensively mined 
for anthracite coal. Height about 
2,500 feet. 

Broadway, the great business 
street of New York. Starting from 
Bowling Green, at the lower extremity 
of the island, it runs northward in a 
somewhat diagonal direction, separat¬ 
ing the city into substantially equal 
eastern and western parts. It was 
formerly the Boulevard above 59th 
street, but the whole length of the 
thoroughfare is now known as Broad¬ 
way. It is part of a continuous road 
from New York to Albany. A portion 
of the rapid transit subway has been 
built under Broadway, and an under¬ 
ground trolley line is on the surface 
in New York city. 

Broccoli, a late variety of the 
cauliflower, hardier and with more 
color in the lower leaves. The part 




Brock 


Broker 


of the plant used is the succulent 
flower stalks. Although broccoli is 
inferior in flavor to cauliflower it 
serves as a fair substitute. 

Brock, Sir Isaac, a British mili¬ 
tary commander, born in Guernsey, 
Oct. 6, 1769; suppressed a threatened 
mutiny in Canada in 1802; made Lieu¬ 
tenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 
1810; took Detroit from the Ameri¬ 
cans under General Hull in 1812; and 
was killed at the battle of Queens¬ 
town, Oct. 13, 1812. A monument to 
his memory stands on the W. bank of 
the Niagara river. 

Brocken, the culminating point of 
the Hartz Mountains, in North Ger¬ 
many, Kingdom of Saxony, cultivated 
nearly to its summit, which is 3,740 
feet above the level of the sea. The 
phenomenon called the “ Specter of 
the Brocken ” is here occasionally seen 
at sunset and sunrise. It is caused by 
the perpendicular rising of the mists 
from the valley opposite to the sun, at 
the same time leaving the top of the 
mountain clear. The effect produced 
is a wonderful enlargement of every 
object reflected by this dense mass of 
vapor ascending from the valley. 

Brockhans, Friedrick Arnold, 
a German publisher, born in Dort¬ 
mund, May 4, 1772; died Aug. 20, 
1823. 

Brockhaus, Hermann, a German 
Orientalist, born in Amsterdam in 
1806; brother of the preceding; from 
1848 till his death was Professor of 
Sanskrit at Leipsic, and published 
many works on Oriental literature. 
He died in Leipsic, Jan. 5, 1877. 

Broderick, David Colbretk, an 
American legislator, born in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., Feb. 4, 1820; was. defeated 
for Congress in New York in 1846; 
went to California, and was elected a 
member of the Constitutional Conven¬ 
tion of 1849; served as Speaker of the 
Senate; and was elected to the United 
States Senate in 1856, where he ac¬ 
tively opposed the admission of Kan¬ 
sas. He was killed in a duel by Judge 
David S. Terry, Sept. 16, 1859. 

Brodhead, John Romeyn, an 
American historian, born in Philadel¬ 
phia, Jan. 2, 1814; graduated at Rut¬ 
gers College in 1831; made a valuable 
collection of documents in Europe 
bearing upon American history that I 


was published by the State of New 
York; author of a “ History of the 
State of New York.” He died in New 
York city, May 6, 1873. 

Broglie, a prominent French fam¬ 
ily, of Piedmontese origin. Jacques 
Victor Albert, Due de Broglie, born 
June 13, 1821, early entered the field 
of literature, and was elected an Acad¬ 
emician in 1862. Returned as a dep¬ 
uty in 1871, he was, till May, 1872, 
Ambassador at London; he then be¬ 
came leader of the Conservative Right 
Center, and with a view to force a 
monarchical government on France, 
he brought about the resignation or 
Thiers, and the election of MacMa- 
hon, in 1873. He was twice Premier 
— in 1873-1874 and in 1877 —resig¬ 
nation being on both occasions forced 
on him by Gambetta’s exposure of his 
reactionary tactics. 

Brogue, a brogan; a stout, heavy 
leather shoe, resembling in form the 
French sabot. Applied generally to 
the pedal coverings of the Scottish 
Highlanders and the Irish peasantry. 
It is also applied to a corrupt dialect, 
or mode of pronunciation; as, spoken 
with the Irish brogue. 

Broiling, the cooking of meat or 
fish on a gridiron above a fire, or by 
laying it directly on the coals, a very 
wholesome method of cookery. 

Broke, Sir Philip Bowes Vere, 
a British admiral, born near Ipswich. 
Sept. 9, 1776; distinguished himselr 
particularly in 1813, as commander of 
the “ Shannon,” in the memorable ac¬ 
tion which that vessel fought with the 
United States vessel “ Chesapeake ” 
off the American coast, and in which 
the latter was captured. He died in 
London, Jan. 2, 1841. 

Broken Wind, a disease of the 
organs of respiration in horses, com¬ 
monly produced by the rupture of the 
lung cellular tissue. 

Broker, an agent employed to 
make bargains and contracts between 
other persons, in matters of commerce, 
for a compensation commonly called 
brokerage. A broker usually confines 
his attention to one particular mar¬ 
ket, as wool, sugar, or iron, and the 
special knowledge he thus acquires 
renders his services useful to the gen¬ 
eral merchant, who has no such inti¬ 
mate acquaintance with the trade. 





Bromide 


Bronte 


The broker is strictly a middleman, or 
intermediate negotiator between the 
parties, finding buyers or sellers as re¬ 
quired. He does not act in his own 
name, nor has he generally the custody 
of the goods in which he deals, thus 
differing from a factor, and he cannot 
sell publicly like an auctioneer. He is 
treated as the agent of both parties, 
though primarily he is deemed the 
agent of the party by whom he is 
originally employed. Besides ordinary 
commercial brokers, there are several 
other sorts, such as stock-brokers, 
share-brokers, ship-brokers, insurance- 
brokers, bill-brokers, etc. 

Bromide, a combination of bromine 
with a metal or a radical. Bromides 
are soluble in water, except silver and 
mercurous bromides; lead bromide is 
very slightly soluble. 

Bromine, a non-metallic element. 
Bromine has been applied externally 
as a caustic, but rarely. Its chief 
officinal preparations are bromide of 
ammonium, useful in whooping cough, 
infantile, convulsions, and nervous 
diseases generally; and bromide of po¬ 
tassium, now very extensively used, 
especially in epilepsy, hysteria, deli¬ 
rium tremens, diseases of the throat 
and larynx, bronchocele, enlarged 
spleen, hypertrophy of liver, fibroid 
tumors, etc. Also, as an antaphro- 
disiac, for sleeplessness, glandular 
swellings, and skin diseases. Its al¬ 
terative powers are similar to but less 
than those of the iodides. It has a 
pungent saline taste, no odor, and oc¬ 
curs in colorless cubic crystals, close¬ 
ly resembling the iodide. As a hypnot¬ 
ic its usefulness is much increased by 
combining it with morphia or chloral 
hydrate. 

Bronchi, the two branches into 
which the trachea or windpipe divides 
in the chest, one going to the right 
lung, the other to the left, and rami¬ 
fying into innumerable smaller tubes 
— the bronchial tubes. 

Bronchitis, inflammation of the 
air tubes leading to the pulmonary 
vesicles,. accompanied by hoarseness, 
cough, increase of temperature, and 
soreness of the chest anteriorly. The 
uneasy sensations begin about the re¬ 
gion of the frontal sinuses, passing 
from the nasal mucous passages, tra¬ 
chea, and windpipe to the chest, with 


hoarseness, cough, and expectoration; 
but in capillary bronchities the cough 
is dry and without expectoration. In 
acute cases the sputum is first thin, 
then opaque and tenacious, lastly pu¬ 
rulent ; the breathing is hurried and 
laborious, the pulse quickened, and the 
skin dry. The danger increases in 
proportion as the finer bronchial 
tubes become involved, and, instead of 
the healthy respiratory sound we have 
sharp, chirping, whistling notes, vary¬ 
ing from sonorous to sibilant. The 
sharp sound is most to be feared, as 
arising in the smaller tubes; the 
grave, sonorous notes originate in the 
larger tubes. Spitting of blood some¬ 
times occurs, and in severe cases per¬ 
sons actually die suffocated from the 
immense quantity of mucus thrown 
out, obstructing the tubes and causing 
collapse of the vesicular structure of 
the lungs. The ratio of the respira¬ 
tion to the pulse is high, going up to 
GO or even 70 in the minute, with a 
pulse rate of 120 or 130. Chronic 
bronchitis, or bronchial catarrh, is ex¬ 
tensively prevalent, especially among 
the aged, recurring once or twice a 
year in spring or autumn, or both, till 
it becomes more or less constant all 
the year round. 

Bronchocele, an indolent tumor 
on the forepart of the neck caused by 
enlargement of the thyroid gland, and 
attended by protrusion of the eyeballs, 
anaemia, and palpitation. 

Brongniart, Alexander, a 
French geologist and mineralogist, 
born in Paris, Feb. 5, 1770; died in 
Paris, Oct. 7, 1847. His son, Adolphe 
Theodore Brongniart, born in 1801, 
died in 1876, became Professor of Bo¬ 
tany at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, 
1833, and was the author of several 
botanical works held in high esteem. 

Bronte, a town of Sicily, at the 
W. base of Mt. Etna, 33 miles N. W. 
of Catania. The lava streams of 1651 
and 1843 lie on either side, but the 
district around is fertile, and produces 
wine. Lord Nelson was created Duke 
of Bronte by the Neapolitan Govern¬ 
ment in 1799. Pop. (1901) 20,366. 

Bronte, Anne, an English novelist 
and poetess, born in Haworth, York¬ 
shire, March 24, 1820; sister of Char¬ 
lotte Bronte. She died in Scarbor¬ 
ough, May 28, 1849. 




Bronte 


Bronzes 


Bronte, Charlotte, (afterward 
Mrs. Nicholls), an English novelist, 
born in Thornton, Yorkshire, April 
21, 1816; was the third daughter of 
the Rev. Patrick Bronte, rector of 
Thornton, from which he removed in 
1820 on becoming incumbent of Ha¬ 
worth, in the West Riding of York¬ 
shire, about 4 miles from Keighley. 
Her mother died soon after this re¬ 
moval, and her father, an able though 
eccentric man, brought up Charlotte 
and her. sisters in quite a Spartan 
fashion, inuring them to every kind of 
industry and fatigue. After an edu¬ 
cation received partly at home and 
partly at neighboring schools, Char¬ 
lotte became a teacher, and then a 
governess in a family. In 1844 ar¬ 
rangements were entered into by the 
three sisters to open a school at Ha¬ 
worth, but from the want of success 
in obtaining pupils no progress was 
ever made with their scheme. They 
resolved now to turn their attention 
to literary composition; and, in 1846, 
a volume of poems by the three sis¬ 
ters was published, under the names of 
Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. It 
was issued at their- own risk, and at¬ 
tracted little attention, so they quitted 
poetry for prose fiction, and produced 
each a novel. Charlotte (Currer 
Bell) entitled her production “ The 
Professor,” but it was everywhere re¬ 
fused by the publishing trade, and 
was not given to the world till after 
her death. Emily (Ellis Bell) with 
her tale of “ Wuthering Heights,” 
and Anne (Acton Bell) with “Ag¬ 
nes Grey,” were more successful. 
Charlotte’s failure, however, did not 
discourage her, and she composed the 
novel of “ Jane Eyre,” which was pub¬ 
lished in October, 1847. Its success 
was immediate and decided. Her sec¬ 
ond novel of “ Shirley ” appeared in 
1849. Previous to this she had lost 
her two sisters, Emily dying on Dec. 
19, 1848, and Anne May 28, 1849 
(after publishing a second novel, the 
“ Tenant of Wildfell Hall ”). In the 
autumn of 1852 appeared Charlotte’s 
third novel, “ Villette.” Shortly af¬ 
ter, she married her father’s curate, 
the Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls, but in 
nine months died of consumption, 
March 31, 1855. Her originally re¬ 
jected tale of “ The Professor ” was 
published after her death in 1857, and 

E. 24. 


the same year a biography of her ap¬ 
peared from the pen of Mrs. Gaskell. 

Brontosaurus Excelsus, a species 
of herbivorous dinosaur of the Trias- 
sic and Juraslic periods. It is sup¬ 
posed to have been a hippopotamus¬ 
like animal, and to have lived on vege¬ 
tation in the waters. It was about 60 
feet long^ and 15 feet high at the 
middle of the body, and, although its 
body was of this great size, it had one 
of the smallest heads known among 
vertebrates. 

Brontotherium, or Titanother- 
ium, a genus of the extinct mammals 
first found in the Bad Lands of South 
Dakota, and later in Nebraska and 
Colorado. The brontotherium was 
about the size of the elephant. The 
nose was evidently flexible, but there 
was no true proboscis. 

Bronx, The, a borough of Greater 
New York, lying N. and E. of the 
borough of Manhattan, between the 
Hudson river. East river, and Long 
Island Sound, including City, Riker’s, 
Hunter’s, Twin, Hart, High and sev¬ 
eral adjacent islands; area, 25,270 
acres; pop. about 400,000. It con¬ 
tains an extensive public park, with a 
botanical garden of 250 acres, and is 
the site of the newly established New 
York Zoological Gardens. The statis¬ 
tics of this borough are included with 
those of Manhattan borough. See 
New York City. 

Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. 
It was used by the ancient Assyrians 
and Egyptians. Layard brought many 
ornaments and other articles of this 
metal from Assyria. Bronze is more 
fusible, as well as harder than copper. 
It is also a fine-grained metal, taking 
a smooth and polished surface; hence 
its universal use, both in ancient and 
modern times, in making casts of all 
kinds, medals, bas-reliefs, statues, etc. 
Its color is a reddish-yellow, and is 
darkened by exposure to the atmos¬ 
phere. Its composition varies accord¬ 
ing to the purpose for which it is to be 
employed, and other constituents be¬ 
sides copper and tin frequently enter 
into it. Whatever alloy is principally 
formed of these metals, however, is 
called bronze. 

Bronzes, in archaeology, works of 
art cast in bronze. Bronze was con¬ 
sidered by men of ancient times as 





Bronzing 


Brooklyn 


sacred to the gods; and the Roman 
emperors who struck gold and silver 
coins could not strike them of bronze 
without the permission of the senate; 
hence the inscription S. C. (Senatus 
consulto). 

Bronzing, the process of giving a 
bronze-like or antique metallic ap¬ 
pearance to the surface of metals or 
plaster casts. 

Broock, a kind of ornament worn 
on the dress, to which it is attached 
by a pin stuck through the fabric. 

Brooke, Henry, an Irish novelist 
and dramatist; born in Rantavan, 
County Cavan, Ireland, about 1703; 
died in Dublin, Oct. 10, 1783. 

Brooke, Sir Janies, Rajah of Sar¬ 
awak, was born in Benares, India, 
April 29, 1803. In 1838, having gone 
to Borneo, he assisted the Sultan of 
Brunei (the nominal ruler of the 
island) in suppressing a revolt. For 
his services he was made Rajah and 
Governor of Sarawak, a district on 
the N. W. coast of the island, and, 
being established in the Government, 
he endeavored to induce the Dyak na¬ 
tives to abandon their irregular and 
piratical mode of life and to turn 
themselves to agriculture and com¬ 
merce ; and his efforts to introduce 
civilization were crowned with won¬ 
derful success. He was made a K. C. 
B. in 1847, and was appointed Gover¬ 
nor of Labuan. He died in Devon¬ 
shire, England, June 11, 1868. 

Brooke, John Rutter, an Ameri¬ 
can military officer, born in Pottsville, 
Pa., July 21, 1838. He entered the 
army as captain in a volunteer regi¬ 
ment on the breaking out of the Civil 
War in 1861, and resigned in Febru¬ 
ary, 1866, with the rank of Brevet 
Major-General. In July of the same 
year he was appointed Lieutenant- 
Colonel of the 37th United States In¬ 
fantry. He was promoted to Colonel 
in March, 1879; Brigadier-General, 
April 6, 1888, and Major-General, 
May 22, 1897. After the declaration 
of war against Spain, he was placed 
in command of the First Provisional 
Army Corps, and. subsequently distin¬ 
guished himself in the campaign in 
Porto Rico, and was made a member 
of the joint military commission to 
arrange the cession of the island to 
the United States. On Dec. 13, 1898, 


he was appointed Military and Civil 
Governor of Cuba, a post which he 
held till April, 1900, when he was 
succeeded by Gen. Leonard Wood. On 
May 10, following, he succeeded Ma¬ 
jor-General Wesley Merritt as com¬ 
mander of the Military Department of 
the East, with headquarters in New 
York. 

Brooke, Stopford Augustus, an 

English Unitarian preacher, born in 
Dublin in 1832. He was educated at 
Trinity College, Dublin. He has held 
important curacies in London, and in 
1872 was appointed Chaplain in Or¬ 
dinary to the Queen. He subsequently 
became a Unitarian. 

Brook Farm Association, a 
community which originated in 1841, 
with William Henry Channing, George 
Ripley, and Sophia, his wife, with 
whom were united from time to time 
George William Curtis, Nathaniel 
Hawthorne, Theodore Parker, Charles 
Anderson Dana, John Sullivan Dwight, 
Margaret Fuller, and other personages 
of a philosophic turn of mind. The 
scheme of the association contemplat¬ 
ed utilizing the labor — physically 
and intellectually — of each of its 
members, at a certain fixed rate, the 
intention being to dispose of the re¬ 
sults of such labor to the outside pub¬ 
lic, and with such profit that all the 
delights and adornments of life were 
to be procurable therefrom, and were 
to be held in common by the members 
of the association. This part of the 
plan failed; and the community, hav¬ 
ing definitely gone over to Fourierism 
about 1843, and to Swedenborgianism 
a year later, engaged in a general 
proselytizing undertaking, a search 
both for converts and capital, prose¬ 
cuted by lecturers and writers. But 
the whole undertaking was brought to 
a collapse by the destruction of the 
“ Phalanstery ” at Brook Farm, by 
fire, on the night of March 3, 1846. 

Brooklyn, a former city, and the 
fourth in population in the United 
States, according to the Federal cen¬ 
sus of 1890; since Jan. 1, 1898, one 
of the five boroughs of the city of 
Greater New York; situated on the 
W. extremity of Long Island, on New 
York Bay and the East river, which 
separates it from New York and con¬ 
nects Long Island Sound with New 
York Bay. Brooklyn is connected 




Brooklyn 


Brooks 


with New York by several bridges, 
tunnels, and numerous ferries. It com¬ 
prises Brooklyn proper, Williamsburg, 
Gravesend, Flatbush, Flat Lands, New 
Lots, New Utrecht and several smaller 
suburban towns that were united with 
it prior to its consolidation with New 
York. It now extends from the At¬ 
lantic Ocean at Coney Island to the 
East river and New York harbor, and 
occupies the whole of Kings county; 
area 66.39 square miles; pop. (1890) 
806,343; (1900) 1,166,582. 

There are 16 parks in Brooklyn, 
with an area of 754 acres. Prospect 
Park is the largest, with 516 acres, 
including 77 acres of lakes and water¬ 
ways, 70 acres of meadows, 110 acres 
of woodland, and 259 of plantations. 
It is situated on an elevated ridge and 
commands a magnificent view of the 
ocean, the Sound, Long Island, New 
Jersey, and New York city. It has 
been left to a great extent in its origi¬ 
nal wooded condition, making it one 
of the most picturesque parks in the 
United States. There are 8 miles of 
drives, 11 miles of walks, and 4 of 
bridle paths. The Flatbush avenue 
entrance, or the Plaza, is paved with 
stone and surrounded by grass. There 
is a Soldiers and Sailors’ Memorial 
Arch and a statue of President Lin¬ 
coln at this entrance. Of the other 
parks, Washington Park, the site of 
extensive Revolutionary fortifications, 
of which Fort Green is the principal 
one, is the largest. Among the small¬ 
er parks are the City Park, Carrol 
Park, and Tompkins Park. 

The most notable and important 
navy yard in the United States is lo¬ 
cated here, and is always a place of 
large patriotic interest, because of its 
buildings, its relics, and the old and 
new types of warships that are gen¬ 
erally to be seen here. 

Brooklyn has been widely known as 
the City of Churches. There are now 
nearly 470 of such edifices and chapels. 
The Roman Catholic, with 83 church¬ 
es, is the strongest denomination. 
Then follow the Methodist Episcopal 
(60) ; Protestant Episcopal (54) ; 
Baptist (47) ; Lutheran (40) ; Pres¬ 
byterian (37) ; Congregational (33) ; 
Reformed (34) ; synagogues. (18), 
and others of various denominations 
(about 70). In 1900 there were 130,- 
311 church members; 138,136 Sunday 


School scholars, and, in the previous 
year, the churches expended for cur¬ 
rent expenses, debt, extensions, and 
missions, $2,119,485. 

The most important hospitals in 
Brooklyn are the Long Island College, 
Brooklyn, Brooklyn Homoeopathic, 
General, St. Mary’s Methodist, St. 
John’s, and St. Peter’s. The city has 
24 dispensaries, 5 training-schools for 
nurses, 25 orphan asylums and indus¬ 
trial schools, 11 homes for the aged, 
and 6 nurseries. The public institu¬ 
tions are mostly at Flatbush, and con¬ 
sist of the Insane Asylum, Hospital, 
and Almshouse. There is an Inebri¬ 
ates’ Home in Bay Ridge. 

The city is noted for the number and 
standing of its educational institu¬ 
tions, both public and private. The 
Packer Institute for girls, the Poly¬ 
technic Institute for boys, Adelphi Col¬ 
lege, and The Pratt Institute have na¬ 
tional renown. The Brooklyn Insti¬ 
tute of Arts and Sciences, an out¬ 
growth from an association founded in 
1823, is another noted institution. It 
includes 25 departments with lectures, 
so that its teaching methods resemble 
those of a large university. 

Brooklyn was settled by the Dutch 
in 1636 at New Utrecht. In 1646 five 
small towns consolidated under the 
name of Breuckelen, from the Dutch 
town whence most of the settlers 
came. In 1666 the first Dutch church 
was built in Breuckelen. About this 
time the English came into possession 
of New York and Long Island, and 
Breuckelen became a part of West 
Riding. On Aug. 27, 1776, the battle 
of Long Island was fought in Brook¬ 
lyn, and the village was held by the 
British till 1783. Brooklyn was in¬ 
corporated as a village in 1816; and 
in 1834 it became a city. Several ad¬ 
joining towns were annexed from time 
to time, and in 1896 Brooklyn com¬ 
prised all of Kings county. On Jan. 
1, 1898, Brooklyn was consolidated 
with Greater New York, under the 
name of the Borough of Brooklyn. 

Brooks, Eldredge Streeter, an 
American author; born in Lowell, 
Mass., in 1846; died in Somerville, 
Mass., Jan. 7, 1902. 

Brooks, Maria Gowan, an Amer¬ 
ican poet, pseudonym Maria del Oc- 
cidente, born in Medford, Mass., 




Brooks 


Brougham 


about 1795; spent her youth in 
Charlestown, Mass., and the rest of 
her life in London, New York and 
Cuba. She died in Matanzas, Cuba, 
Nov. 11, 1845. 

Brooks, Noah, an American jour¬ 
nalist and author, born in Castine, 
Me., Oct. 30,1830. Died Aug. 16,1903. 

Brooks, Phillips, an American 
clergyman of the Episcopal Church, 
born in Boston, Dec. 13, 1835. He 
was rector of Protestant Episcopal 
churches successively in Philadelphia 
and in Boston, and was made Bishop 
of Massachusetts in 1891. He was an 
impressive pulpit orator, had great 
spiritual force, and published many 
volumes of sermons and lectures. He 
died in Boston, Jan. 23, 1893. 

Brooks, Preston Smith, an 
American legislator, born in Edgefield, 
S. C., Aug. 14, 1819. He served in 
the Mexican War; was elected to Con¬ 
gress in 1853, and on May 22, 1856, 
he assaulted Senator Charles Sumner 
in the Senate Chamber, beating him 
into insensibility with a cane. He 
afterward resigned, but was immedi¬ 
ately returned to the House by his 
District. He died in Washington, D. 
C., Jan. 27, 1857. 

Brooks, William Keith, natu¬ 
ralist, born in Cleveland, O., March 
25, 1848, graduated LL. D. from Will¬ 
iams College (1870) ; Ph. D. Harvard 
(1874). From 1876 assistant-profes¬ 
sor, and since 1883, professor of zool¬ 
ogy in Johns Hopkins University. His 
works include “Invertebrate Zoology,” 
“ Foundations of Zoology,” etc. 

Brother Jonathan, a phrase ap¬ 
plied to the people of the United 
States, as “ John Bull ” is to the peo¬ 
ple of England. Washington, on as¬ 
suming command of the New England 
Revolutionary forces, was in great 
straits for arms and war material. 
The governor of Connecticut, Jona¬ 
than Trumbull, was a man of excellent 
judgment and an esteemed friend of 
Washington. In the emergency Wash¬ 
ington said, “ We must consult Broth¬ 
er Jonathan.” This expression was 
repeated on other difficult occasions, 
and became a convenient name for the 
whole people. 

Brotherhoods, Religious, were 
societies instituted for pious and ben¬ 


evolent purposes, and were numerous 
in the Middle Ages. 

Brotherhood of Andrew and 
Phillip, founded in 1888 by Rev. 
Rufus W. Miller of the Second Re¬ 
formed Church, Reading, Pa., has 
grown into a religious and social order 
among 23 Protestant denominations; 
with 638 chapters and 20,000 mem¬ 
bers in the United States, and chap¬ 
ters also in Canada, Japan, and Aus¬ 
tralia. 

Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 

of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
founded in Chicago in 1883 by the 
Rev. W. H. Vibbert and James Hough- 
teling for “ the spread of Christ’s 
Kingdom among young men,” in 1902 
had 1710 chapters, and 15,000 mem¬ 
bers. 

Brotherhood of St. Paul, of the 

Methodist Episcopal Church, founded 
1895 by the Rev. F. D. Leete, Roches¬ 
ter, N. Y., comprises the Orders of 
Jerusalem, Damascus, and Rome, for 
various grades of membership. 

Brougham, Henry Peter, Lord 
Brougham and Vaux, a British 
statesman, orator, and author, born in 
Edinburgh, Sept. 19, 1778; entered 
the University of Edinburgh in 1792. 
In 1802 he helped to found the “ Ed¬ 
inburgh Review,” contributing to the 
first four numbers 21 articles, and to 
the first 20 numbers 80 articles. The 
article on Byron’s “ Hours of Idle¬ 
ness ” provoked the poet to write his 
“ English Bards and Scotch Review¬ 
ers.” In 1810 Brougham entered 
Parliament, where his remarkable elo¬ 
quence gave him at once a command¬ 
ing place. He was counsel for Queen 
Caroline in George IY.’s suit against 
her (1820), winning a decisive vic¬ 
tory, which raised him to the height 
of fame and popularity. He became 
Lord Chancellor in 1830, and was at 
the same time created a baron: he re¬ 
signed on the defeat of the Whigs in 
1834, and never again held public 
office, though still taking effective part 
in the business and debates of the 
House of Lords. He died in Cannes, 
France, May 7, 1868. 

Brougkam, John, an American 
actor and playwright, born in Dublin, 
Ireland, May 9, 1810; made his debut 
as an actor in England in 1830. He 
came to the United States in 1842, 





Broughton 


Brown 


and, with the exception of a short re¬ 
turn trip to England in 18(50, re¬ 
mained here until his death. He was 
the author of over 100 comedies, 
farces* and burlesques. He died in 
New York, June 7, 1880. 

Broughton, Rhoda, an English 
novelist, daughter of a clergyman, 
born in Wales, 1840. Among her works 
are “Alas!”; “Scylla or Charybdis”; 
“Dear Faustina”; “Foes in Law”, etc. 

Broussa, Brusa, or Boursa, the 
ancient Prusa, where the Kings of 
Bithynia usually resided, situated in 
Asiatic Turkey, at the foot of Mount 
Olympus, in Asia Minor, 13 miles S. 
of the Sea of Marmora. Broussa is 
pleasantly situated, facing a beautiful 
and luxuriant plain. The water sup¬ 
ply is good, and water flows down the 
center of some of the streets, which 
are clean, but for most part narrow 
and dark, and the bazaars very good. 
It contains about 200 mosques, some 
of which are very fine buildings, also 
three Greek churches, an Armenian 
and several synagogues. The popula¬ 
tion of Broussa is about 37,000, of 
whom 5,000 are Greeks. 

Broussais, Francois Joseph 
Victor, a French physician, born in 
St. Malo, Dec. 17, 1772. Professor at 
the Military Hospital of Yal de Grace 
in 1820. he became Professor of Gen¬ 
eral Pathology in the Faculty of Med¬ 
icine, in Paris, 1832, and afterward 
was made a member of the Institute. 
The influence of Broussais in his gen¬ 
eration was unbounded, and his so- 
called “ Physiological Doctrine ” rap¬ 
idly acquired a great sway, the traces 
of which are visible even now, though 
a more exact knowledge of physiology 
has demonstrated that the views of 
Broussais were orte-sided and exag¬ 
gerated. The basis of Broussais’ doc¬ 
trine was the assumption that the ani¬ 
mal tissues are endowed with a prop¬ 
erty called irritability, a property 
which is called into play by the action 
of stimuli of various kinds, and by the 
operations of which all vital phenom¬ 
ena are produced. He died in Paris, 
Nov. 17, 1838. 

Brown, the color produced when 
certain substances — wood or paper, 
for example — are scorched or par¬ 
tially burned. Brown is not one of 
the primary colors in a spectrum. It 


is composed of red and yellow, with 
black, the negation of color. It is 
also the name of a genus of colors, of 
which the typical species is ordinary 
brown, tinged with grayish or black¬ 
ish. The other species are chestnut 
brown, deep brown, bright brown, 
rusty, cinnamon, red brown, rufous, 
glandaceous, liver colored, sooty, and 
lurid. 

Brown, Benjamin Gratz, an 

American politician, born in Lexing¬ 
ton, Ky., May 28, 1820; graduated at 
Yale in 1847. Ho practiced law in 
Missouri, and was a member of the 
State Legislature in 1852-1858. In 
the Civil War he served in the Union 
army, recruiting a regiment, and be¬ 
coming a Brigadier-General of volun¬ 
teers. In 1863-1807 he was United 
States Senator from Missouri, and in 
1871 was elected governor of his State. 
He was the candidate for the Vice- 
Presidency of the United States on 
the ticket with Horace Greeley in 
1872. He died in St. Louis, Dec. 13, 
1885. 

Brown, Charles Brockden, an 

American novelist, born in Philadel¬ 
phia, Jan. 17, 1771, was of a highly 
respectable family, of Quaker descent. 
He studied law, but took a disgust to 
the practice of the profession, and 
abandoned it for literature. In 1798 
he established himself in New York, 
and when the yellow fever broke out 
there he refused to forsake his friends 
and neighbors; and, after performing 
the last offices of affection for one of 
them, a young physician, was himself 
attacked by the pestilence. Between 
1803 and 1809 he published three po¬ 
litical pamphlets, which excited gen¬ 
eral attention. He died Feb. 22, 1810. 

Brown, Charles Rufus, an 
American clergyman and Hebrew 
scholar, born in East Kingston, N. H., 
Feb. 22, 1849. He was graduated at 
the United States Naval Academy in 
1869, at Harvard in 1877, and at 
Union Theological Seminary in 1879. 
He was ordained a Baptist minister in 
1881 and held pastorates at Salem and 
Worcester, Mass. He has been Pro¬ 
fessor of Hebrew at Newton Theologi¬ 
cal Institution since 1886, and has 
written important text books in the 
Oriental languages. 

Brown, Emma Elizabeth, (“ B. 
E. E.”), an American author and 





Brown. 


Brown 


artist, born in Concord, N. H., Oct. 
18, 1847. 

Brown, Sir George, an English 
military officer, born near Elgin in 
1790; served in the Peninsular War, 
and in the American campaign of 
1814. He became lieutenant-general 
in 1851; and distinguished himself in 
the Crimean War at Alma, Inker- 
mann, and Sebastopol. He was made 
K. C. B. in 1855, and died in 1865. 

Brown, Goold, an American gram¬ 
marian, born in Providence, R. I., 
March 7, 1791; died in Lynn, Mass., 
March 31, 1857. 

Brown, Harvey, an American 
army officer, born in Rahway, N. J., 
in 1795; graduated at West Point in 
1818. He was in constant service for 
more than 45 years. In the Black 
Hawk expedition, the Seminole In¬ 
dian campaigns, in the Army of Occu¬ 
pation in Mexico, and to the time of 
the Civil War, he did gallant duty, 
for which he received several brevets. 
In 1862 he was brevetted a Brigadier- 
General in the Regular army and pro¬ 
moted Colonel, and in 1863 was pro¬ 
moted to Major-General, U. S. A., and 
retired. He died in Clifton, Staten 
Island, N. Y., March 31, 1874. 

Brown, Henry Kirke, an Ameri¬ 
can sculptor, born in Leyden, Mass., 
Feb. 24, 1814. He made the eques¬ 
trian statue of Washington in Union 
Square, New York, the altar piece for 
the Church of the Annunciation in 
the same city, portrait busts of Wil¬ 
liam Cullen Bryant, Dr. Willard 
Parker, Erastus Corning and other 
New York men, and the statue of De 
Witt Clinton in Greenwood cemetery. 
The last named was the first bronze 
statue cast in the United States. Mr. 
Brown brought skilled workmen from 
Europe and did the first work in 
bronze casting attempted in this coun¬ 
try. Some of his other well known 
works are a statue of Lincoln in Pros¬ 
pect Park, Brooklyn, and equestrian 
statues of Gen. Scott and Nathanael 
Greene for the National Government, 
etc. He died in Newburg, N. Y., July 
10, 1886. 

Brown, Jacob, an American army 
officer, born in Bucks county, Pa., May 
9, 1775. He was a commander on the 
Canadian frontier in the War of 1812. 
In the engagements at Fort Erie he 


so distinguished himself as to receive 
the thanks of Congress, Nov. 13, 1814. 
The city of New York also voted him 
its freedom. At the close of the war 
he was in command of the Northern 
Division of the army, and, in March, 
1821, became general-in-chief of the 
United States army. He died in 
Washington, D. C., Feb. 24, 1828. 

Brown, John, an American oppo¬ 
nent of slavery, born in Torrington, 
Conn., May 9, 1800. He early con¬ 
ceived a hatred for slavery, and, hav¬ 
ing removed to Osawatomie, Kan., in 
1855, he took an active part against 
the pro-slavery party, the slavery 
question there having given rise al¬ 
most to a civil war. In the summer 
of 1859 he rented a farmhouse about 
6 miles from Harper’s Ferry, and or¬ 
ganized a plot to liberate the slaves of 
Virginia. On Oct. 16, he, with the 
aid of about 20 friends, surprised and 
captured the arsenal at Harper’s Fer¬ 
ry, but was wounded and taken pris¬ 
oner by the Virginia militia next day; 
and was tried and executed at Charles¬ 
town, Dec. 2, 1859. His fate aroused 
much sympathy in the North, and un¬ 
doubtedly hastened the great anti¬ 
slavery conflict. “ John Brown’s body 
lies moldering in the grave, But his 
soul is marching on,” was a favorite 
marching song of the Union troops in 
the Civil War. 

Brown, John George, an Anglo- 

American painter, born in Durham, 
England, Nov. 11, 1831; was edu¬ 
cated in the common schools in New- 
castle-on-Tyne, and came to the Unit¬ 
ed States in 1853. He studied in the 
schools of the National Academy of 
Design; was elected an Academician 
in 1863; received honorable mention 
at the Paris Exposition in 1899; and 
in 1900 was president of the American 
Water Color Society. 

Brown, John Hamilton, an 
American inventor, born in Liber¬ 
ty, Me., July 28, 1837. At the age of 18 
he was apprenticed to a gunsmith and 
in 1857 he entered business in Haver¬ 
hill, Mass. He served in the Civil 
War as a sharpshooter, and in 1882 
was a member of the American Rifle 
Team at Wimbledon. He began in 
1883 to perfect the invention of a 
weapon for military use later known 
as the Brown segmental wire-wound 




Brown 


Browning 


gun, which, after numerous Govern¬ 
ment tests, was pronounced a success. 

Brown, John Howard, an Amer¬ 
ican editor, born in Rhinebeck, N. Y., 
Nov. 8, 1840. After studying law in 
New York city and engaging in jour¬ 
nalism in Washington, D. C., and Au¬ 
gusta, Ga., he became a publisher in 
New York city. He is a member of 
the American Academy of Political 
and Social Science; the Society of 
American Authors, and the American 
Social Science Association. 

Brown, Joseph Emerson, an 
American statesman, born in Pickens 
county, S. C., April 15, 1821; edu¬ 
cated at Calhoun Academy, and grad¬ 
uated at Yale in 1846. He settled in 
Canton, Ga.; served in the State Leg¬ 
islature, and was elected governor in 
1857; serving three terms. As war 
governor he opposed Jefferson Davis 
in the matter of the conscription laws 
and raised 10,000 recruits to oppose 
Sherman’s march to the sea; but 
would not allow them to leave the 
State. After the war he gave heart* 
support to the reconstruction meas¬ 
ures, and supported Gen. Grant for 
the Presidency. He was Chief Jus¬ 
tice of Georgia in 1868, and United 
States Senator in 1880-1891. He 
died in Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 30, 1894. 

Brown, Nicholas, an American 
merchant, born in Providence, R. I., 
April 4, 1769; best known as the chief 
patron of Brown University. In hon¬ 
or of his gifts, which exceeded $100,- 
000, the name of the institution was 
changed, in 1804, from Rhode Island 
College to Brown University. He 
gave also magnificent sums to other 
public institutions of Providence. He 
died Oct. 27, 1841. 

Brown (or Browne), Robert, 
founder of an English religious sect 
first called Brownists, and afterward 
Independents, was born about 1540, 
and studied at Cambridge, where, in 
1580, he began openly to attack the 
government and liturgy of the Church 
of England as anti-Christian. 

Brown, Robert, a Scotch botan¬ 
ist, born in Montrose, Dec. 21, 1773. 
In 1800 He was appointed naturalist 
to Flinders’ surveying expedition to 
Australia. He returned with nearly 
4,000 species of plants. He died in 
London, June 10, 1858. As a natural¬ 


ist Brown occupied the very highest 
rank among men of science. 

Browne, Charles Farrar, an 
American humorist, best known as 
Artemus Ward, born at Waterford, 
Me., April 26, 1834. Originally a 
printer, he became editor of papers in 
Ohio, where his humorous letters be¬ 
came very popular. He subsequently 
lectured in the United States, and 
in England, where he contributed to 
“ Punch.” He died in Southampton, 
England, March 6, 1867. 

Browne, William, an English 
poet, born in Tavistock, Devonshire, 
in 1591; died in Ottery St. Mary 
about 1643. 

Brownell, Franklin P., a Cana¬ 
dian artist, born in New Bedford, 
Mass. His specialties are portrait and 
figure painting. He has for some 
years been principal of the Ottawa 
Art School. 

Brownell, Henry Howard, an 

American poet and historian, born in 
Providence, R. I., Feb. 6, 1820. His 
first poetic venture was a spirited ver¬ 
sification of Farragut’s “ General Or¬ 
ders ” to the fleet below New Orleans. 
Afterward he was appointed to an hon¬ 
orary place on the “ Hartford,” flag¬ 
ship, and had opportunity to observe 
actual naval warfare. In “ The Bay 
Fight ” he describes, with truth and 
force, the battle of Mobile Bay. He 
died at East Hartford, Conn., Oct. 31, 
1872. 

Brownell, William Crary, an 

American essayist and critic, born in 
New York city, Aug. 30, 1851. He 
graduated from Amherst, and devoted 
himself to critical and editorial work 
in New York. 

Brownie, an imaginary being to 
whom evil properties were attributed; 
a domestic spirit or goblin, meager, 
shaggy, and wild, supposed to haunt 
many old houses, especially those at¬ 
tached to farms. 

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, a 

distinguished English poet, regarded 
by some as the greatest which England 
has ever produced; born in London, 
March 6, 1809. In 1846 she was mar¬ 
ried to Robert Browning, and died at 
Florence, Italy, June 29, 1861. 

Browning, Robert, one of the 
greatest of the Victorian poets; born 
in Camberwell, England, May 7, 1812. 




Brownlow 


Bruce 


His father, who was a clerk in a bank, 
had the boy educated in a school at 
Peckham, after which he attended lec¬ 
tures at University College. At the 
age of 20 he traveled on the Conti¬ 
nent and resided for some time in 
Italy, where he made diligent study 
of its mediaeval history. In 1846 he 
married Elizabeth Barrett, and settled 
with her in Florence, where they re¬ 
mained for nearly 15 years. Recog¬ 
nition of his literary fame, which 
came slowly, was made in 1867, when 
he was elected an honorary fellow of 
Baliol, an M. A. of Oxford, and later 
an LL. D. of Cambridge. He died in 
Venice, Dec. 12, 1889. His body was 
taken from Venice to England, where, 
in national recognition of his genius, 
it was buried in Westminster Abbey 
between Cowley and Chaucer. 

Brownlow, William Gannaway 
(“Parson Brownlow”), an Ameri¬ 
can politician, journalist, and author, 
born in Wythe county, Va., Aug. 29, 
1805. During his early career he 
was an itinerant preacher, editor, and 
lecturer. He was a Union champion 
during the Civil War, and was ban¬ 
ished from the Confederate lines on 
that ground. In 1865 he was elected 
Governor of Tennessee, and was re¬ 
elected in 1867. He was United 
States Senator from 1869 to 1875. 
He died in Knoxville, Tenn., April 
29, 1877. 

Brown-Sequard, Charles Edou¬ 
ard, Franco-American physiologist and 
physician, was born in Mauritius in 
1818, his father being a sea captain 
from Philadelphia, who married on the 
island a lady named Sequard. The 
son studied in Paris, and graduated 
M. D. in 1846. He devoted himself 
mainly to physiological research, and 
received numerous prizes, French and 
British, for the results of valuable ex¬ 
periments on blood, muscular irrita¬ 
bility, animal heat, the spinal cord, 
and the nervous system. In 1864 he 
became Professor of Physiology at 
Harvard, but in 1869 returned to 
Paris as Professor of Pathology in the 
School of Medicine. In 1873 he be¬ 
came a medical practitioner in New 
York, treating especially diseases of 
the nervous system; and in 1878 he 
succeeded Claude Bernard as Profes¬ 
sor of Experimental Medicine at the 


College de France. He died in Paris, 
April 1, 1894. 

Browuson, Orestes Augustus, 

an American author; born in Stock- 
bridge, Vt., Sept. 16, 1803; died in 
Detroit, Mich., April 17, 1876. 

Brownsville, city, port of entry, 
and county-seat of Cameron Co., Tex.; 
on the Rio Grande and the Rio 
Grande railroad, opposite Matamoras, 
Mexico. In the suburbs is Fort 
Brown, a garrisoned United States 
post. In May, 1840, Brownsville was 
occupied and fortified by a small body 
of United States troops, who main¬ 
tained their position in the face of a 
heavy bombardment that lasted for 160 
hours; and in November, 1863, it was 
taken from the Confederates by a 
Federal army under General Banks. 
Pop. (1900) 6,305. 

Brown University, a co-educa- 
tional institution in Providence, R. I.; 
organized in Warren in 1764 as Rhode 
Island College; removed to Providence 
in 1770, and renamed in honor of 
Nicholas Brown in 1804. It has al¬ 
ways been affiliated with the Baptist 
Church, but its management is non¬ 
sectarian. 

Brozik, Vacslav, a Bohemian ar¬ 
tist, born in Pilsen in 1852. His pic¬ 
ture, “ Columbus at the Court of Isa¬ 
bella,” was presented to the city of 
New York by Morris K. Jesup, and is 
in the Metropolitan Museum. He is 
a pupil of Pilaty and Munkacsy, and 
is considered the foremost historical 
painter living. 

Bruce, Catherine Wolfe, an 

American patron of science, born in 
New York city. She was a cousin of 
Catherine Lorillard Wolfe, from whom 
she inherited a fortune, which she 
used in furthering astronomical study 
at Harvard. She gave $50,000 to the 
Harvard Observatory in 1888. The 
Bruce Memorial Telescope at Are- 
quipa, Peru, was her gift. In 1897 
she established a gold medal fund for 
the Astronomical Society of the Pa¬ 
cific. She died in New York, March 
13, 1900. 

Bruce, Edward, a brother of 
Robert I., who, after distinguishing 
himself in the Scottish War of Inde¬ 
pendence, crossed in 1315 to Ireland 
to aid the native septs against the 
English. After many successes he 




Bruce 


Bruise 


was crowned King of Ireland at Car- 
rickfergus, but fell in battle near Dun¬ 
dalk in 1318. 

Bruce, James, an African trav¬ 
eler,^ born in Stirling, Dec. 14, 1730. 
In 1768 he set out for Cairo, navigated 
the Nile to Syene, crossed the desert 
to the Red Sea, passed some months 
in Arabia Felix, and reached Gondar, 
the capital of Abyssinia, in 1770. In 
that country he ingratiated himself 
with the sovereign and other influen¬ 
tial persons, and in the same year suc¬ 
ceeded in reaching the sources of the 
Abai, then considered the main stream 
of the Nile. Bruce lost his life by an 
accident, April 27, 1894. 

Bruce, Robert, the greatest of the 
Kings of Scotland, born in 1274. In 
1296, as Earl of Carrick, he swore 
fealty to Edward I., and in 1297 
fought on the English side against 
Wallace. He then joined the Scot¬ 
tish army, but in the same year re¬ 
turned to his allegiance to Edward 
until 1298, when he again joined the 
National party, and became in 1299 
one of the four regents of the king¬ 
dom. In the three final campaigns, 
however, he resumed fidelity to Ed¬ 
ward, and resided for some time at 
his court; but, learning that the King 
meditated putting him to death on in¬ 
formation given by the traitor Comyn, 
he fled, in February, 1306, to Scot¬ 
land, stabbed Comyn in a quarrel at 
Dumfries, assembled his vassals at 
Lochmaben Castle, and claimed the 
crown, which he received at Scone, 
March 27. Being twice defeated, he 
dismissed nis troops, retired to Rath- 
lin Island, and was supposed to be 
dead, when, in the spring of 1307, he 
landed on the Carrick coast, defeated 
the Earl of Pembroke at Loudon Hill, 
and in two years had wrested nearly 
the whole country from the English. 
He then in successive years advanced 
into England, laying waste the coun¬ 
try, and on June 24, 1314, defeated at 
Bannockburn the English forces ad¬ 
vancing under Edward II. to the re¬ 
lief of the garrison at Stirling. In 
1316 he went to Ireland to the aid of 
his brother Edward, and, on his re¬ 
turn in 1318, in retaliation! for inroads 
made during his absence, he took Ber¬ 
wick and harried Northumberland and 
Yorkshire. Hostilities continued un¬ 
til the defeat of Edward near Byland 


Abbey in 1323, and though in that year 
a truce was concluded for 13 years, 
it was speedily broken. Not until 
March 4, 1328, was the treaty con¬ 
cluded by which the independence of 
Scotland was fully recognized. Bruce 
did not long survive the completion of 
his work, dying at Cardross Castle on 
June 7, 1329. 

Bruce, Wallace, an American 
poet, born in Hillsdale, N. Y., Nov. 
10, 1844; graduated at Yale College 
in 1867; and was United States Con¬ 
sul at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1889- 
1893. 

Bruges, a city of Belgium, capital 
of West Flanders, at the junction of 
the canals from Ghent, Ostend, and 
L’Ecluse, 7 miles from the North Sea, 
and 60 miles N. W. of Brussels. Th.e 
city has a circumference of nearly 4 y 2 
miles, and is entered by six gates. 
Many large and noble ancient man¬ 
sions and spacious public edifices pre¬ 
sent their pointed gables to the streets, 
and afford interesting specimens of 
the ornamental Gothic architecture of 
the Middle Ages. Among the most re¬ 
markable public edifices are the Ca¬ 
thedral of Notre Dame (Onser 
Vrouw), the old Gothic Hospital of 
St. John, and the elegant church of 
St. Saviour. In the great square is a 
lofty Gothic tower or belfry, the most 
beautiful in Europe, and its chimes 
are harmonious. In this tower there 
are 48 bells, some weighing six tons; 
they are played upon every quarter of 
an hour by means of an immense cop¬ 
per cylinder communicating with the 
clock, and weighing about nine tons. 
Its surface is pierced by 30,500 square 
holes, so that an infinite variety of 
airs may be set upon it, by merely 
shifting the iron pegs that lift the 
hammers. Pop. (1900) 52,867. 

Bruhns, Carl Christian, a re¬ 
markable self-taught astronomer, born 
in Plon, Holstein, Nov. 22, 1830, the 
son of a locksmith; died in Leipsic, 
July 25, 1881. 

Bruise, or Contusion, signifies an 
injury inflicted by a blow or sudden 
pressure, in which the skin is not 
wounded, and no bone is broken oi 
dislocated. Both terms, and especial- 
ly the latter, are employed in surgerj 
to include all such injuries in their 
widest range, from a black eye to a 







Bruinaire 


Brunn 


thoroughly crushed mass of muscle. 
In the slighter forms of this injury, 
as in ordinary simple bruises, there is 
no tearing, but only a concussion of 
the textures, the utmost damage done 
being the rupture of a few small blood 
vessels, which occasions the -discolora¬ 
tion that is always observed in these 
cases. 

Bruinaire, the second month of 
the year in the French Revolutionary 
calendar. It commenced on the 23d 
of October, and ended on the 21st of 
November, thus comprising 30 days. 
It received its name from the fogs that 
usually prevail about this time. The 
18th of Brumaire, VIII. year (Nov. 
9, 1799), is celebrated for the over¬ 
throw of the Directory and the estab¬ 
lishment of the sway of Napoleon. 

Brummel, George Bryan, (the 
sometime famous Beau Brummel), 
born in London, June 7, 1778. He 
was educated at Eton, and there 
formed intimacies with the younger 
nobility of the day. On his father’s 
death, inheriting a fortune of about 
$150,000, he began his career as a 
man of fashion, and became the inti¬ 
mate associate of the Prince of Wales 
(afterward George IV.). He it was 
who inaugurated the reign of dandy¬ 
ism, and for a period of 20 years exer¬ 
cised almost despotic sway over Eng¬ 
lish society in the matter of dress. 
His fortune being soon swallowed up, 
he maintained his position in society 
by his success at play, and the inde¬ 
scribable charm of his manner and 
conversation. After a rupture with 
the Prince, his influence gradually de¬ 
clined ; and oppressed by debt, and the 
falling off of former friends, he re¬ 
tired to Calais, and afterward to Caen, 
where he was appointed British con¬ 
sul, and where he died, March 30, 
1840. 

Brunai, or Brunei, a British Pro¬ 
tectorate in the N. W. of Borneo, till 
1888 nominally an independent Mo¬ 
hammedan territory, whose sultan 
was formerly overlord of the whole is¬ 
land. Area, about 18,000 square 
miles; pop. est. at 125,000, divided 
into trade castes. The ‘capital, 
Brunai, on a river of the same name, 
is a miserable, dirty town, built on 
piles, with some 30,000 inhabitants, 
who trade with Singapore. 


Brunei, Sir Marc Isambard, a 

French civil engineer, born in Hac- 
queville, near Rouen, April 25, 1769. 
He entered the mercantile marine, 
made several voyages to the West In¬ 
dies, and, when the French Revolution 
of 1793 drove him from his country, 
he went to New York, with the reso¬ 
lution of endeavoring to turn his en¬ 
gineering skill to some account. Ac¬ 
cordingly, he, conjointly with another, 
surveyed the ground for the canal 
which now connects the Hudson river 
at Albany with Lake Champlain. In 
1825 he began excavating for the 
Thames tunnel. This extraordinary 
work was opened to the public in 
1843; but previously, in 1841, the 
honor of knighthood had been con¬ 
ferred upon him. He died in London, 
Dec. 12, 1849. 

Brunei, Isambard Kingdom, 

son of the above, born in Portsmouth, 
England, April 9, 1806; was educated 
at the College of Henri IV., at Caen, 
France, and began the study of civil 
engineering under his father. He was 
the resident engineer of the Thames 
tunnel, and the designer and civil en¬ 
gineer of the “ Great Western,” the 
first steamship built to cross the At¬ 
lantic. He was also the constructor 
of the magnificent iron steamship, the 
“ Great Eastern,” which was built at 
Millwall. He died in Westminster, 
Sept. 15, 1859. 

Brunetiere, Ferdinand, a 

French critic; born in Toulon, July 
19. 1849. He was critic of the “ Re¬ 
vue des Deux Mondes ”; became an 
Academician 1893; and 1897 lectured 
in the U. S. He inclined to the ideal¬ 
ist as opposed to the naturalist school, 
and denounced literary fads. He died 
Dec. 9, 1906. 

Brunn, Heinrich, a German ar¬ 
chaeologist ; born in Worlitz, Anhalt, 
Jan. 23, 1822; became Professor of 
Archaeology at Munich; and published 
several works of high repute among 
scholars. He died in Munich, July 
23, 1894. 

Brunn, an Austrian city, capital of 
Moravia, on the railway from Vienna 
to Prague, nearly encircled by the 
rivers Schwarzawa and Zwittawa. It 
is the center of Moravian commerce, a 
great part of which is carried on by 
fairs. Near it is the fortress of Spiel- 





Bruno 


berg, in which Trenck and Silvio Pel- 
lico were confined. Pop. (1891) 
95,342; (1900) 108,900. 

Bruno, Giordano, an Italian phil¬ 
osopher, one of the boldest and most 
original thinkers of his age, born in 
Nola, about 1550. He became a Dom¬ 
inican monk, but his religious doubts, 
and his censures of the monastic or¬ 
ders, compelled him to quit his mon¬ 
astery and Italy. He embraced the 
doctrines of Calvin at Geneva, but 
doubt and free discussion not being in 
favor there, he went, after two years* 
stay, to Paris. He gave lectures on 
philosophy there, and, by his avowed 
opposition to the scholastic system, 
made himself many bitter enemies. He 
next spent two years in England, and 
became the friend of Sir Philip Sid¬ 
ney. In 1585 he went again to Paris 
and renewed his public lectures. Af¬ 
ter visiting and teaching in various 
towns in Germany, he returned, in 
1592, to Padua, and went afterward 
to Venice, where he was, in 1598, ar¬ 
rested by the Inquisition and sent to 
Rome. He lay in prison two years, 
and on Feb. 17, 1600, was burned as a 
heretic. 

Bruno tlie Great, one of the most 
eminent men of his time, born about 
925, the third son of Henry the Fowl¬ 
er. He became archbishop of Cologne, 
and chancellor of the Empire under 
his brother, Otto I., and afterward, as 
a reward for his services, Duke of 
Lorraine. He strove to reform the 
monasteries and advance the love of 
learning among the clergy. He died in 
Rheims, Oct. 11, 965. 

Brunswick, Ducky of, in Ger¬ 
many, consists of five detached por¬ 
tions of territory on the rivers Weser, 
Seine, Ocker and Aller. It occupies 
part of the vast plain which stretches 
from the foot of the Ha’rtz Mountains 
and their continuations (the Soiling) 
to the German Ocean and the Baltic, 
with a portion of the rise of those 
chains on the N. side. The. largest 
portion contains the districts of 
Wolfenbuttel and Schoningen, in 
which the cities of Brunswick and 
Wolfenbuttel, and the towns of Kon- 
igsbutter and Helmstadt, are situated. 
Two small detached portions of terri¬ 
tory, viz., the circles of Theding- 
hausen on the Weser, and that of 


Brunswick 


Badenburg, are inclosed by the Han¬ 
overian territory, and form part, the 
former of the Weser district, the lat¬ 
ter of the Seine district. Finally, the 
detached circle of Kalvorde, inclosed 
within the Prussian Province of Sax¬ 
ony, belongs to the district of Schon¬ 
ingen. The duchy has an area of 1,526 
square miles.. The inhabitants are 
mostly engaged in agricultural and 
mining pursuits. Iron is the chief 
produce of the mines worked in the 
three districts of the Hartz, Weser 
and Blankenburg. Nearly the whole 
of the inhabitants are members of the 
Lutheran Church. Pop. (1900) 464,- 
333. Brunswick, the capital, is on the 
Ocker, in a level and fertile district. 
A fine avenue of linden trees leads to 
the ducal palace, which, destroyed by 
fire in 1830 and 1865, was rebuilt in 
1869. Pop. (1900) 128,226. 

Brunswick, Family of, a distin¬ 
guished family founded by Albert 
Azo II., Marquis of Reggio and Mo¬ 
dena, a descendant, by the female line, 
of Charlemagne. In 1047 he married 
Cunigunda, heiress of the Counts of 
Altorf, thus uniting the two houses 
of Este and Guelph. His son Guelph, 
was created Duke of Bavaria in 1071, 
and married Judith of Flanders, a de¬ 
scendant of Alfred of England. From 
Guelph was descended George Louis, 
son of Ernest Augustus and Sophia, 
granddaughter of James I. of Eng¬ 
land, who succeeded his father as 
Elector of Hanover in 1698, and was 
called to the throne of Great Britain 
in 1714 as George I. 

Brunswick, Friedrich Wil¬ 
helm, Duke of, fourth and youngest 
son of Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand 
of Brunswick, born in 1771. During 
the war against France in 1792 and 
subsequently, he fought in the Prus¬ 
sian armies, was twice wounded, and 
once made prisoner with Blucher at 
Lubeck. For the campaign of 1809 
he raised a free corps in Bohemia, but 
was compelled to embark his troops 
for England, where he was received 
with enthusiasm. His corps immedi¬ 
ately entered the British service, and 
was afterward employed in Portugal 
and Spain, returning to his hereditary 
dominions, 1813. The events of 1815 
called him again to arms, and he fell 
at Quatre Bras, 1815. Caroline, wife of 
George IV., was a sister of this prince. 





Brunswick-Luneburg 


Brutus 


Brunswick - Luneburg, Karl 
Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of; 

born in 1735. In service against the 
French he proved himself brave and 
resolute but unsuccessful. He was 
mortally wounded at the battle of 
Auerstadt, and closed his life in Ot- 
tensen, near Altona, Nov. 10, 1806. 

Brush, Charles Francis, an 
American scientist; born in Euclid, 
near Cleveland, O., March 17, 1849. 
He was graduated at the University 
of Michigan, in 1869. He invented 
the modern arc system of electric 
lighting and founded the Brush Elec¬ 
tric Company. He was decorated by 
the French government in 1881 for 
his achievements in electrical science. 
In 1891 he won a long contest in the 
Federal courts over the rights to the 
manufacture and sale of storage bat¬ 
teries; and in 1900 he was awarded the 
Rumford medal by the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Brush, George Jarvis, an Ameri¬ 
can mineralogist; born in Brooklyn, 
N. Y., Dec. 15, 1831. He received a 
public school education and studied 
science at New Haven. He has been 
Professor of Mineralogy and a lead¬ 
ing official of the Sheffield Scientific 
School since 1864. His writings on 
mineralogy are authoritative. 

Brussels, the capital of Belgium; 
on the river Senne, communicates with 
Antwerp and the Baltic Sea by means 
of the Scheldt canal, and railroads 
connect it with Germany, France, and 
Holland, as well as with all the princi¬ 
pal towns of Belgium. Pop. (1900) 
with suburbs, 561,782. 

Brutus, Ducius Junius, a Roman 
hero; son of Marcus Junius and the 
daughter of the elder Tarquin; saved 
his life from the persecutions of Tar¬ 
quin the Proud by feigning himself 
insane, on which account he received 
the surname Brutus (stupid). Dur¬ 
ing a plague that broke out at Rome 
he accompanied the son of Tarquin to 
the oracle in Delphi. When Lucretia, 
the wife of Collatinus, plunged a dag¬ 
ger into her bosom that she might not 
outlive the insult which she had suf¬ 
fered from Sextus, the son of Tarquin, 
Brutus, being present, threw off his 
mask. He drew the dagger, all 
bloody, from the wound, and swore 
vengeance against the Tarquins, ex¬ 


plaining to the astonished spectators 
the reason of his pretended imbecility, 
and persuading all who were present 
to take the same oath. The people 
submitted to his guidance, and he 
caused the gates to be shut, the in¬ 
habitants to be assembled, and the body 
to be publicly exposed. He then urged 
the banishment of the Tarquins. Af¬ 
ter this had been resolved on, Brutus 
proposed to abolish the regal dignity, 
and introduce a free government. It 
was then determined that two consuls 
should exercise supreme power for a 
year, and Junius Brutus and Tar- 
quinius Collatinus were chosen for the 
first term. Tarquin, who had seen 
the gates shut against him, and found 
himself deserted by his army, sent am¬ 
bassadors to Rome to demand a restor¬ 
ation of his private property, and, at 
the same time, to promise that he 
would make no attempt against the 
republic. His request was granted. 
The ambassadors, however, set on foot 
a conspiracy, and drew into it many 
young men, among whom were the 
two sons of Brutus and the nephews 
of Collatinus. But a slave named 
Yindex discovered the plot. The crim¬ 
inals were imprisoned, and the consuls 
caused the people the next morning to 
be called to a meeting. All were deep¬ 
ly shocked to see the sons of Brutus 
among the prisoners, and their father 
on the judgment seat to condemn 
them. Collatinus wept, and even the 
stern Valerius sat silent. But Brutus 
arose firmly, and, after the crime had 
been proved beyond a doubt, ordered 
the lictors to execute the law. Neither 
the entreaties of the people nor of his 
sons could alter his resolution. He 
witnessed the horrible spectacle with¬ 
out emotion, and did not leave the as¬ 
sembly till after the execution. He 
was called back, however, when Col- 
latinus wished to save his guilty neph¬ 
ews. The people condemned them all, 
and chose Valerius consul in place of 
Collatinus. In the meantime, Tar¬ 
quin, supported by Porsenna, collected 
an army and marched against Rome. 
The consuls advanced to meet him. 
Brutus led the cavalry, Aruns, son of 
Tarquin, commanded the body opposed 
to him. They pierced each other with 
their spears at the same moment, and 
both fell 509 b. c. The Romans came 
off conquerors, and Brutus was bur- 





Brutus 


Bryan 


ied with great splendor. The women 
lamented him a whole year, as the 
avenger of the honor of their sex. 
The details of the story of Brutus, 
which may be regarded as a poetical 
legend, have been shown by Niebuhr 
to be irreconcilable with history. 

Brutus, Marcus Junius, one of 
the most distinguished Romans at the 
close of the republican period; born 
of a plebeian family 85 b. c. He was 
at first an enemy of Pompey, who had 
slain his father in Galatia, but for¬ 
got his private enmity, and was recon¬ 
ciled to him when he undertook the de¬ 
fense of freedom. He did not, how¬ 
ever, assume any public station, and, 
after the unfortunate battle of Phar- 
salia, surrendered himself to Caesar, 
who received him generously, allowed 
him to withdraw from the war, made 
him in the following year governor of 
Cisalpine Gaul, and afterward con¬ 
ferred on him the government of Ma¬ 
cedonia. Notwithstanding these ben¬ 
efits, Brutus allowed himself to be 
drawn into, and made the head of the 
conspiracy against Caesar. He was 
led into the conspiracy by Cassius, 
who, impelled by hatred against Cae¬ 
sar, sought, at first by writing, and 
then by means of his wife, Junia, sis¬ 
ter of Brutus, to gain his favor; and 
when he thought him prepared for the 
proposal, disclosed to him verbally the 
plan of a conspiracy against Caesar, 
w T ho had now made himself master of 
the supreme power in the State. 
Brutus was induced to agree to the de¬ 
sign, and his influence led many of 
the most distinguished Romans to em¬ 
brace it also. Caesar was assassinated 
in the senate house. In public 
speeches Brutus explained the reasons 
of this deed, but he could not appease 
the dissatisfaction of the people, and 
retired with his party to the capital. 
He soon after took courage, when the 
consul, P. Cornelius Dolabella, and 
the praetor, L. Cornelius Cinna, 
Caesar’s brother-in-law, declared them¬ 
selves in his favor. But Antony, 
whom Brutus had generously spared, 
was reconciled to him only in appear¬ 
ance, and obtained his leave to read 
Caesar’s will to the people. By means 
of this instrument Antony succeeded in 
exciting the popular indignation 
against the murderers of Caesar, and 
they were compelled to flee from Rome. 


Brutus went to Athens and endeav¬ 
ored to form a party there among the 
Roman nobility; he gained over, also, 
the troops in Macedonia. He then be¬ 
gan to levy soldiers openly, which 
was the easier for him, as the remain¬ 
der of Pompey’s troops since the de¬ 
feat of their general, had been roving 
about in Thessaly. Hortensius, the 
governor of Macedonia, aided him; 
and thus Brutus, master of all Greece 
and Macedonia, in a short time stood 
at the head of a powerful army. He 
went now to Asia and joined Cassius, 
whose efforts had been equally suc¬ 
cessful. In Rome, on the contrary, 
the triumvirs prevailed. All the con¬ 
spirators had been condemned and the 
people had taken up arms against 
them. 

Brutus and Cassius having finally 
with difficulty subdued the Lycians 
and Rhodians, returned to Europe to 
oppose the triumvirs. The army 
passed over the Hellespont, and 19 
legions and 20,000 cavalry were as¬ 
sembled on the plains of Philippi, in 
Macedonia, whither also the trium¬ 
virs, Antony and Octavianus (after¬ 
ward the Emperor Augustus), 
marched with their legions. Although 
Roman historians do not agree in their 
accounts of the battle of Philippi, this 
much at least seems certain, that Cas¬ 
sius was beaten by Antony; that Bru¬ 
tus fought with greater success against 
the division of the army commanded 
by Octavianus; that 20 days after he 
was induced, by the a/dor of his sol¬ 
diers, to renew the contest; and that 
he was this time totally defeated. He 
escaped with only a few friends, passed 
the night in a cave, and as he saw 
his cause irretrievably ruined, ordered 
Strato, one of his confidants, to kill 
him. Strato refused a long time to 
perform the command *, but, seeing 
Brutus resolved, he turned away his 
face, and held his sword, while Brutus 
fell upon it, and died in 42 b. c. 

Bryan, William Jennings, an 
American political leader, born in 
Salem, Ill., March 19, 1860. He was 
graduated at Illinois College in 1881, 
preparing subsequently for the bar at 
Union College, Chicago. In 1887 he 
removed to Lincoln, Neb., and was 
elected to Congress in 1890, and again 
in 1892. Four years later he was 
nominated for the presidency of the 




Bryan-t 


United States by the Democratic Na¬ 
tional Convention at Chicago. He ad¬ 
vocated the free and unlimited coin¬ 
age of silver by the United States at a 
ratio of 16 to 1, and was defeated in 
the presidential campaign. He was 
Col. of a regt. of volunteers during the 
Spanish War. In 1900, he was again 
defeated for the presidency by W. 
McKinley. He founded “ The Com¬ 
moner,” a weekly political periodical 
which he edits. In 1905-06 he made 
a tour of the world, and was received 
at foreign courts with distinction. He 
created favorable impressions espe¬ 
cially in Japan, Russia, and England, 
and, on his return, received an enthu¬ 
siastic ovation as a leader of the 
Democratic Party. 

Bryant, William Cullen, an 

American poet; born Nov. 3, 1794, in 
Cummington, Mass. His father, a 
man of great literary culture, practised 
as a physician. He prepared, when 
he was but 14, a collection of poems, 
which were published in Boston in 
1809. In that volume appeared “ The 
Embargo,” the only poem dealing with 
the politics of the day he ever wrote. 
In the following year Bryant entered 
Williams College as a student of law, 
but left without taking a degree in 
1815, when he was admitted to the 
bar. In that year he became a con¬ 
tributor to the “ North American Re¬ 
view,” in which appeared the follow¬ 
ing year his “ Thanatopsis,” a poem in 
blank verse, which received much laud¬ 
atory criticism. Six years later he 
published a second collection of poems 
which brought him into real fame. 
He definitely abandoned law for liter¬ 
ature in 1825, and went to New York, 
where he founded the “ New York Re¬ 
view,” and a year after became the 
editor of the “ Evening Post,” an old 
established paper with which he was 
connected till his death. A complete 
edition of his poems up to 1855 was 
published in that year, and in 1863 
appeared a small volume entitled 
“ Thirty Poems.” His last works of 
importance are his translations of the 
“ Iliad ”(1870) and the “Odyssey” 
(1872), translations which many 
American critics rank above any that 
had hitherto appeared in the English 
language. Early in 1878 appeared 
“ The Flood of Years,” his last poem 
of any great length. On the occasion 


Bubalis 


of uncovering a statue to Mazzini 
(May 30, 1878) he had to stand un¬ 
covered for about an hour under a 
burning sun. On his way home he 
met with an accident which was fol¬ 
lowed by concussion of the brain, and 
on June 12 he expired. 

Bryce, George, a Canadian edu¬ 
cator and clergyman; born in Mount 
Pleasant, Ontario, April 22, 1844. He 
was graduated at the University of 
Toronto in 1867, and was ordained to 
the Presbyterian ministry in 1871. His 
great work was the foundation of 
Manitoba College and in assisting the 
foundation of Manitoba University. 

Bryce, James, an Irish historian, 
born in Belfast, May 10, 1838. After 
graduating at Oxford in 1862, he 
studied at Heidelberg, and subsequent¬ 
ly practised law in London. From 
1870 till 1893 he was Regius Profes¬ 
sor of Civil Law in Oxford, and has 
had a distinguished political career. 
In Dec., 1906, he was appointed Brit¬ 
ish ambassador to the United States. 

Bryce, Lloyd, an American editor 
and novelist, born in Long Island, N. 
Y., in 1852. He was editor of the 
‘ North American Review ” from 1889 
to 1896. 

# Bryn Mawr College, an educa¬ 
tional institution for women, at Bryn 
Mawr, Pa.; founded in 1880 by Joseph 
Taylor. Its standard of admission is 
very high; its system of undergraduate 
studies combines required courses and 
varied elective groups. 

Bryopbyllum, a genus of plants 
belonging to the houseleeks. Its na¬ 
tive country is the East Indies, whence 
it has been carried to other places. In 
Bermuda, where it is naturalized and 
grows abundantly, it is called life 
plant. 

Bubalis, a genus in the antelope 
division of hollow horned, even toed 
ruminants, not to be confused with 
Buffalo. The species of bubalis are 
among the more oxlike antelopes, and 
one of them is supposed to be the bu- 
balus of the ancients. In this genus 
the head is elongated, the snout broad, 
the horns twisted and present in both 
sexes, the tear pits small, the back 
sloping off behind, the teats two in 
number. The bubaline of the North 
African deserts is a handsome animal 
of a reddish brown color, standing 





Bubonic Plague 


Buccaneer 


about 5 feet high at the shoulder, liv¬ 
ing ir herds, and readily tamed. It is 
figured on Egyptian monuments. The 
hartebeest is found in the S., is per¬ 
haps slightly larger, has a general 
gray brown color (black on the outside 
of the legs and on middle of forehead, 
with, large white spots on haunches), 
and is at home on the mountains. The 
sassaby, the bastard hartebeest of the 
Cape Colonists, is slightly smaller, and 
is differently colored. The bontebok 
is a smaller and more beautifully col¬ 
ored form of the S. interior, where 
another species, the violet colored bles- 
bok, is also abundant. 

Bubonic Plague, a disease sup¬ 
posed to be identical with the plague 
known as the Black Death, which had 
its origin in China, and made its first 
appearance in Europe 543 a. d., at 
Constantinople. It derives its mod¬ 
ern name from the fact that it attacks 
the lymphatic glands in the neck, arm- 
pits, groins and other parts of the 
body. The swollen parts are extreme¬ 
ly sensitive to the touch, the patient 
suffers from headache, vertigo, high 
fever, vomiting and great prostration. 
Another feature is the appearance of 
purple spots and a mottling of the 
skin. In severe cases death generally 
ensues in 48 hours, and, at best, re¬ 
covery is slow. At the Hoagland 
laboratory in Brooklyn, N. Y., exten¬ 
sive experiments have been made, both 
in the culture of the germs and in an 
anti-toxin. The disease has been 
called “ the poor’s plague,” from the 
fact that it first attacks the half 
starved masses who congregate in the 
slums of the cities. This was the case 
in Bombay, where so fatal were its 
ravages that a panic ensued and more 
than 450,000 people, one-half the pop¬ 
ulation, left the city. The first au¬ 
thentic description of the bubonic 
plague is contained in the writings of 
Rufus of Ephesus, who described the 
disease as having existed in Northern 
Africa during the 3d or 4th century 
b. c. He presented the testimony of 
physicians of that period to corrobor¬ 
ate his arguments. Since that time 
the disease has been variously describ¬ 
ed by writers under the name of Le¬ 
vantine, Oriental and Bubonic Plague 
and the black plague, or black death. 
These designations are more or less 
open to criticism and lack scientific 


foundation. In the reign of Justinian, 
542 a. d., the disease appeared in 
Egypt, and within a year extended to 
Constantinople, where it is said to 
have caused the death of 10,000 per¬ 
sons in one day. In 1352 the plague 
spread through the whole of Europe 
and nearly one-fourth of the popula¬ 
tion died. It is estimated by Hecker 
that during this reign of terror, out of 
2,000,000 inhabitants of Norway, but 
300,000 survived. It was estimated 
by Pope Clement VI. that the mortal¬ 
ity from black death for the entire 
world was 40,000,000. This outbreak 
lasted about 20 years. During the 
great plague of London, in 1665, there 
were 63,596 deaths out of a popula¬ 
tion of 460,000. It was believed the 
infection was introduced by bales of 
merchandise from the Levant. The 
sanitary condition of London, at the 
time, was notoriously bad. It is a 
significant fact that those who lived 
out of town and on barges and ships 
on the Thames did not contract the 
disease. In 1903 the disease was re¬ 
ported in Southern Russia and other 
eastern regions, and great care was 
exercised to keep it out of the United 
States. 

Buccaneer, an order of men, not 
quite pirates, yet with decidedly pirat¬ 
ical tendencies, who for nearly 200 
years infested the Spanish main and 
the adjacent regions. A bull of Pope 
Alexander VI., issued in 1493, having 
granted to Spain all lands which might 
be discovered W. of the Azores, the 
Spaniards thought that they possessed 
a monopoly of all countries in the New 
World, and that they had a right to 
seize, and even put to death, all inter¬ 
lopers into their wide domain. The 
association of buccaneers began about 
1524, and continued till after the Eng¬ 
lish revolution of 1688, when the 
French attacked the English in the 
West Indies, and the buccaneers of the 
two countries, who had hitherto been 
friends, took different sides, and were 
separated forever. Thus weakened, 
they began to be suppressed between 
1697 and 1701, and soon afterward 
ceased to exist, pirates of the normal 
type, to a certain extent, taking their 
place. The buccaneers were also 
called “ filibusters,” or “ filibusters ” 
— term which was revived in connec¬ 
tion with the adventures of “ General ” 




Buccleugh 


Bucharest 


Walker, who sought to establish him¬ 
self as a ruler in Central America. 

Buccleugh, the title (now a duke¬ 
dom) of one of the oldest families in 
Scotland, tracing descent from Sir 
Richard le Scott in the reign of Alex¬ 
ander III. 

Bucentaur, a mythical monster, 
half man and half ox. The splendid 
galley in which the Doge of Venice an¬ 
nually wedded the Adriatic bore this 
name, doubtless because of the figure 
of a bucentaur on her bow. 

Bucephalus, the celebrated horse 
of Alexander the Great, whose head 
resembled that of a bull, whence his 
name. Alexander was the only one 
who could mount him. In an engage¬ 
ment in Asia, ► where he received a 
heavy wound, he immediately hastened 
out of the battle, and dropped dead 
as soon as he had set down the King 
in a safe place. Alexander built on 
the liver Hydaspes, in India, a city 
which he called after his name. 

Bucer, Martin, a Protestant re¬ 
former ; born in Schlestadt, Alsace, in 
1491. In 1521 he left the Dominican 
Order, and became a convert to Lu¬ 
theranism. He was at first preacher 
at the court of Frederick, the Elector 
of the Palatinate; afterward in Stras- 
burg; and at the same time professor 
in the university there for 20 years. 
He died in Cambridge in 1551. In 
1557 Queen Mary caused his bones to 
be burned, to show her detestation of 
Protestantism. 

Buchanan, Andrews Hays, an 

American educator; born in Washing¬ 
ton Co., Ark., June 28, 1828; was 
graduated at Cumberland University 
in 1853; and took a special course in 
civil engineering and mathematics in 
Lincoln University; taught civil engi¬ 
neering in 1854-1861; was military 
topographical engineer in the Confed¬ 
erate army during the Civil War; and 
became Professor of Mathematics and 
Civil Engineering in Cumberland Uni¬ 
versity in 1869. He was the author 
of “ Plane and Spherical Trigonom¬ 
etry”; etc. 

Buchanan, Janies, an American 
statesman, 15th President of the Unit¬ 
ed States, born near Mercersburg, Pa., 
April 23, 1791; graduated at Dickin¬ 
son College in 1809, admitted to the 
bar in 1812. He supported the War 


of 1812, although affiliated with the 
Federalist Party. In 1820 he was 
elected to Congress, serving successive 
terms by re-election for 10 years, 
where he made some reputation in the 
advocacy of bills for reorganizing the 
courts and judiciary. In 1828 he sup¬ 
ported Andrew Jackson for the Presi¬ 
dency, who, in turn, appointed him 
Minister to Russia, where he distin¬ 
guished himself by arranging an im¬ 
portant commercial treaty. In 1834, 
he entered the United States Senate, 
serving there 12 years, where he de¬ 
fended the spoils system instituted by 
Jackson, and declared against the right 
or power of the Government to inter¬ 
fere with slavery in the States. He 
was appointed Secretary of State by 
President Polk, after which service he 
was in retirement for four years. Un¬ 
der President Pierce he was sent in 
1853 as Minister to England, where 
his advocacy of the annexation of 
Cuba by the United States led to his 
nomination to the Presidency in 1856. 
His cabinet contained men who sup¬ 
ported the secession of South Carolina, 
and eventually joined the Confeder¬ 
acy. He announced in a message 
(1860) that the President had neither 
the right nor the constitutional power 
to prevent a State from seceding. His 
unwillingness to take decisive action 
enabled the seceding States to arm 
and prepare for war before the Gov¬ 
ernment did anything to prevent. Af¬ 
ter he retired, however, he supported 
the Union cause. He died in Lancas¬ 
ter, Pa., June 1, 1868. 

Buchanan, Robert Williams, 
English poet, novelist and playwright; 
born in Warwickshire, Aug. 18, 1841; 
died in London, June 10, 1901. 

Bucharest, the capital of the for¬ 
mer principality of Wallachia and of 
the present kingdom of Rumania, 
stands 265 feet above sea level, in the 
fertile but treeless plain of the small, 
sluggish Dambovitza. A strange meet¬ 
ing point of East and West, the town 
as a whole is but meanly built, but 
the streets are mostly paved and light¬ 
ed with gas and electricity. An elab¬ 
orate system of fortification was un¬ 
dertaken in 1885. There are some 
handsome hotels; and the metal 
plated cupolas of the innumerable 
churches gives to the place a pictur¬ 
esque aspect. Bucharest is the entre- 




Buchner 


Buckland 


pot for the trade between Austria and 
the Balkan Peninsula, the chief arti¬ 
cles of commerce being textile fabrics, 
grain, hides, metal, coal, timber, and 
cattle. Its manufactures are unim¬ 
portant, and the workmen are chiefly 
Hungarians and Germans. Bucharest 
has been several times besieged; and 
between 1793 and 1812 suffered twice 
from earthquakes, twice from inunda¬ 
tions, once from fire, and twice from 
pestilence. Pop. (1900) 282,071. 

Buchner, I/udwig, a German phy¬ 
sician and materialist philosopher, 
born at Darmstadt, 1824; died 1899. 
He studied at Giessen, Strasburg, 
Wurzburg and Vienna; became a lec¬ 
turer at Tubingen University; and, in 
1855, published “ Kraft und Stoff ” 
(“Force and Matter”), in which he 
attempted scientifically to establish a 
materialistic view of the universe. 

Buchner, Max, a German traveler 
and scientist, born in Hamburg, April 
25, 1846. In 1878 he bore presents 
from the Emperor to Muatiamvo, in 
the Kingdom of Lunda, in Equatorial 
Africa. After several vain attempts 
to break through toward the N., he re¬ 
turned to the coast. In 1884 he ac¬ 
companied Nachtigal in founding the 
colonies of Togo and Kamerun, in 
West Africa, where he acted tem¬ 
porarily as representative of the Ger¬ 
man Empire. 

Buchtel College, a co-educational 
institution in Akron, O.; founded in 
1871, under the auspices of the Uni- 
versalist Church. 

Buck, a name sometimes distinct¬ 
ively appropriated to the adult male 
of the fallow deer, the female of which 
is a doe. The term is often also ap¬ 
plied to the male of other species of 
deer, as of the roebuck, although never 
to that of the red deer, which, when 
mature, is a stag or a hart. 

Buck, Dudley, an American or¬ 
ganist, composer, and author, born in 
Hartford, Conn., March 10, 1839. He 
is widely known through his instru¬ 
mental and vocal music, and besides 
a number of cantatas, he has written 
several books on musical topics. 

Buckbean, the English name of 
menyanthes, a genus of plants. belong¬ 
ing to the gentian worts. An infusion 
of its leaves is bitter. In Sweden two 
ounces of the leaves are substituted for 


a pound of hops. In Lapland the roots 
are occasionally powdered and eaten. 

Buckeye, the American horse 
chestnut tree. The term is also ap¬ 
plied to the State of Ohio. 

Buckingham, George Villiers, 
Duke of, favorite of James I. and 
Charles I., of England, born in 1592, 
his father being George Villiers, 
Knight. He was stabbed on Aug. 24, 
1628, by John Felton, an ex-lieutenant 
who had been disappointed in being 
promoted. 

Buckingham, James Silk, an 

English traveler, writer, and lecturer, 
born near Falmouth, Aug. 25, 1786. 
After trying several professions, and 
wandering over a great part of the 
world, he went to London, where he 
established the “ Athenaeum,” well 
known as a literary journal. Subse¬ 
quently he made a tour of three years 
in the United States. In 1843 he be¬ 
came secretary to the British and For¬ 
eign Institute. He also published 
volumes on his Continental tours and 
an autobiography. He died in Lon¬ 
don, June 30, 1855. 

Buckingham, William Alfred, 
an American statesman, born in Leb¬ 
anon, Conn., May 28, 1804; was for 
nine years Governor of Connecticut 
(1858-1866) ; called the “War Gov¬ 
ernor ” for his zeal in furnishing 
troops in the Civil War; and was 
United States Senator from 1869 till 
his death. He was active in the tem¬ 
perance cause, and a patron of Yale 
College. He died in Norwich, Conn., 
Feb. 3, 1875. 

Buckingham Palace, a royal 
palace in London, facing St. James’ 
Park, and forming one of the resi¬ 
dences of Queen Victoria. 

Buckland, Cyrus, an American 
inventor, born in Springfield, Mass., 
Aug. 10, 1799; after assisting in build¬ 
ing the machinery for the first cotton 
mills erected in Chicopee Falls, be¬ 
came, in 1828, the pattern maker in 
the United States armory, in Spring- 
field. He remained here for 28 years, 
becoming master-mechanic. He de¬ 
signed machinery and tools for the 
manufacture of firearms; remodeled 
old weapons and designed new ones; 
perfected a lathe for turning out gun 
stocks; invented machines to bore and 
turn gun barrels and for rifling mus- 


E. 25 




Buckland 


Buckwheat 


kets, and many other novelties in the 
manufacture of firearms and ordnance. 
Much of his machinery was adopted 
by foreign governments. Having re¬ 
ceived nothing for his labor at the ar¬ 
mory, excepting his salary, Congress 
voted him $10,000 when ill-health com¬ 
pelled him to resign. He died in 
Springfield, Feb. 26, 1891. 

Buckland, Francis Trevelyan, 
an English naturalist; born in Oxford, 
Dec. 17, 1826. His preferences were 
for practical science, and, after retir¬ 
ing from his place as surgeon to the 
2d Life Guards, he founded the jour¬ 
nal, “ Land and Water,” of which he 
was editor. He was an authority on 
fish culture, and as such was consulted 
by foreign governments. He was a 
resolute opponent of Darwinism. He 
died Dec. 19, 1880. 

Buckland, William, an English 
geologist, born in Tiverton, Devon¬ 
shire, March 12, 1784. In 1845 he 
was made Dean of Westminster; but, 
under his great and continuous labors 
to benefit others, his mental faculties 
gave way seven years before his death, 
which took place Aug. 14, 1856. 

Buckle, Henry Thomas, an Eng¬ 
lish historian, born in Kent, Nov. 24, 
1822. His chief work, a philosophic 
“ History of Civilization,” of which 
only two volumes (1858 and 1861) 
were completed, was characterized by 
much novel and suggestive thought, 
and by the bold co-ordination of a vast 
store of materials drawn from the most 
varied sources. He died, while travel¬ 
ing, at Damascus, March 29, 1862. 

Buckles, metal instruments, con¬ 
sisting of a rim and tongue, used for 
fastening straps or bands in dress, 
harness, etc. They were formerly used 
on shoes, but are now supplanted by 
strings. 

Buckley, James Monroe, an 

American religious editor, born in 
Rahway, N. J., Dec. 16, 1836. He 
studied theology at Exeter and joined 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Since 1881 he has been editor of the 
New York “ Christian Advocate.” He 
has written “ Travels in Three Conti¬ 
nents,” “ Oats, or Wild Oats,” etc. 

Bucknell University, a co-educa- 
tional institution in Lewisburg, Pa.; 
oragnized in 1846, under the auspices 
of the Baptist Church. 


Buckner, Simon Bolivar, an 

American soldier and politician, born 
in Kentucky in 1823. He was grad¬ 
uated at West Point in 1840, and 
served in the Mexican War. He rose 
to distinction in the Confederate army 
during the Civil War, attaining the 
rank of Lieutenant-General. He was 
one of the pall bearers at Gen. Grant’s 
funeral in 1885, by the personal Selec¬ 
tion of the ex-President, who had been 
warmly attached to him for many 
years. In 1896 he was nominated for 
Vice-President by the Gold Demo¬ 
crats, having previously served a term 
as Governor of Kentucky. 

Buckram, a coarse textile fabric 
stiffened with glue and used in gar¬ 
ments to give them or keep them in 
the form intended. 

Buckshot, a kind of leaden shot 
larger than swan-shot. About 160 or 
170 of them weigh a pound. They are 
especially designed to be used in hunt¬ 
ing large game. 

Buckskin, a kind of soft leather, 
generally yellow or grayish in color, 
prepared originally by treating deer¬ 
skins in a particular way, but now in 
general made from sheepskins. This 
may be done by oil, or by a second 
method, in which the skins are grained, 
brained and smoked. 

Buckthorn, the English name of 
a genus of plants. The berries of the 
common species are black, nauseous, 
and, as the specific name rhamnus ca- 
tharticus imports, highly cathartic; 
they afford a yellow dye when unripe, 
as the bark of the shrub does a green 
one. They are sold as French berries. 
The alder buckthorn, again, has dark 
purple purgative berries, which, in 
an unripe state, dye wool green and 
yellow, and when ripe bluish gray, 
blue, and green. The bark dyes yel¬ 
low, and, with iron, black. Of the 
foreign species, the berries of the rock 
buckthorn are used to dye the Maro- 
quin, or Morocco leather, yellow, while 
the leaves of the tea buckthorn are 
used by poor people in China as a sub¬ 
stitute for tea. The species best kown 
to the pharmacopoeia of this country 
is the cascara sagrada. 

Buckwheat, or Brank, a plant 
with branched herbaceous stem, some¬ 
what arrow-shaped leaves and purplish 
white flowers, growing to the height 




Budapest 


Buel 


of about 30 inches, and bearing a 
small triangular grain of a brownish- 
black without and white within. The 
stalk is round and hollow, generally 
green, but sometimes tinged with red. 
Buckwheat was first taken to Eu¬ 
rope from Asia by the Crusaders, and 
hence in France is often called Sara¬ 
cen corn. It is cultivated in China 
and other Eastern countries as a bread 
corn. In the United States it is very 
extensively used throughout the win¬ 
ter in cakes, which are cooked upon 
a gridiron. 

Budapest, the official name of the 
united towns of Buda or Ofen and 
Pest or Pesth, the one on the right, 
the other on the left of the Danube, 
forming the capital of Hungary, the 
seat of the Hungarian Parliament and 
supreme courts. Buda, which is the 
smaller of the two, and lies on the W. 
bank of the river (here flowing S.), 
consists of the fortified Upper Town 
on a hill, the Lower Town or Water 
Town at the foot of the hill, and sev¬ 
eral other quarters, including Old 
Buda farther up the river. 

Budapest contains the most impor¬ 
tant of the three universities of Hun¬ 
gary, attended by about 4,500 stu¬ 
dents and having over 220 professors, 
lecturers, etc. Another important ed¬ 
ucational institution is the technical 
high schools, with 60 teachers and 
1,100 to 1,200 students, and a library 
of 60,000 volumes. In commerce and 
industry Budapest ranks next to Vien¬ 
na in the empire. Its chief manufac¬ 
tures are machinery, gold, silver, cop¬ 
per, and iron wares, chemical, textile 
goods, leather, tobacco, etc. A large 
trade is done in grain, wine, wool, 
cattle, etc. At Budapest are the larg¬ 
est electrical works in all Europe. En¬ 
gineers employed there have brought 
to perfection the science of applying 
electricity to motors. They construct¬ 
ed there the first successful under¬ 
ground trolley lines. Their ideas have 
been adopted in the construction of 
electric roads all over the world. In 
1799 the joint population of the two 
towns was little more than 50,000; in 
1890 it was 506,384; in 1900, 732,322. 

Bndaun, a town of India, North¬ 
west Provinces. There is a handsome 
mosque, American mission, etc. Pop. 
33,680. The district of Budaun has 


an area of 2,000 square miles. Pop. 
906,451. 

Buddha, or The Buddha, (that 
is “the enlightened”), the sacred 
name of the founder of Buddhism, 
who would appear (according to the 
judgment of those scholars who have 
given most attention to this point) to 
have lived in the 5th century b. c. 

Buddhism, the system of faith in¬ 
troduced or reformed by Buddha. In 
its origin Buddhism was a reaction 
against the caste pretensions of the 
Brahmins and other Aryan invaders 
of India, and was, therefore, eminent¬ 
ly fitted to become, as it for a long 
time was, the religion 6f the Turan¬ 
ians. Buddhism was dominant in In¬ 
dia for about 1,000 years after its 
establishment by Asoka. Then, having 
become corrupt and its vitality hav¬ 
ing decayed, reviving Braliminism pre¬ 
vailed over it, and all but extinguished 
it on the Indian continent, though a 
modification of it, Jainism, still exists 
in Marwad and many other parts. It 
has all along held its own, however, in 
Ceylon. On losing Continental India, 
its missionaries transferred their ef¬ 
forts to China, which they converted, 
and which still remains Buddhist. 
The religion of Gautama flourishes 
also in Tibet, Burma and Japan, and 
is the great Turanian faith of the 
modern as of the ancient world. 

Budding, the art of multiplying 
plants by causing the leaf bud of one 
species or variety to grow upon the 
branch of another. 

Bude Light, (from Bude, in 
Cornwall, England, where Mr. Gur¬ 
ney, the inventor of the light, lived), 
an oil or gas burner supplied with a 
jet of oxygen gas; the flame is verj 
brilliant. 

Budget, the annual statement rel¬ 
ative to the finances of a country, 
made by the proper financial function¬ 
ary, in which is presented a balance 
sheet of the actual income and expend¬ 
iture of the past year, and an esti¬ 
mate of the income and expenditure 
for the coming year, together wuh a 
statement of the mode of taxation pro¬ 
posed to meet such expenditure. 

Buel, Clarence Clough, an 
American editor and author, born at 
Laona, Chautauqua county, N. Y., 
July 29, 1850. He was connected 




Buell 


Buffalo 


with the New York “ Tribune ” from 
1875 to 1881, when he joined the staff 
of the “ Century Magazine; ” and, in 
1883, in conjunction with Robert Un¬ 
derwood Johnson, he began the editing 
of the celebrated “ Century War Arti¬ 
cles,” which were afterward expanded 
into the notable “ Battles and Lead¬ 
ers of the Civil War ” (1887). 

Buell, Don Carlos, an American 
military officer, born near Lowell, O., 
March 23, 1818. He was graduated 
at West Point in 1841, and served in 
the Mexican War. When the Civil 
War broke out he was adjutant-gen¬ 
eral of the regular army, and was 
made a Brigadier-General of Volun¬ 
teers and attached to the Army of the 
Potomac. In November, 1861, he suc¬ 
ceeded Gen. W. T. Sherman in com¬ 
mand of the Department of the Ohio. 
He resigned from the volunteer service 
on May 23, 1864, and on June 1, fol¬ 
lowing, also resigned his commission in 
the regular army. He died near Rock- 
port, Ky., Nov. 19, 1898. 

Buenaventura, a town on the 
Pacific coast o'f the Republic of Co¬ 
lombia. It has a hot, sickly climate, 
but is the port for the healthful and 
rich Cauca valley. Pop. 5,000. 

Buena Vista, a village of Mex¬ 
ico, 7 miles S. of Saltillo, where, on 
Feb. 22-23, 1847, some 5,000 United 
States troops, under Taylor, defeated 
20,000 Mexicans under Santa Ana. 

Buen-Ayre, French Bonaire, a 
West Indian island, 60 miles from the 
coast of Venezuela, and 30 E. of Cura¬ 
cao, like which it belongs to the 
Dutch. It produces timber, cattle, 
cochineal, and salt. Area, 127 square 
miles; pop. 4,043. 

Buendia, Juan, a Peruvian gen¬ 
eral, born in Lima in 1814. He was 
put in command of the Army of the 
South in the Chilian War in 1879, 
and attacked 10,000 Chilians on the 
heights of San Francisco (Nov. 8), 
where he was defeated with terrible 
loss. He was court-martialed, but 
freed from blame and afterward served 
in the defense of Lima. 

Buenos Ayres, a city of South 
America, capital of the Argentine Re¬ 
public, on the S. W. side of the La 
Plata, 150 miles from its'mouth. It 
was founded in 1535 by Don Pedro 
Mendoza, and is built with great 


regularity, the streets uniformly cross¬ 
ing each other at right angles. It con¬ 
tains the palace of the President, the 
House of Representatives, a Town 
Hall, a number of hospitals and asy¬ 
lums, a cathedral, several monasteries, 
nunneries, and Catholic and Protes¬ 
tant churches; several theaters, a uni¬ 
versity and a custom house. The uni¬ 
versity, founded in 1821, is attended 
by about 800 students. There are 
also a medical school, normal and oth¬ 
er schools, besides literary and scien¬ 
tific societies. Since 1889 the city has 
undergone notable changes in the way 
of local improvement. The most im¬ 
portant is the creation of a new sys¬ 
tem of docks, involving the construc¬ 
tion of five long wet docks and great 
basins. The basins have ample area 
for the largest ocean steamships, and 
along their walls are hydraulic ele¬ 
vators by which every hatchway of a 
vessel may be worked at once. Buenos 
Ayres is one of the leading commercial 
centers of South America, its exports 
and imports together annually amount¬ 
ing to over $60,000,000. Chief exports 
are ox and horse hides, sheep and 
other skins,. wool, tallow, horns, etc. 
There are six railways running from 
the city, and over 100 miles of 
tramway in the city and suburbs. 
About one-fourth of the inhabitants 
are whites; the rest are Indians, ne¬ 
groes and mixed breeds. Pop. (1900) 
821,291. The province of Buenos 
Ayres has an area of about 118,000 
square miles, and presents nearly 
throughout level or slightly undulat¬ 
ing plains (pampas), which afford 
pasture to vast numbers of cattle and 
wild horses. These constitute the chief 
wealth of the inhabitants. Pop. 
(1900) 1,140,067. 

Buffalo, city and county-seat of 
Erie co., N. Y., second city in popula¬ 
tion and importance in New York. It 
is built at the E. end of Lake Erie, at 
the head of the Niagara river, 20 
miles above the Falls. It is the W. 
terminus of the Erie canal, and has a 
navigable water front of 8 miles, with 
numerous piers, breakwaters, basins 
and canals, giving it one of the finest 
harbors on the lakes and making it a 
great commercial center. The city is 
connected by several steamship lines 
with the chief lake ports, and by fer¬ 
ries with Victoria and Fort Erie, on 




Buffalo 


Buffalo 


the Canadian side. The International 
Bridge, costing $1,500,000, connects 
Buffalo with these towns. Area, 42 
square miles; population (1890) 255,- 
004; (1900) 352,218. 

Buffalo is situated on an elevated 
plain, 50 feet above the lake and GOO 
feet above sea level. From this plain 
the ground slopes gradually to the lake. 
It is bordered on three sides by water, 
the Niagara river. Lake Erie and Buf¬ 
falo river. Buffalo river is navigable 
for 2 miles, and two canals pass be¬ 
tween the river and the lake. The city 
is noted for its wide and beautiful 
streets, and the abundance of shrub¬ 
bery and trees decorating them. The 
principal streets are Main, Niagara, 
Delaware, Broadway, and Linwood 
and Elmwood avenues, 120 feet wide, 
and all over 5 miles in length. Buf¬ 
falo claims to be the cleanest and 
healthiest city in the United States 
and to possess a greater extent of as¬ 
phalt paving than any other city of 
its size in the country. 

Buffalo has a public park system 
consisting of several parks containing 
741^ acres and connected by boule¬ 
vards and aDproaches, affording a con¬ 
tinuous drive of 15 miles, and contain¬ 
ing an area, with the minor parks and 
places, of 276^ additional acres. The 
principal public buildings are the Fed¬ 
eral Building, containing the Post- 
office and Custom-house, a large build¬ 
ing of freestone; the State Arsenal; 
the Board of Trade Building; the Old 
and New Armories; Grosvenor Li¬ 
brary ; Normal School; two public 
high schools; Erie County and Buffalo 
Savings Banks; the Erie County Pen¬ 
itentiary; and the City and County 
Hall. Besides these, there is the Buf¬ 
falo Library, in Lafayette Square, 
containing a circulating library of 
77,000 volumes, and, in the same 
building, are the Buffalo Historical 
Society, the Buffalo Fine Arts Society 
and School of Arts, and the Society of 
National Sciences. The State Insane 
Asylum has a plot of 203 acres and 
adjoins the Buffalo Park. According 
to the United States census of 1900 
the city had 3,902 manufacturing es¬ 
tablishments, employing $103,939,655 
capital and 47,606 persons; paying 
$23,596,308 for wages and $73,359,466 
for materials used; and yielding pro¬ 
ducts of an aggregate value $122,230,- 


061. In the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1900, the imports of merchandise 
aggregated in value $4,134,917; and 
the exports, $14,488,028. 

The site of Buffalo was first visited 
by the French, under La Salle, in 
1079. In 1087 a settlement was made 
by Baron La Honton and Fort Sup¬ 
pose was erected. It was held by the 
British as Fort Erie during 1783- 
1784, and was incorporated as the vil¬ 
lage of Buffalo and soon afterward 
burned by the British, in 1813. It 
was rebuilt in 1815; but its progress 
was slow until the completion of the 
Erie canal in 1825. It became a city 
in 1832 and since then it has been 
very prosperous. A Pan-American Ex¬ 
position was held here between May 1 
and Nov. 2, 1901; President McKin¬ 
ley was fatally wounded while attend¬ 
ing it on Sept. 6. 

Buffalo, a name often applied io 
two distinct bovine genera or sub¬ 
genera — viz., the Asiatic buffalo with 
the Cape buffalo; and the American 
buffalo, better named bison. The ge¬ 
nus or sub-genus bubalus has the 
usual bovine characteristics, and, 
whatever be its exact limits in strict 
zoological classification, remains, for 
practical purposes, a large, clumsy ox. 
The horns rise from the posterior side 
corners of the skull, are usually thick¬ 
ened out of proportion at the base, 
and irregularly ridged, though smooth 
toward the points; the forehead is 
short and arched; the covering of hair 
is comparatively sparse. The Asiatic 
buffalo is a very powerful animal, 
much more powerful than the ox, and 
capable of dragging or carrying a far 
heavier load. The female yields a 
much greater quantity of milk than a 
cow, and of excellent quality. It is 
from buffalo milk that the ghee or 
semi-fluid butter of India is made. 
The hide is greatly valued for its 
strength and durability, but the flesh 
is decidedly inferior to that of the ox. 
The Arnee is a very large variety of 
the common buffalo; a head has been 
known to measure 13 feet 6 inches 
along the horns. It occurs in the In¬ 
dian islands and in Farther India in 
a wild state, but is also domesticated 
and used as a beast of burden. The 
Cape buffalo is generally regarded as 
a distinct species. The horns are very 
large; they spread horizontally over 





Buffalo Berry 


the top of the head, and are then bent 
down laterally, and turned upward at 
the point. The head is carried, as by 
the common buffalo, with projecting 
muzzle and reclining horns, but the 
bases of the horns nearly meet on the 
forehead, where they are from 8 to 10 
inches broad. The length of a full 
grown Cape buffalo is about 8 feet 
from the root of the horns to the tail, 
and the height is 5*4 feet. This ani¬ 
mal is regarded as more formidable 
than any other in South Africa. The 
buffalo is still found in large herds 
in the marshy wooded regions of Cen¬ 
tral and South Africa, but in Cape 
Colony, where it was once plentiful, 
it has now become comparatively rare. 
It grazes chiefly in the evening, and 
lies in woods and thickets during the 
day. It will readily act on the ag¬ 
gressive, and has never been domesti¬ 
cated. The flesh, though coarse, is 
palatable. The dwarf, wild cow of the 
island of Celebes is also related to the 
buffaloes. For the American buffalo, 
see Bison. 

Buffalo Berry, a shrub of the 
oleaster family, a native of the United 
States and Canada, with lanceolate, 
silvery leaves and close clusters of 
bright red acid berries about the size 
of currants, which are made into pre¬ 
serves and used in various ways. 

Buffalo Grass, a strong growing 
North American grass, so called from 
forming a large part of the food of 
the buffalo, and said to have excellent 
fattening properties; called also gama 
grass. 

Buffet, anciently a little apart¬ 
ment, separated from the rest of the 
room, for the disposing of china, glass, 
etc. It is now a piece of furniture for 
the dining-room, called a sideboard, 
for the same purpose. 

Bulthaupt, Heinrich Alfred, 
an American military officer; born in 
Wheeling, Va., Nov. 22, 1837; was 
graduated at the United States Mili¬ 
tary Academy in 1861; entered the 
Ordnance Department; was promoted 
Colonel in 1889, and became Chief of 
Ordnance with the rank of Brigadier- 
General, April 1899. He had com¬ 
mand of the National Armory in 1881- 
1892; is the inventor of a magazine 
firearm, carriages for light and heavy 
guns, and parts of models of 1884 


Bug 


Springfield rifles; introduced gas forg¬ 
ing furnaces and improved methods in 
the Springfield armory; and originat¬ 
ed the niter and manganese method in 
use there for blueing iron and steel 
surfaces of small arms. 

Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, 
Count de, one of the most celebrated 
naturalists and authors of the 18th 
century; born in Montbard, Burgun¬ 
dy, Sept. 17, 1707. Buffon, in his 
earlier years, was animated only by 
an undefined love of learning and 
fame, but his appointment, as super¬ 
intendent of the Royal Garden (now 
the Jardin des Plantes), in 1739, gave 
his mind a decided turn toward that 
science in which he immortalized him¬ 
self. The most perfect part of his 
work is the “History of Quadrupeds”; 
the weakest, the “ History of Min¬ 
erals,” in which his imperfect ac¬ 
quaintance with chemistry and his in¬ 
clination to hypothesis have led him 
into many errors. After a long and 
painful illness, he died in Paris, 
April 16, 1788, at the age of 81 
years, leaving an only son, jwho per¬ 
ished in the Revolution by the guillo¬ 
tine. 

Buford, John, a cavalry leader in 
the Civil War, born in Kentucky 1826. 
He was graduated at West Point in 
1848, saw service in the West, and in 
July 1862 was made Brigadier-General 
of volunteers and assigned to a cavalry 
brigade in the Army of Virginia. He 
took a leading part in all the cam¬ 
paigns of the army to the battle at 
Gettysburg, which he is said to have 
deliberately chosen for the great con¬ 
flict. He retired on sick leave in No¬ 
vember of 1863, and received the rank 
of Major-General on the day of his 
death, Dec. 16, 1863. 

Bug, a common name applied to in¬ 
sects of the natural order Hemiptera. 
Most of these insects essentially re¬ 
semble the bed-bug, except that they 
have wings. Some suck the blood of 
animals, and others subsist on vege¬ 
table juices. While a few are of 
commercial importance, like the coch¬ 
ineal and lac insects, most of them are 
harmful. Not a few species are beau¬ 
tiful, but many have the same unpleas¬ 
ant smell which emanates from the 
bed-bug. The unattractive form and 
manner of life of the bed-bug are 








RE-INFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 




























































Bugenhagen 


Building 


too well known to require description. 
The eggs, which are white, are depos¬ 
ited in the beginning of summer. They 
are glued to the crevices of bedsteads 
or furniture, or to the walls of rooms. 
Before houses existed, the bug prob¬ 
ably lived under the bark of trees. 

Bugenhagen, Johann, a Ger¬ 
man reformer, friend and helper of 
Luther in preparing his translation of 
the Bible, born in 1485. He fled from 
his Catholic superiors to Wittenberg 
in 1521, where he was made, in 1522, 
Professor of Theology. He effected 
the union of the Protestant free cities 
with the Saxons and introduced into 
Brunswick, Hamburg, Lubeck, Pom¬ 
erania, Denmark, and many other 
places, the Lutheran service and 
church discipline. He died in 1558. 

Buggy, in the United States, a 
light, one horse, four wheeled vehicle, 
with or without a hood or top. 

Bugle, a treble instrument of 
brass or copper, differing from the 
trumpet in having a shorter and more 
conical tube, with a less expanded bell. 
It is played with a cupped mouth¬ 
piece. In the original form it is the 
signal horn for the infantry, as the 
trumpet is for the cavalry. 

Buhr Stone, a variety of quartz 
containing many small, empty cells, 
which give it a peculiar roughness of 
surface. They are used principally as 
mill-stones. The best kinds are creamy 
white, with a granular and somewhat 
cellular texture, and are obtained in 
France. Numerous substitutes for the 
French buhr stone have been found in 
the United States, the most important 
being furnished by the buhr stone rock 
of the bituminous coal measures of 
Northwestern Pennsylvania and East¬ 
ern Ohio. 

Building; Fireproof, Iron and 
Concrete Construction. Building 
combines the principles of masonry, 
carpentry, joining, plumbing and the 
methods of operation in all allied 
trades or arts, with a knowledge of 
the qualities, strength and resistance 
of materials, and the science of archi¬ 
tecture. It comprehends the arrange¬ 
ment of a design for the greatest pos¬ 
sible degree of convenience on a 
ground plan; the preparation and 
formation of foundations; of floors; 
the arrangement and construction of 


drains, sewers, and vent-shafts; the 
varieties of walling with wood, stone, 
or laying of bricks; the various meth¬ 
ods of tying and bracing walls; the 
arrangement of gutters on roofs with 
overflow water pipes in the least in¬ 
convenient places; the location and 
formation of chimneys; the protection 
of walls from damp, of timber from 
moisture and stagnant air; of metals 
from corroding causes, etc., besides the 
multitude of details which attend the 
completion of any structure. 

In modern times, attention has long 
been devoted to devising means and 
providing materials for building pur¬ 
poses that will withstand the dangers 
and destruction caused by fire. The 
production of incombustible materials, 
rather than the rendering of wood and 
other combustibles fireproof by chem¬ 
ical treatment, has been an important 
factor in the development of present- 
day building methods. 

During the experimental stage in 
fireproof construction in the United 
States from 1854 to 1870, the substi¬ 
tution of iron for wood for all con¬ 
structive purposes was thought an im¬ 
portant advance until iron of all 
kinds proved unreliable when exposed 
to temperatures of 900 degrees Fahr. 
and over. The danger from the new 
style of building was greater than 
from the old. In many instances, 
buildings with cast-iron fronts col¬ 
lapsed completely during a fire, and 
the plan of unprotected iron construc¬ 
tion was abandoned. 

Between 1875 and 1879, however, 
the advantages of protected iron con¬ 
struction was recognized, and with the 
improvement of incombustible mate¬ 
rials for building purposes, steel skele¬ 
ton construction is now generally 
adopted for all new structures of any 
magnitude throughout the United 
States, and is extending to foreign 
countries. 

In the use of concrete, a wooden 
mould of desired width, placed about 
the steel girders, receives under pres¬ 
sure the liquid stone which is left to 
harden. When the wooden shields are 
removed, a smooth wall is presented, 
which grows harder with the passage 
of time and withstands a greater pres¬ 
sure than granite or steel itself. 

The building of a modern iron-frame 
skyscraper is chiefly a matter of as- 





Building 


Building Associations 


sembling the parts or “members.” Lit¬ 
tle of the real work is done on the 
site of the building as in the old days 
of stone construction. The digging of 
the cellar and the sinking of caissons 
in order to lay a bed for the iron¬ 
work is the principal engineering work 
done on the spot. All departments 
work simultaneously — excavators, 
draughtsmen, rolling mills, iron-work¬ 
ers, masons, plumbers and finishers. 
How much weight each upright and 
floor will have to carry is figured out, 
and for the guidance of the, rolling- 
mill man detail sketches are made of 
every beam, girder and upright to be 
used, with every dimension calculated 
to the sixteenth of an inch, and every 
rivet hole exactly indicated as to place 
and size. Every piece is numbered to 
correspond with the number on the 
builder’s plan, the floors they are to 
occupy being indicated by letters. 
Thus M 114 signifies for M, the thir¬ 
teenth floor, and 114, its position on 
that floor. By this plan the stone¬ 
work may often be seen built up on 
the higher stories, while the floors be¬ 
low show only the iron skeleton left 
open for various reasons, such as the 
late arrival of boilers, engines, etc. 
The ideal method in the assembling 
and putting together of the different 
parts of the modern building is toikeep 
the stone masons, housesmiths and 
plumbers one floor behind the iron¬ 
workers, the carpenters one floor be¬ 
hind these, the plasterers one floor 
behind the carpenters, and so on till 
the top story is finished. 

Modern buildings are erected accord¬ 
ing to the standard regulations for 
fireproof buildings suggested by the 
National Board of Fire Underwriters 
and incorporated in the Building 
Laws. 

Building and Loan Associa¬ 
tions, combinations of individuals, 
who agree to pay a fixed sum monthly, 
by which a fund is accumulated which 
is loaned to members, who desire to 
purchase or improve real estate. Their 
capital stock, which is prospective, is 
usualy divided into shares of a par 
value of $200 each. Each shareholder 
pays upon each share he holds a 
monthly subscription of $1, till such 
payments, with accrued profits, brings 
the value of the share to par. The 
number of shares each member may 


hold varies in different associations, 
the general rule being not less than 
two nor more than 25, the latter limi¬ 
tation being intended to prevent specu¬ 
lation. When money sufficient to de¬ 
clare a loan has accumulated in the 
treasury, a single share of $200 is put 
up at auction and knocked down to 
the member who bids the highest 
premium. He has the option, at the 
same premium, of taking as many 
shares as he may desire, within the 
limits fixed by the association. The 
age of the asociation depends on the 
size of these premiums; the larger the 
premium bid the more quickly the as¬ 
sociation terminates. Premiums vary 
with the age and location of the asso¬ 
ciation, and also with the demand for 
money. There are two methods of 
treating these premiums, known as the 
gross and instalment plans. The gross 
plan treats the premium at once as 
profits earned, though the amount bid 
will not be paid in full for 10 or more 
years. The instalment plan declares 
as profits only such amount of the 
premium as is actually paid in during 
the year. So far as the final result is 
concerned, there is no difference be¬ 
tween the two. Building and loan 
associations are formed on two plans, 
called terminal and serial. The termi¬ 
nal associations compel all members 
to begin payments on the same day. 
A new member joining after the be¬ 
ginning of the association is thus 
forced to pay arrearages. This is 
avoided in serial associations by al¬ 
lowing new members to join at stated 
intervals, usually six months or a 
year, without the payment of arrear¬ 
ages. The advantages of building and 
loan associations are: That each 
share, whether borrowed upon or not, 
has credited to it a pro rata amount 
of all profits declared. Loans are gen¬ 
erally advanced to within 80 per cent, 
of the appraised value of the property. 
No large salaries are paid. All offi¬ 
cers, appraisers, auditors, etc., are 
elected in open meeting. Members 
may withdraw at any time after the 
first year, obtaining a fair share of 
the profits. Loans are invariably se¬ 
cured by first mortgage. Only mem¬ 
bers may obtain loans. Mortgages 
may be paid off at any time. There 
are no speculative features, the asso¬ 
ciation buys nothing, the borrowing 




Building Lease 


Bulgaria 


member making all contracts. In in¬ 
vesting in building and loan associa¬ 
tions caution should be used in ascer¬ 
taining the character of the manage¬ 
ment, and a rigid accounting should 
be required, as great losses have been 
caused by malfeasance on the part of 
officials and overconfidence on the part 
of members. 

Building Lease, a lease of land 
for a long term of years, usually 99 
years, at a rent called a ground rent, 
the lessee covenanting to erect cer¬ 
tain edifices thereon, and to maintain 
the same during the term. At the ex¬ 
piration of the lease the houses built 
become the absolute property of the 
landlord. 

Bukowina, (“beech land”), a 
Province in the extreme E. of the 
Austro-Hungarian Empire, surround¬ 
ed by Galicia, Russia, Moldavia, and 
Hungary. Area, 4,035 square miles; 
pop. (1900) 646,591, of whom 42 per 
cent, are Ruthenians, 32 Moldavians, 
and 13 Jews, while 70 per cent, be¬ 
long to the Greek Church. It is tra¬ 
versed by offsets of the Carpathians, 
culminating at 6,077 feet; gives rise 
to many rivers flowing toward the 
Black Sea; and abounds in wood, 
along with considerable mineral riches. 

Bulacan, a town in Luzon, Phil¬ 
ippine Islands, about 22 miles N. W. 
of Manila, with which it is connected 
by railway; pop. about 10,000. The 
town is composed mainly of native 
huts, although there are factories in 
which silk matting is made. Sugar 
making is also an industry of impor¬ 
tance. The place has strategic advan¬ 
tages, which caused it to become a 
theater of military operations after 
the Spanish-American War. It was 
fully pacified in 1900, and made a 
military post by the United States 
authorities. 

Bulawayo, the principal town and 
chief commercial center of Matabele- 
land, in Southern Rhodesia, South 
Africa, to which point the railroad 
from Cape Town was completed in 
1897, a total distance of 1,360 miles. 
The place has a population of 5,000; 
several hotels, good business blocks 
and residences, and is rapidly growing 
in size and importance. Bulawayo a 
few years ago was the site of a native 
village of rude huts, in an inclosure 


of wattles, whose inhabitants were 
savages of the lowest type. 

Bulbul, the Indian name of any 
bird belonging to a sub-family of t 
thrushes. 

Bulfincb, Charles, an American 
architect, born in Boston 1763; died 
1844. He built the first playhouse 
erected in New England, the old Fed¬ 
eral street theatre in Boston, and drew 
plans for the Massachusetts State 
house. His principal work was the 
rotunda, the west approaches, and the 
portico, in the Capitol at Washington. 

Bulgaria, a principality of the 
Turkish Empire, bounded by the Dan¬ 
ube and Rumania on the N., the Black 
Sea on the E., Turkey on the S., and 
Servia on the W.; capital, Sofia. It 
has an area of 38,080 square miles. 
Its surface is a gradually sloping 
plain, broken by occasional moun¬ 
tains, which give rise to many rapid 
tributaries to the Danube. The soil 
is excellent and the slopes of the 
mountains are richly wooded. The in¬ 
habitants, though not skilled in agri¬ 
culture, are able to produce a consid¬ 
erable export in grain products beyond 
what they require for themselves. 
Wheat is the chief export. Fruit is 
raised in abundance, and vegetables 
for home use; roses, for the produc¬ 
tion of the attar, are raised in large 
quantities; 80,000 gallons of wine are 
made annually; silk worms are bred 
in some regions, and tobacco is raised. 
There is little mining, although the 
mountains are rich in minerals. Do¬ 
mestic industries are chiefly carpets, 
cloths, hosiery, and ribbons. The roads 
are very bad, and there is but a single 
line of railroad; about 500 miles, on 
the route between Vienna and Con¬ 
stantinople. All traffic is carried on 
by the rivers, and the export trade 
by the Black Sea. The population is 
about 74 per cent. Bulgarians, 19 
per cent. Turks, the rest Spanish 
Jews, with a sprinkling of Greeks; 77 
per cent, are of the faith of the Or¬ 
thodox Greeks Church; only 2 y 2 per 
cent. Moslems. The government is 
Christian; there is a National militia; 
military service compulsory. The Bul¬ 
garians were originally of Finnish ex¬ 
traction, but coalesced with a Slavic 
populace, whose language was the 
richest of the old Slavic tongues. In 





Bulklxead 


Bulldog 


their older literature are found many 
valuable works, chiefly popular song„ 
and translations of the Bible. They 
adopted Christianity in the 9th cen¬ 
tury. From that to the 12th their 
rulers were powerful over the Balkan 
Peninsula. Then they were conquered 
and ruled by the Turks for about 500 
years. In 1876, on account of the 
atrocities of the Turkish soldiers, an 
insurrection broke out. Russia took 
the part of Bulgaria against Turkey, 
and the war of 1877-1878 followed. 
In 1879, Alexander of Battenberg, a 
German Prince, was made sovereign 
of part of Bulgaria, the rest being 
made a separate province called East 
Rumelia, to prevent Bulgaria becom¬ 
ing a strong State. In 1885 there 
was a revolution in East Rumelia, 
which annexed itself to Bulgaria. 
Servia intervened, and Alexander was 
forced to abdicate. Against Russia’s 
will, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg ac¬ 
cepted the vacant throne in 1887. 
The government is that of a heredi¬ 
tary Prince as chief executive, with 
responsible ministers and Legislative 
Assembly (one for every 10,000), 
elected directly by the people for three 
years; it pays annual tribute to the 
Sultan. In September, 1903, Bul¬ 
garia notified the powers of Europe 
that unless action should be taken to 
compel Turkey to cease from whole¬ 
sale massacre of Bulgarians in Mace¬ 
donia, Bulgaria would take the issue 
into its own hands. This menace of 
war with Turkey caused a profound 
sensation, which was increased by the 
evident preparations made by the 
Turks for a serious conflict. Pop. 
(1900) 3,733,189. See Macedonia. 

Bulkhead, a partition made across 
a ship, whereby one part is divided 
from another; also, a wood or stone 
construction designed to prevent earth 
or water from falling or flowing into 
the space protected by a bulkhead. A 
bulkhead line is a line a given distance 
from the shore, beyond which it is not 
permissible to build'a dock, according 
to the rules of the War Department at 
Washington. 

Bull, the male of any quadruped 
of the bovidae family. Also, a sign of 
the zodiac: Taurus. It is likewise a 
term used on the New York Stock Ex¬ 
change, and applied to those brokers 


who favor a rise in the market value 
of stocks. It is the opposite of bear. 

Bull, an instrument, edict, ordi¬ 
nance, or decree of the Pope, equiva¬ 
lent to the proclamations, edicts, let¬ 
ters patent, or ukases of secular 
princes. 

Bull, George Joseph, a Cana¬ 
dian ophthalmic surgeon, born in 
Hamilton, Ontario, Feb. 16, 1848. He 
was graduated at McGill University 
in 1869, and, after studying in Paris, 
began the practice of medicine in 
Montreal, devoting himself especially 
to diseases of the eye. He took up 
his residence in Paris in 1886, and 
has won celebrity as an expert in oph¬ 
thalmic subjects. He has written 
“ Ophthalmia and Optometry,” and 
many similar works. 

Bull, John, the popular sobri¬ 
quet or characteristic name applied to 
the English nation. Its origin is ob¬ 
scure. It appears to have been first 
used in Arbuthnot’s famous satire, 
the “ History of John Bull,” written 
in ridicule of the Duke of Marlbor¬ 
ough. This work is included in those 
of Dean Swift. 

Bull, Ole Bornemann, a Nor¬ 
wegian violinist, born in Bergen, Feb. 
5, 1810. He secured great triumphs 
both throughout Europe and in the 
United States by his wonderful play¬ 
ing. He lost all his money in a scheme 
to found a colony of his countrymen 
in Pennsylvania, and had to take 
again to his violin to repair his broken 
fortunes. He afterward settled in 
Cambridge, Mass., and had also a 
summer residence in his native city, 
where he died, Aug. 17, 1880. 

Bull Baiting, the barbarous sport 
of setting dogs on a bull, who is tied 
to a stake and worried by the dogs for 
the amusement of the spectators. It 
was a favorite sport in England from 
a very early period, till it was finally 
put down by Act of Parliament in 
1835. 

Bulldog, a variety of the common 
dog, remarkable for its short, broad 
muzzle, and the projection of its 
lower jaw which causes the lower 
front teeth to protrude beyond the 
upper. The head is massive and 
broad, and the frontal sinuses large. 
The lips are thick and pendulous; the 
ears pendant at the extremity; the 





Buller 


Bull Finch 


neck robust and short; the body long 
and stout; and the legs short and 
thick. The bulldog is a slow motioned 
animal, better suited as a watchdog 
than for any purpose requiring activ¬ 
ity and intelligence. He is also said 
to be capable of great affection for 
his master. His fearlessness is well 
known, and in fighting, bulldogs dis¬ 
play the most indomitable spirit. They 
are apt to become vicious as they ad¬ 
vance in years, but ordinarily a bull¬ 
dog is not more ready than any other 
dog to attack persons without some 
cause. 

The name was originally given to 
this dog on account of its being com¬ 
monly employed in bull-baiting in the 
days when this barbarous sport was 
in vogue. The bull terrier is a dog 
that partakes of the character of both 
the bulldog and the terrier, and is 
rather a favorite among lovers of dogs. 

Buller, Sir Redvers Henry, a 
British soldier; born in Devonshire, 
England, in 1839; entered the army in 
1858; served in the campaigns in 
China (1860), Ashanti (1873-1874), 
South Africa (1878-1879), Egypt 
(1882-1884), and the Sudan (1884- 
1885) ; in 1890 succeeded Lord Wolse- 
ley as adjutant-general of the army 
and became lieutenant-general. On 
the breaking out of the Boer-British 
War in South Africa, in October, 
1899, he was placed in command of 
the British forces who went to the re¬ 
lief of Ladysmith. On Dec. 15, fol¬ 
lowing, in attempting to force the 
passage of the Tugela river at Colen- 
so, he was repulsed, with a loss of 
1,097 officers and men and 11 guns. 
After several repulses he succeeded in 
relieving Ladysmith, March 3, 1900. 
He was afterward relieved from com¬ 
mand on the ground of failure to meet 
the expectations of his military su¬ 
periors, and much scandal was caused 
by a controversy which followed re¬ 
garding the responsibility for his 
failure. 

Bullet, the projectile used for 
small-arms, either spherical or of an 
elongated form. The elongated bullet 
is now in general use for rifles, and 
there has also been introduced some 
means of dilating the bullet at the 
moment of explosion, so that it is 
forced into the grooves of the rifle and 
exactly fits the barrel. 


Bullfights, the favorite or na¬ 
tional diversion of the Spaniards, as 
now practised said to be of compara¬ 
tively modern origin, having been de¬ 
vised by the Moors of Spain mainly 
for the exhibition of horsemanship, 
courage, and dexterity with the lance. 
At first it was practised by gentlemen 
armed only with a short spear or jave¬ 
lin ; and on grand occasions, especially 
the coronation of a king, such com¬ 
bats are still exhibited. But generally 
the combatants are professionals. The 
excommunications of the Popes have 
not been sufficient to induce the Span¬ 
iards to abandon this amusement. 
Charles IV. abolished it; but it was 
soon revived again. The assailants 
are seldom killed in these sports. Bull¬ 
fights are got up either for private 
gain or for the benefit of some public 
institution. This characteristic na¬ 
tional sport or diversion is exhibited 
at Madrid through the summer at least 
once a week for the benefit of the gen¬ 
eral hospital. The bullfights are held 
in special rings or amphitheaters, that 
at Madrid being capable of seating 
12,700 persons, its cost of erection 
having been $400,000. 



BULL FINCII. 

Bull Finch, a well known bird, 
locally known as the norskpipe, the 
coal-hood, the hoop, or the tony hoop, 
the alp, and the hope. Its song is 




Bull Frog 


Bulthaupt 


much prized. It is often domesticated. 
It is found in many lands. 

Bull Frog, any frog which croaks 
with a deep rather than a sharp sound. 
A species of frog found in Carolina 
and the parts adjacent, which has a 
voice not unlike that of a bull. It is 
six or eight inches long, by three or 
four broad, without the legs. It swal¬ 
lows ducks and young goslings whole. 
It is difficult to catch from its length 
of leap, besides which it is generally 
left unharmed because it is said to 
purify rather than to pollute the 
water in which it lives. 

Bullhead, various fishes having 
large heads. 

Bullinger, Henri, a celebrated 
Swiss reformer; born in Bremgar- 
ten in 1504; died in Zurich in 1575. 

Bullion, uncoined gold and silver 
in bars or in the mass. United States 
standard bullion contains 900 parts of 
pure gold or pure silver, and 100 parts 
of copper alloy. The coining value of 
an ounce of pure gold is $20.67183, 
and the coining value of an ounce of 
standard gold is $18.60465. The coin¬ 
ing value in. standard silver dollars of 
an ounce of pure silver is $1.2929, and 
the coining value of an ounce of stan¬ 
dard silver is $1.1636. 

Bull Run, or Bull’s Run, a 
stream in Virginia, dividing Fairfax 
and Prince William counties, in the 
N. E. part of the State, and flowing 
into the Occoquan river 14 miles from 
the Potomac. On its banks were 
fought two of the most memorable bat¬ 
tles during the Civil War. After a 
series of heavy skirmishes, July 16- 
19. 1861, the Union army under Gen¬ 
eral McDowell was on the 21st utter¬ 
ly routed by the Confederates under 
the command of Generals Beauregard 
and J. E. Johnston. The Union loss 
was about 3,000 men, while that of 
the Confederates was estimated at 
nearly 2,000 men. The former lost, 
in addition, 27 guns, besides an im¬ 
mense quantity of small arms, ammu¬ 
nition, stores, provisions, and accou¬ 
trements. On Aug. 30, 1862, another 
great battle was fought here between 
the Union forces commanded by Gen¬ 
eral Pope, and the Confederates un¬ 
der Generals Lee, Longstreet, and 
“ Stonewall ” Jackson, when the for¬ 
mer were again defeated with heavy 


loss. The three battles of Groveton, 
Bull’s Run, and Chantilly, fought in 
three successive days, cost the Union 
cause about 20,000 men in killed, 
wounded, missing, and prisoners, 30 
guns, and 30,000 small arms. The 
first battle of Bull Run is sometimes 
known as the battle of Manassas. 

Bull Terrier, a variety of dog, a 
cross breed between the bull dog and 
terrier. 

Bullies, Manuel, a Chilian sol¬ 
dier and statesman, born in Concep¬ 
cion, Dec. 25, 1799. He served in 
most of the battles of the Chilean rev¬ 
olution. In 1838 he commanded the 
Chilean army of 5,000 men against 
Santa Cruz, in Peru, and was finally 
instrumental in driving Santa Cruz 
from the country and breaking up the 
Peru-Bolivian confederation. In 1841 
he was elected President of Chile and 
served for 10 years. He was after¬ 
ward Senator and Councilor of State. 
He died in Santiago, Oct. 18, 1866. 

Bulow, Hans Guido von, a Ger¬ 
man pianist and composer, born in 
Dresden, Jan. 8, 1830; died in Cairo, 
Feb. 13, 1894. 

Bulow, Karl Eduard von, a 

German author, born at Burg vor 
Eilenburg in Saxony in 1803; died in 
1853. 

Bulow, Margarete von, a Ger¬ 
man novelist, born in Berlin in 1860. 
She lost her life in an attempt to res¬ 
cue a boy from drowning, in 1885. 

Buloz, Francois, born near Ge¬ 
neva, Switzerland, 1803, died at Paris 
in 1877; founder and editor of the 
“ Revue des Deux Mondes,” the cele¬ 
brated French fortnightly literary 
magazine. 

Bulrush, or Bullrush, called 

also cat’s tail or reed mace. The bul¬ 
rush of Scripture is the translation of 
two distinct Hebrew words, agmon, 
possibly an arundo or some similar 
genus, in Isa. lviii: 5, and gome, evi¬ 
dently the papyrus nilotica (Ex. ii: 
3, Isa. xviii: 2). 

Bulthaupt, Heinrich Alfred, 

a German poet and dramatist, born in 
Bremen, Oct. 26, 1849. On quitting 
the university he was for a while a 
private tutor; then he traveled in the 
East, in Greece, and in Italy. He 
was a lawyer in his native town for 





Bui we r 


Bunker Hill 


some years, and in 1879 became cus¬ 
todian of the city library. Of his 
dramatic compositions the list is very 
long. 

Bulwer, Henry Lytton Earle 
(Lord Dalling), an English author 
and diplomatist, brother of Sir Ed¬ 
ward Bulwer-Lytton, born Feb. 13, 
1801; died in Naples, May 23, 1872. 

Bulwer-Clayton Treaty, a 
treaty negotiated at Washington, D. 
C., in April, 1850, by John M. Clay¬ 
ton, Secretary of State under Presi¬ 
dent Taylor, and Sir Henry Bulwer, 
British Minister to the United States. 
The treaty provided that neither the 
United States nor Great Britain 
should attempt to control a proposed 
canal across Nicaragua. The treaty 
provided further for the neutrality 
of the canal, and it guaranteed en¬ 
couragement to all lines of inter- 
oceanic communication. The terms 
of the treaty were afterward much 
disputed. In 1882 the United States 
Government intimated to Great Brit¬ 
ain that the canal having become im¬ 
practicable because of reasons for 
which Great Britain alone was re¬ 
sponsible, the United States considered 
the treaty as no longer binding, but 
Great Britain continued to hold it as 
in force. On March 3, 1899, Con¬ 
gress passed a bill providing for the 
construction of a canal on the Nica¬ 
ragua route, which also authorized the 
President to open negotiations with 
Great Britain for the abrogation of 
the Bulwer-Clayton Treaty, and under 
the last clause a convention between 
the two countries, abrogating the por¬ 
tions of the treaty that were deemed 
to be against the interests of the 
United States, was signed in Washing¬ 
ton, Feb. 5, 1900. 

Bulwer-Lytton. See Lytton, Ed¬ 
ward George Earle. 

Bunce, Oliver Bell, author and 
editor, born New York, Feb. 8, 1828. 
He edited “ Appleton’s Journal,” “ Pic¬ 
turesque America,” “ Picturesque Eu¬ 
rope,” “Picturesque Palestine,” etc., 
and wrote “ Romance of the Revolu¬ 
tion,” “ Don’t: A Manual of Mistakes 
and Improprieties,” “My House: An 
Ideal; ” a novel, and plays. He died at 
New York, May 15, 1890. 

Buncombe, a county in North 
Garolina. The term bunkum, mean¬ 


ing talking for talking’s sake, bombas¬ 
tic speech making, is said to have orig¬ 
inated with a Congressional member 
for this county, who declared that he 
was only talking for Buncombe when 
attempts were made to cut his oratory 
short. 

Bundesrath, the German Federal 
Council which represents the individ¬ 
ual States of the Empire, as the 
Reichstag represents the German na¬ 
tion. It consists (1900) of 58 mem¬ 
bers, and its functions are mainly 
those of a confirming body, although 
it has the privilege of rejecting meas¬ 
ures passed by the Reichstag. 

Bungalow, the name applied to 
the kind of houses erected by Euro¬ 
peans in India. They are generally 
of one story, and with the roof 
thatched, the ceiling being often of 
white-washed cloth. They are not 
well adapted for defense against a foe. 

Bunion, a term applied in surgery 
to enlarged bursae, or synovial sacs, 
situated on any part of the foot. In 
the great majority of cases, bunions 
are directly produced by the pressure 
of badly fitting boots; and if the boots 
are constructed of patent leather, or 
any material which stops the excret¬ 
ing action of the skin, this, too, may 
be regarded as an indirect cause of 
their formation. Sometimes, however, 
the tendency to suffer from bunions is 
hereditary, and almost irremediable. 
A bunion begins as a painful and ten¬ 
der spot at some point exposed to 
pressure; the part gradually enlarges, 
and there are indications of an effu¬ 
sion into a natural bursa or a newly 
formed sac. The disease sometimes 
proves so troublesome that amputation 
of the toe, or excision of the ends of 
the bones affected, has been resorted to. 

Bunker Hill, an eminence, 110 
feet high, in the Charlestown district 
of Boston, Mass., connected by a ridge 
with another elevation, 75 feet high, 
named Breed’s Hill. These heights 
are memorable as being the seat of a 
battle, June 17, 1775, and known un¬ 
der the name of Bunker Hill. The 
city of Boston was occupied by the 
British under General Gage, who had 
resolved to begin offensive operations 
against the rebels. This design be¬ 
coming known in the American camp, 
it was determined to seize and fortify 




Bunner 


Bunyan 


the heights of Charlestown on the 
night of June 16. The execution of 
this perilous mission was confided to 
Colonels Prescott and Pepperell at the 
head of a brigade of 1,000 men; and 
at dawn of day a strong redoubt was 
already completed on Breed’s Hill. 
About 1,500 Americans advanced suc¬ 
cessively to the relief of Prescott, and 
General Warren entered the redoubt 
as a volunteer, refusing the command 
which was tendered to him. At about 
2.30 o’clock, two columns of the Brit¬ 
ish advanced to a simultaneous as¬ 
sault; they were received with a ter¬ 
rific fire, and twice repulsed in disor¬ 
der. When the Americans had ex¬ 
hausted all their ammunition, Prescott 
gave the order for retreat. They re¬ 
ceived a destructive volley as they left 
the redoubt, and Warren fell, shot 
through the head with a bullet. The 
retreat was harassed by a raking fire 
from the British ships and batteries, 
but there was no pursuit beyond 
Charlestown Neck. The British loss 
was 226 officers and men killed, and 
828 wounded; that of the Americans 
145 killed or missing, and 304 
wounded. Although a defeat, the 
moral result of this action was great. 
The Americans had seen superior num¬ 
bers of the disciplined soldiers of Eng¬ 
land retreat before their fire, and 
given the proof that they were able 
to defend their liberties. On Breed’s 
Hill, and near the spot where Warren 
fell, stands now the Bunker Hill Mon¬ 
ument, the corner stone of which was 
laid by the Marquis de Lafayette, 
June 17, 1825. This monument was 
inaugurated .Tune 17, 1843. It con¬ 
sists of a plain granite shaft, 220 feet 
high, 31 feet square at the base, and 
15 at the top. The monument affords 
a magnificent panoramic view of the 
surrounding country. 

Bunner, Henry Cuyler, an 
American poet and story writer; born 
in Oswego, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1855; be¬ 
came a journalist in 1873, and was 
editor of “ Puck ” from shortly after 
its start till his death. He died in 
Nutley, N. J., May 11, 1896. 

Bunsen, Christian Karl Josias, 
Chevalier, a distinguished German 
statesman and philosopher; born in 
Korbach, in the principality of Wal- 
deck, Aug. 25, 1791; died in Bonn, 
Nov. 28, 1860. 


Bunsen, Robert Wilhelm Eb- 

erhard, a German chemist; born in 
Gottingen, March 31, 1811. He was 
successively professor in Cassel, Mar¬ 
burg and Heidelberg. Among his 
many discoveries and inventions are 
the production of magnesium in quan¬ 
tities, magnesium light, spectrum 
analysis, and the electric pile and the 
burner which bear his name. He died 
in Heidelberg, Aug. 16, 1899. 

Bunsen Battery, a modification 
of the Grove battery, plates or bars of 
gas coke being used instead of plati¬ 
num. The electromotive force is 
slightly less than that of the Grove 
battery. 

Bunsen’s Burner, a form of gas 
burner especially adapted for heating, 
consisting of a tube, in which, by 
means of holes in the side, the gas 
becomes mixed with air before con¬ 
sumption, so that it gives a non-lumi- 
nous smokeless flame. 

Bunt, attacks the ears of wheat, 
completely filling the grains with a 
black, fetid powder. This powder is 
a mass of spherical, reticulated spores, 
which, when crushed, give out a most 
disagreeable smell. It was formerly 
called stinking rust. Bread made 
from flour containing this fungus has 
a disagreeable flavor and a dark color. 
Such flour, however, is said to be 
sometimes used in the manufacture of 
gingerbread, the molasses effectually 
disguising the flavor. The presence of 
bunt is readily detected by the micro¬ 
scope. 

Bunting, the popular name of a 
number of insessorial birds, as the 
common bunting, the rice bunting, the 
Lapland, snow, black-headed., yellow, 
cirl, and ortolan buntings. The snow 
bunting is one of the few birds which 
cheer the solitudes of the Polar re¬ 
gions. 

Bunting, a thin woolen stuff, of 
which the colors and signals of a ship 
are usually formed; hence a vessel’s 
flags collectively. 

Bunyan, John, author of the 
“ Pilgrim’s Progress,” was the son of 
a tinker, and was born in the village 
of Elstow, near Bedford, England, in 
1628. After receiving a scanty edu¬ 
cation, he for some time led a wander¬ 
ing life. During the civil war he 
served as a soldier, most probably in 






BURBANK’S THORNLESS CACTUS, WITH FRUIT 




Buoy 


Burchar& 


the army of the Parliament; and his 
mind now became impressed with a 
deep sense of religion. This reforma¬ 
tion in his life was powerfully assisted 
by the piety of his wife, whom he mar¬ 
ried in 1648 or 1649, and who died 
some seven years later. He joined a 
Nonconformist body in Bedford, and 
at length in 1657 formally undertook 
the office of a public teacher among 
them. Acting in defiance of the se¬ 
vere laws enacted against dissenters 
from the Established Church, Bunyan 
was arrested on Nov. 12, 1660, and 
committed for trial to the county jail. 
He was indicted at the quarter-sessions 
early in 1661, and after an irregular 
trial was sentenced to three months* 
imprisonment, which was to be fol¬ 
lowed by banishment if he persisted in 
his determination to repeat his of¬ 
fense. He could not be induced to 
moderate his zeal, and consequently 
though not banished, he lay in prison 
almost continuously till 1672, and 
was again imprisoned in 1675 for six 
months. 

To this confinement he owes his lit¬ 
erary fame, for, in the solitude of his 
cell, his ardent imagination, brooding 
over the mysteries of Christianity, the 
miraculous narratives of the sacred 
Scripture, and the visions of Jewish 
prophets, gave birth to that admired 
religious allegory, the “ Pilgrim’s 
Progress 99 — a work which, like 
“ Robinson Crusoe,” has remained un¬ 
rivaled amid a host of imitators. The 
first edition appeared in 1678; the 
second, describing the journey of 
Christian’s wife and children, was 
published in 1684. His “ Holy War 
made by Shaddai upon Diabolus ” 
(1682), his other religious parables, 
and his devotional tracts, which are 
numerous, are also remarkable, and 
many of them valuable. . He died dur¬ 
ing a visit to London, Aug. 31, 1688. 

Buoy, anv floating body employed 
to point out the particular situation of 
a ship’s anchor, a shoal, the direction 
of a navigable channel, etc. They are 
made of wood, or, now, more com¬ 
monly of wrought iron plates riveted 
together and forming hollow cham¬ 
bers. They are generally moored by 
chains to the bed of the channel, etc. 
They are of various shapes, and re¬ 
ceive corresponding names ; thus, there 
are the can buoy, the nun buoy; the 


bell, mooring, whistling, etc. buoys. A 
life-buoy is one intended to keep a per¬ 
son afloat. 

Burbage, Richard, a noted Eng¬ 
lish actor and contemporary of Shake¬ 
speare, b. 1567, d. 1619. 

Burbank, Luther, American hor¬ 
ticulturist, b. Lancaster, Mass., Mar. 
7, 1849. The son of a farmer, he be¬ 
came interested in plant life and 
earned a world-wide reputation on the 
Burbank Exposition Farms at Santa 
Rosa, Cal., in new developments 
through cross-breeding. He originated 
the plumcot, a new fruit; a white 
blackberry ; new apples; gold and pit¬ 
less plums; a new potato; an edible 
thornless cactus for desert travelers; 
new prunes, roses, violet-odored lilies, 
etc., the number of fruits and flowers 
which he improved being unequaled. 
In 1905 the Carnegie Institution 
granted him $10,000 yearly for 10 
years to continue his work. 

Burbot, or Burbolt, a fish of the 
cod family, shaped somewhat like an 
eel, but shorter, with a flat head. It 
has two small barbs on the nose and 
another on the chin. It is a delicate 
food. The spotted burbot is found in 
American northern lakes and rivers. 

Burbridge, Stephen Gano, an 
American military officer, born in 
Scott county, Ky., Aug. 19, 1831; or¬ 
ganized for the Union army the fam¬ 
ous 26th Kentucky Regiment, which 
he led at Shiloh, where he was pro¬ 
moted to the rank of Brigadier-Gen¬ 
eral of Volunteers. He was engaged 
in the Vicksburg expedition under 
General Grant; led the charge at 
Arkansas Post and at Port Gibson, 
being the first to enter each of these 
places. He retired with the rank of 
Maj.-Gen. in 1865, and died in 1894. 

Burchard, Samuel Dickinson, 
an American Presbyterian clergyman, 
born in Steuben, N. Y., Sept. 6, 1812; 
for many years pastor in New York 
city; created much political excitement 
throughout the United States by an 
alliterative characterization of the 
Democratic Party during the Presi¬ 
dential campaign of 1884. A com¬ 
pany of clergymen, about 600 in num¬ 
ber, called on James G. Blaine, the 
Republican candidate, at the Fifth 
Avenue Hotel, New York city, where 
Burchard made an address, in which 






Burckkardt 


Bureaucracy 


lie- affirmed that the antecedents of the 
Democracy were “ Rum, Romanism, 
and Rebellion.” He died in Saratoga, 
N. Y., Sept. 25, 1891. 

Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig, a 
Swiss traveler, born in Lausanne in 
1784. He went to England in 1806, 
and undertook a journey of explora¬ 
tion to the interior of Africa for the 
African Association. He started in 
1809, assuming an Oriental name and 
costume; spent some time in Syria, 
thence visited Egypt and Nubia; spent 
several months at Mecca, and visited 
Medina; and, after a short stay in 
Egypt, died at Cairo while preparing 
for his African journey, in 1817. 

Burden, Henry, an American in¬ 
ventor, born in Dumblane, Scotland, 
April 20, 1791; was brought up on a 
farm, and, at an early age, showed 
his inventive genius by making a va¬ 
riety of labor-saving machinery, in¬ 
cluding a threshing machine. He 
came to the United States in 1819; 
engaged in the manufacture of agri¬ 
cultural implements; invented an im¬ 
proved plow; the first cultivator made 
in this country; machines for making 
horse shoes and hook headed spikes 
used on railroads; a self-acting ma¬ 
chine for rolling iron into bars; and 
a new machine for making horse shoes, 
which received a rod of iron and turned 
out completed shoes at the rate of 60 
a minute. He died in Troy, N. Y. f 
Jan. 19, 1871. 

Burdett, Sir Francis, an Eng¬ 
lish politician, born Jan. 25, 1770. He 
sat in the British Parliament for 40 
years, as a Liberal of the most ultra 
type; was one of the earliest advo¬ 
cates of Parliamentary reform, and 
suffered bitter persecutions at the 
hands of the Tory government of those 
times. He was twice imprisoned in 
the Tower of London for his outspoken 
Liberalism, fined $5,000, and con¬ 
demned to three months’ further im¬ 
prisonment in the King’s Bench. He 
died Jan. 23, 1844. 

Burdette, Robert Jones, an 
American journalist and humorist, 
born in Greensboro, Pa., July 30, 
1844. He served in the Union army 
during the Civil War. He is famous 
for humorous newspaper skits, of rare 
variety, charm, and unrepetitious 
freshness. He was licensed as a Bap¬ 
tist clergyman in 1887. 


Burdett-Coutts, The Rigkt 
Hon. Angela Georgina, Baron¬ 
ess, daughter of Sir Francis Bur¬ 
dett, born April 21, 1814. In 183X 
she inherited much of the property of 
her grandfather, Thomas Coutts, the 
banker, on the death of his widow. 
Miss Mellon, the actress once, after¬ 
ward Duchess of St. Albans. Be¬ 
sides spending large sums of money in 
building and endowing churches and 
schools, she endowed the three colon¬ 
ial bishoprics of Cape Town, Adelaide, 
and British Columbia, founded an es¬ 
tablishment in South Australia for 
the improvement of the aborigines, or¬ 
ganized the Turkish Compassionate 
Fund (1877), and established a fish¬ 
ery school at the Irish village of Bal¬ 
timore (1887). To the city of Lon¬ 
don she presented, besides several 
handsome fountains, the Columbia 
Market, Bethnal Green (1870), for 
the supply of fish in a poor district; 
she also built Columbia Square* con¬ 
sisting of model dwellings at low rents, 
for about 300 families; and the Peo¬ 
ple’s Palace owes much to her gen¬ 
erosity. In 1871 she accepted a peer¬ 
age. In 1881 she was married to Wil¬ 
liam Ashmead-Bartlett (born in 
1846), who in 1882 obtained the royal 
license to assume her name. She died 
in London, Dec. 30, 1906. 

Burdick, Francis Marion, an 
American jurist and legal writer, born 
in De Ruyter, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1845. 
He was graduated at Hamilton Col¬ 
lege in 1869 and at its Law School in 
1872. He practiced law at Utica, N. 
Y., from 1872 to 1883, and was later 
Professor of Law at Hamilton College 
and at Cornell. Since 1891, he has 
been Professor ofi Law at Columbia. 
He has written a number of legal text 
books. 

Bureau, a French word signify¬ 
ing a writing table or desk; also an 
office for transacting business, a de¬ 
partment of government, or the of¬ 
ficials that carry it on. In the United 
States, it is also used in the latter 
sense; but is universally the word for 
a chest of drawers. 

Bureaucracy, government by de¬ 
partments of State, acting with some 
measure of independence of each other, 
instead of government by the heads of 
those departments acting as a cabinet 
on their joint responsibility. 





Burger 


Burgoyne 


Burger, Gottfried August, a 

German poet, born in Molmerswende, 
Anhalt, Dec. 31, 1747; died in Got¬ 
tingen, June 8, 1794. 

Burgess, Edward, an American 
naval architect, bom in West Sand¬ 
wich, Mass., June 30, 1848. He was 
educated at Harvard, where he grad¬ 
uated in 1871, and became secretary 
of the Boston Society of Natural His¬ 
tory. He was instructor of entomol¬ 
ogy at Harvard from 1879 to 1883. 
He then became a designer of sailing 
yachts. In 1884 he designed the 
“ Puritan,” the winner of the Amer¬ 
ica’s Cup in 1885; and a year later 
the “ Mayflower,” the winner in 1886. 
He died in Boston, Mass., July 12, 
1891. 

Burgess, Janies, a Scotch Orien¬ 
talist, born in Kirkmahoe, Dumfries¬ 
shire, Aug. 14, 1832. He went to In¬ 
dia in 1855 and became director-gen¬ 
eral of archaeological surveys there. 

Burgess, John William, an 
American educator; born in Corners- 
vilie, Tenn., Aug. 26, 1844. He was 
educated at Cumberland University, 
Lebanon, Tenn., and at Amherst. He 
studied law and began its practice at 
Springfield in 1869. During this year 
he was appointed Professor of English 
Literature and Political Economy at 
Knox College. Two years later, he 
studied abroad at Gottingen, Leipsic, 
and Berlin. On his return, he be¬ 
came Professor of History and Polit¬ 
ical Science at Amherst, and in 1876 
Professor of History, Political Sci¬ 
ence and International Law in Colum¬ 
bia Univ., where in 1890 he attained 
the deanship of the faculty of Political 
Science. In 1906-07, he was the first 
to hold the “ Roosevelt Professorship 
of American History and Institutions” 
in the University of Berlin. 

Burgh, the same as borough. In 
the United States the termination bor¬ 
ough was for generations added to the 
names of places, as in England; but, 
under a decision of the United States 
Board on Geographic Names, the form 
is now boro, as Brattleboro. 

Burglary, the crime of breaking 
into an inhabited house by night with 
intention of committing a felony. In 
the United States burglary is pun¬ 
ished by State laws, but the common 
law is generally followed. Some 

E. 26, 


States include breaking into shops, of¬ 
fices, warehouses, factories, and meet¬ 
ing houses as burglary. An Act of 
Congress of 1825 expressly includes 
breaking into boats and vessels with 
intent to commit a felony. In some 
States the same deed done in the day¬ 
time is defined as burglary in the sec¬ 
ond degree. The night is the time, 
between one hour after sunset and one 
hour before sunrise, or when the feat¬ 
ures of a man cannot be clearly dis¬ 
cerned. In North Carolina burglary is 
punishable by death, but the usual 
penalty is a long term of imprison¬ 
ment. 

Burgkmair, a family of German 
artists in the 15th and 16 centuries, 
the best known of whom is Hans, born 
in Augsburg in 1472. He is supposed 
to have died in 1559. 

Burgos, a city of Northern Spain, 
once the capital of the kingdom of 
Old Castile, and now the chief town 
of the Province of Burgos. It stands 
on the declivity of a hill on the right 
bank of the Arlanzon, and has dark 
narrow streets full of ancient archi¬ 
tecture but there are also fine prom¬ 
enades in the modern style. The ca¬ 
thedral, commenced in 1221, is one of 
the finest examples of Gothic archi¬ 
tecture in Spain. It contains the 
tombs of the famous Cid, and of Don 
Fernando, both natives of Burgos, 
and celebrated throughout Spain for 
their heroic achievements in the wars 
with the Moors. Before the removal 
of the court to Madrid, in the 16th 
century, Burgos was in a very flour¬ 
ishing condition, and contained thrice 
its present population. Pop. 31,301. 
The Province has an area of 5,650 
square miles, largely hilly or moun¬ 
tainous, but with good agricultural 
and pastoral land. Pop. 338,551. 

Burgoyne, John, an English gen¬ 
eral and dramatic author, born Feb. 
24, 1723. After having served with 
distinction in Portugal, he was sent 
to America in 1775. He joined Gen¬ 
eral Gage at Boston, with large rein¬ 
forcements, and witnessed the battle 
of Bunker Hill, of which he has left 
an animated description. After pro¬ 
ceeding to Canada as Governor, he 
returned to England, but in 1777 was 
dispatched to take command of that 
expedition from Canada against the 




Burgundy 


Burleigh 


United States, the failure of which so 
largely contributed to the establish¬ 
ment of American freedom. Few bat¬ 
tles, indeed, have achieved, in their 
ultimate influence, results so great 
as the surrender of Burgoyne with 
5,791 fighting men, well provided with 
artillery, at Saratoga, to the army of 
General Gates. He died in London, 
Aug. 4, 1792. 

Burgundy, a region of Western 
Europe, so named from the Burgun¬ 
dians, a Teutonic or Germanic people 
originally from the country between 
the Oder and the Vistula. Burgundy 
is now represented by the four De¬ 
partments of Yonne, Cote-d’Or, Saone- 
et-Loire, and Ain. It is watered by a 
number of navigable rivers, and is one 
of the most productive provinces in 
France, especially of wines. 

Burgundy Wine, the finest of all 
the French wines, the produce of vines 
cultivated in the Cote-d’Or, a portion 
of the ancient Province of Burgundy. 

Burial, the most general method 
of disposing of the dead, the practice 
of burning them on a funeral pile, 
prevalent to a limited extent among 
the Greeks and the Romans, and 
nearly universal among the Hindus, 
being the exception and not the rule. 
The Egyptians, and, at least in some 
special cases, the Jews, embalmed 
their dead (Gen. 1: 3, 26; John xix: 
39, 40). In Europe, according to Sir 
John Lubbock, interments in which the 
corpse is in a sitting or contracted 
posture belong to the stone age, and 
those in which it has been burned and 
only the ashes interred, to the bronze 
age, and those in which the corpse 
lies extended, presumably to the age 
of iron. In ancient Peru, however, 
and some other parts of America this 
form of interment was within the re¬ 
cent historic period. 

Buriats, a nomadic Tartar people 
allied to the Kalmucks, inhabiting the 
S. part of the government of Irkutsk 
and Transbaikalia. Their number is 
about 200,000. They live in huts 
called yurts, which, in summer, are 
covered with leather, in winter with 
felt. 

Buriti, a South American palm 
growing to the height of 100 to 150 
feet, preferring marshy situations, 
and bearing an imposing crown of fan 


shaped leaves. A sweet vinous liquor 
is prepared from the juice of the stem, 
as also from the fruits. 

Burke, Edmund, a British orator 
and statesman; born in Dublin, Ire¬ 
land, Jan. 12, 1729. The first speech 
of Burke in Parliament was on the 
Grenville Stamp Act; and it was at 
his advice that the Rockingham ad¬ 
ministration took the middle and un¬ 
decided course of repealing the act, 
and passing a law declaratory of the 
right of Great Britain to tax the 
American colonies. This ministry was 
soon dissolved to make room for a 
new cabinet under Pitt. He opposed 
the ministerial measures antecedent 
and consequent to the American war; 
and the whole powers of his eloquence 
were exerted first to prevent, and then 
to heal the fatal breach between the 
mother country and her colonies. In 
1774 he was chosen member for Bris¬ 
tol, and for the next eight years Fox 
warmly supported him in his opposi¬ 
tion to Lord North’s administration. 
In 1778 he delivered his famous 
speech against the employment of the 
Indians in the American war. The 
last great act of his..political life was 
his condemnation of the French Revo¬ 
lution. He died July 9, 1797. 

Burke, John Benjamin Butler, 
Irish scientist; scholar and gold med¬ 
alist of Trin. Coll., Dublin; research 
degree, Cambridge Univ., 1900; in 
1905 demonstrated spontaneous gener¬ 
ation by “ radiobe ” cultures showing 
growth and sub-division. He was an¬ 
ticipated, in 1904, by Prof. Dubois’s 
radium, and also barium, “ eobes.” 

Burke, Robert O’Hara, an Irish 
explorer; one of the first white men 
to cross the Australian continent from 
S. to N., was born at St. Cleram, 
County Galway, in 1820; educated in 
Belgium; served in the Austrian army 
(1840), became captain, joined the 
Irish constabulary (1848), and emi¬ 
grated to Australia in 1853. While 
inspector of police in Victoria he ac¬ 
cepted the leadership of an expedition 
for crossing the Australian continent. 
After many hardships, Burke and 
Wills reached the tidal waters of the 
Flinders river. He died of starva¬ 
tion on his return journey, June 28, 
1861. 

Burleigh, William Cecil, Lord, 

an English Secretary of State under 




Burlesque 


Burnaby 


Edward VI. and Elizabeth, and Prime 
Minister of England for 40 years, 
born in Lincolnshire, Sept. 13, 1520. 
In 1588 Parliament was assembled, 
and, by his advice, a plan of religious 
reform was laid before it. In this he 
k had a considerable share; and he also 
took the leading part in the establish¬ 
ment of the Thirty-nine Articles of 
faith, which form the basis of the re¬ 
formed religion of the State. He died 
in London, Aug. 4, 1598. 

Burlesque, a low form of the 
comic, arising generally from a ludi¬ 
crous mixture of things high and low. 
High thoughts, for instance, are 
clothed in low expressions, noble sub¬ 
jects described in a familiar manner, 
or vice versa, and the players are gen¬ 
erally attired in a way that offends 
good taste. 

Burlingame, Anson, an Ameri¬ 
can diplomatist, born in New Berlin, 
N. Y., Nov. 14, 1822. Having em¬ 
barked in politics, he was elected a 
member of the Senate of Massachu¬ 
setts, and afterward of Congress. He 
was sent as United States Minister to 
the Chinese Government in 1861. On 
his retirement from this post, in 1867, 
he was requested by the Regent, 
Prince Kung, to go on a special mis¬ 
sion for the Chinese Government to 
some foreign courts. After visiting 
the United States, where he concluded 
a treaty, July 4, he sailed from New 
York, and arrived at Liverpool in Sep¬ 
tember, with the Chinese mission, in¬ 
cluding 10 Chinese and 2 European 
secretaries. The mission, received by 
the Queen, Nov. 20, 1868, left England 
for Paris, Jan. 2, 1869. He died in 
St. Petersburg, Feb. 23, 1870. 

Burlingame, Edward Liver¬ 
more, an American man of letters, 
born in Boston, May 30, 1848. He 
studied at Harvard and acted as pri¬ 
vate secretary to his father, Anson 
Burlingame, United States Minister 
to China. Since 1879 he has been as¬ 
sociated will the publishing house of 
Charles Scribner’s Sons, and in 1886 
became editor of “ Scribner’s Maga¬ 
zine.” 

Burma, a province of British 
India; on the E. side of the Bay of 
Bengal; bounded on the E. by Siam, 
the Laos territory, and China, and on 
the N. and N. W. chiefly by Assam 


and other parts of India. At one time 
it formed the greater portion of a na¬ 
tive kingdom or empire, which is said 
to have extended from lat. 9° to 26° 
N., and from Ion. 92° to 104° E., its 
greatest length being about 1,200 
miles, and its breadth 600; its area 
being then about 270,000 English 
sq. m. In 1826 Aracan and Tenas- 
serim, in 1852 Pegu and Martaban, 
and in 1886 the rest of the kingdom 
was annexed by Great Britain, King 
Theebaw deposed, and British or 
Lower Burma and Upper Burma 
united in one province under a lieut.- 
gov. The chief towns are Mandalay, 
Rangoon and Moulmein. Rice, wheat 
and other grains, cotton, tobacco, 
sugar cane and tea are cultivated, the 
famous ruby mines worked, and the oil 
fields exploited by the American Stand¬ 
ard Oil Co. All outside oil is ex¬ 
cluded by law. In 1906 Burma sup¬ 
plied India with 47,000,000 gallons of 
oil, value $5,400,000, as against for¬ 
eign supplies 51,000,000 gals., value 
$5,933,333. Pop. 10,500,000. 

Burmeister, Hermann, a German 
scientific writer, born in Stralsund, 
Jan. 15, 1807; distinguished himself 
as a geologist and zoologist in his na¬ 
tive country, and settled permanently 
in the Argentine Republic, where he 
continued his investigations. He died 
in Buenos Ayres, Argentine Repub¬ 
lic, May 2, 1892. 

Burmeister, Richard, a Ger- 
man-American musical composer; 
born in Hamburg, Germany, Dec. 7, 
1860; received an academical educa¬ 
tion in Hamburg; studied with Franz 
Liszt, and in Rome, Budapest, and 
Weimar; made concert tours in Eu¬ 
rope in 1883-1885 and in the winter of 
1893; was at the head of the piano 
department of Peabody Institute, Bal¬ 
timore, Md., in 1885-1897; and set¬ 
tled in New York in the latter year. 
He made concert tours all over the 
United States and was director of the 
Scharwenka Conservatory, New 
York, in 1897-1899. 

Burnaby, Frederick Gustavus, 
soldier, traveler, and author, born 
in Bedford, England, March 3, 1842; 
a son of the Rev. G. A. Burnaby. On 
Jan. 17, 1885, while serving as lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel of the Royal Horse 
Guards in the Egyptian campaign, he 
was killed at the battle of Abu-Klea. 






Burnand 


Burnley 


Burnand, Francis Cowley, an 

English author and dramatist, born 
Nov. 29, 1836. He became editor of 
“ Punch ” in 1880. He wrote the li¬ 
bretto for Sullivan’s “ Chieftain ” 
,(1894). 

Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, an 

English painter, born in Birmingham, 
Aug. 28, 1833; died in London, July 
17, 1898. 

Burnet, J acob, an American 
jurist, born in Newark, N. J., Feb. 22, 
1770. Admitted to the bar in 1796, 
he removed to Cincinnati, then a vil¬ 
lage with about 500 inhabitants, and 
was a member of the territorial gov¬ 
ernment from 1799 till the establish¬ 
ment of a State Government in 1803. 
In 1821 he was appointed Judge of the 
Supreme Court of Ohio, and was 
elected United States Senator in 1828. 
Burnet was elected a member of the 
French Academy of Sciences upon the 
recommendation of Lafayette. He 
died in Cincinnati, May 10, 1853. 

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, an 
Anglo-American novelist, born in Man¬ 
chester, England, Nov. 24, 1849. Her 
family removed to Tennessee in 1865. 
She early wrote stories. In 1873 Miss 
Hodgson married Dr. Burnett, from 
whom she obtained a divorce in 1898, 
afterwards marrying Stephen Town¬ 
send. Her most successful work was 
“Little Lord Fauntleroy.” “The Mak¬ 
ing of a Marchioness” appeared 1901. 

Burney, Charles, an English 
composer and writer on music; born 
in Shrewsbury, England, April 7, 
1726; died April 12, 1814. 

Burney, Frances (Madame 
d’Arblay), an English novelist, 
daughter of Charles Burney; born in 
King’s Lynn, Norfolk, June 13, 1752; 
died in Bath, Jan. 6, 1840. 

Burnham, Clara Louise, an 
American story writer, born in New¬ 
ton, Mass., May 25, 1854. She is the 
daughter of George F. Root, and has 
lived in Chicago since childhood. She 
has written several novels, and has 
also written libretti for her father’s 
cantatas. 

Burnham, Daniel Hudson, an 

American architect, born in Hender¬ 
son, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1846. He studied 
architecture in Chicago and designed 
notable structures there, including the 
Rookery, Calumet Club, the Temple, 


Masonic Temple, and the Great North¬ 
ern Hotel, as well as large buildings 
in other cities. He was Director of 
Works at the Chicago World’s Fair. 

Burnham, Sherburne Wesley, 
an American astronomer, born in 
Thetford, Vt., in 1838. He took up 
astronomy as an amateur, and, in 
1876, became connected with the Chi¬ 
cago Observatory, and later with the 
Lick Observatory, receiving also an 
appointment as Professor of Practical 
Astronomy at the University of Chi¬ 
cago. He has made notable discover¬ 
ies of double stars, having catalogued 
1,274 new ones. 

Burning, a mode of capital pun¬ 
ishment formerly common in civilized 
countries. 

In metal working, joining metals by 
melting their adjacent edges, or 
heating the adjacent edges and run¬ 
ning into the intermediate space some 
molten metal of the same kind. In 
ceramics, the final heating of clay 
ware, which changes it from the dried 
or biscuited condition to the perfect 
ware. The glaze or enamel is ap¬ 
plied to the baked ware, and is vitri¬ 
fied in the burning. 

Burning Glass, a convex lens of 
large size and short focus, used for 
causing an intense heat by concen¬ 
trating the sun’s rays on a very small 
area. The larger the circular area 
of the lens and the smaller the area 
of the spot on which the concentrated 
rays fall, the greater is the effect pro¬ 
duced. Concave mirrors have been 
used for similar purposes, and are 
also called burning glasses. Their 
power was known to Archimedes, and 
it is mythically stated that by their 
aid he burned a fleet in the harbor of 
Syracuse, 214 b. c. 

Burnisher, a tool for smoothing 
or pressing down surfaces to close the 
pores or obliterate lines or marks. 
The engraver’s burnisher is made of 
steel, elliptical in cross section, and 
coming to a dull point like a probe. 
Some burnishers are made of the ca¬ 
nine teeth of dogs. Burnishers of 
bloodstone are used for putting gold 
leaf on china ware. Agate burnishers 
are used by bookbinders. The gilder’s 
burnisher is of agate or porphyry. 

Burnley, a parliamentary and 
municipal borough of England, in Lan- 





Burns 


Burnside 


eashire, about 22 miles N. of Man¬ 
chester. It presents a modern ap¬ 
pearance, and is, generally speaking, 
well built, mostly of stone. The sta¬ 
ple manufacture is cotton goods, and 
there are large cotton mills and sev¬ 
eral extensive foundries and machine 
shops, with collieries and other works, 
in the immediate vicinity. Pop. (1901) 
97,044. 

Burns, Alexander, a Canadian 
educator, born in Castlewellan, Ire¬ 
land, Aug. 12, 1834. He went to Can¬ 
ada in 1847, and was graduated at 
Victoria College, Toronto, in 1861, 
joining the Methodist Church. From 
1868 to 1878 he was President of 
Wesleyan Ladies’ College, Hamilton, 
Ontario. He was tried for heresy by 
the Ontario Methodist Conference in 
1882, but acquitted. He died May 22, 
1900. 

Burns, Anthony, a fugitive 
slave, born in Virginia in 1836; ar¬ 
rested in Boston in 1854, under the 
Fugitive Slave Law. An indignation 
meeting, in which Theodore Parker 
and Wendell Phillips participated, was 
held in Faneuil Hall, while a prema¬ 
ture and unsuccessful attempt to res¬ 
cue Burns under the leadership of 
Thomas W. Higginson resulted in 
bloodshed and the death of one of the 
deputies. When the courts decided 
that the extradition was legal, Burns 
was escorted by a strong guard to a 
revenue cutter, and a riot was barely 
averted. Burns afterward regained 
his liberty, studied at Oberlin College, 
and became a Baptist minister in Can¬ 
ada. He died in St. Catherine, Can¬ 
ada, July 27, 1862. 

Burns, John, an English labor 
organizer and Socialist leader, born 
in London in 1858. He was of hum¬ 
ble birth and became a factory boy at 
the age of 10. By working a year as 
engineer on the Niger river, he earned 
enough for a six months’ tour of Eu¬ 
rope. He constantly addressed audi¬ 
ences of workmen, and in 1887 was 
imprisoned for maintaining the right 
of public meeting in Trafalgar Square. 
In 1892 he was elected to the London 
County Council, and to Parliament 
from Battersea, and in 1905-06 be¬ 
came a member of the British Cabinet 
as President of the Local Government 
Board. 


Burns, Robert, Scotland’s na¬ 
tional poet; born in a clay-built cot¬ 
tage less than 2 miles S. of the town 
of Ayr, and not far from the river 
Doon, Jan. 25, 1759. His father, Wil¬ 
liam Burness (for so the name was 
originally spelled), the son of a Kin¬ 
cardineshire farmer, and a worthy and 
intelligent man, at the time of the 
poet’s birth occupied a few acres of 
land, and acted as gardener and over¬ 
seer for a neighboring gentleman. 
His mother, Agnes Brown, belonged to 
Ayrshire. He died at Dumfries, Scot¬ 
land, July 21, 1796. His fame has in¬ 
creased as years go on, and his birth¬ 
day is honored everywhere throughout 
the civilized world, while the poems 
for which he was glad to accept a few 
pounds have brought vast sums to 
booksellers. 

Burns and Scalds, injuries pro¬ 
duced by the application of excessive 
heat to the human body. They are 
generally dangerous in proportion to 
the extent of surface they cover, and 
a widespread scald may cause serious 
consequences on account of the nervous 
shock. 

Burnside, Ambrose Everett, an 

American military officer, born in Lib¬ 
erty, Ind., May 23, 1824; served an 
apprenticeship to a tailor, but re¬ 
ceived a nomination to West Point, 
where he graduated in 1847. He left 
the army as First Lieutenant in 1852, 
but returned as Colonel of Volunteers 
in 1861, commanded a brigade at Bull 
Run, and, in February, 1862, cap¬ 
tured Roanoke Island. Having ren¬ 
dered important services at South 
Mountain and Antietam, he, in No¬ 
vember, reluctantly superseded Gen¬ 
eral McClellan. On December 13, he 
crossed the Rappahannock, and at¬ 
tacked General Lee near Fredericks¬ 
burg, but was repulsed with a loss of 
over 10,000 men, and was soon after 
transferred to the Department of 
Ohio. In November, 1863, he success¬ 
fully held Knoxville against a superior 
force and, in 1864 he led a corps, un¬ 
der General Grant, through the battles 
of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor. 
Resigning in April, 1865, he was 
elected Governor of Rhode Island 
(1866-1868), and United States Sen¬ 
ator in 1875 and 1881. He died in 
Bristol, R. I., Sept. 13, 1881. Al¬ 
though unsuccessful in high command 





Burnt Offering 


Bur rill 


he gained universal esteem by his 
frankness in avowing responsibility 
for defeat. 

Burnt Offering, one of the sacri¬ 
fices divinely enjoined on the Hebrew 
Church and nation. It is called, in 
their language, olah, from the root 
alah to ascend, because, being 
wholly consumed, all but the refuse 
ashes was regarded as ascending in 
the smoke to God. 

Burr, Aaron, an American states¬ 
man, and third Vice-President of the 
United States, born in Newark, N. J., 
Feb. 5, 1756. While in his 20th year 
he joined, in 1775, the American army, 
under Washington, at Cambridge. His 
ardor in behalf of the Revolutionary 
cause was such that he was induced to 
join Arnold as a volunteer in the ex¬ 
pedition against Quebec, and he was 
appointed aide-de-camp to Montgom¬ 
ery. In 1776, he was received by 
General Washington as one of his mili¬ 
tary family, but was soon cast off. He 
never forgave Washington this act. 
Burr’s military talents secured for him 
the post of Lieutenant-Colonel in 
1777, which he retained until 1779. 
Upon Burr’s retirement from military 
life h$ resumed the study of law, and 
commenced its practice in Albany in 
1782, but soon removed to New York. 
In 1789 he was made attorney-general 
of New York. From 1791 to 1797 he 
was a member of the United States 
Senate. In 1800 he was a candidate 
for the Presidency, and received the 
same number of votes as Thomas Jef¬ 
ferson (79), and the choice was thus 
left to the decision of Congress, which, 
on the 36th ballot, elected Jefferson as 
President and Burr as Vice-President. 
In 1804 was fought the famous duel 
between Alexander Hamilton and 
Burr, in which the former was killed. 
In 1807 he was apprehended, taken to 
Richmond, Va., and tried on a charge 
of a treasonable design upon the south¬ 
west, but was acquitted. He resumed 
the practice of law, but lived in com¬ 
parative obscurity until his death on 
Staten Island, Sept. 14, 1836. In his 
later life he was for a time husband 
of the noted Madame Jumel. 

Burr, Edward, an American mili¬ 
tary officer; born in Booneville, Mo., 
May 19, 1859; was a student in 
Washington University in 1874-1878, 
and at the United States Military 


Academy in 1878-1882, and was grad¬ 
uated at the latter and assigned to the 
corps of engineers with the rank of 2d 
lieutenant in the latter year. He was 
promoted 1st lieutenant in 1883, and 
captain in 1894; and as lieutenant- 
colonel of volunteers commanded the 
battalion of engineers in the campaign 
against Santiago de Cuba in June- 
July, 1898. He was a member of the 
American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Burr, Enoch Fitch, an American 
mathematical and religious writer, 
born in Green’s Farms, Fairfield co., 
Conn., Oct. 21, 1818. He was grad¬ 
uated from Yale in 1839, and became 
pastor of the Congregational Church 
in Lyme, Conn., in 1850. Since 1868 
he has been a lecturer at Amherst Col¬ 
lege. 

Burr, George Lincoln, an Amer¬ 
ican historian, born in Oramel, N. Y., 
Jan. 30, 1857. He was graduated at 
Cornell in 1881 and entered its facul¬ 
ty in 1888, being Professor of Ancient 
and Mediaeval History there. He was 
Expert in History to the Venezuelan 
Boundary Commission (1896-1897). 

Burr, William Hubert, an 
American educator; born in Water¬ 
loo, Conn., July 14, 1851; was grad¬ 
uated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti¬ 
tute in 1872; was employed by the 
Wrought Iron Bridge Co., of New 
York city and later on the. water sup¬ 
ply and sewerage system of Newark, 
N. J.; was Assistant Professor, and 
later Professor of Rational and Tech¬ 
nical Mechanics at Rensselaer Poly¬ 
technic Institute in 1876-1884; be¬ 
came assistant engineer of the Phoenix 
Bridge Co., in 1884, and subsequently 
its general manager; was Professor of 
Engineering in the Lawrence Scien¬ 
tific School of Harvard University in 
1892-1893; consulting engineer to the 
New York city department of public 
works in 1893-1895, of parks and of 
docks in 1895-1897; and later of 
bridges. 

Bur rill, Thomas Jonathan, an 

American naturalist; born in Pitts¬ 
field, Mass., April 25, 1839; was grad¬ 
uated at the Illinois State Normal 
University in 1865; became Professor 
of Botany and Horticulture there in 
1868, and its vice-president in 1882; 
was dean of the Department of Na¬ 
tural Sciences in 1877-1894, and act¬ 
ing president in 1891-1894. 




Burritt 


Bushel 


Burritt, Elihu, an American au¬ 
thor, called the “ Learned Black¬ 
smith,” born in New Britain, Conn., 
Dec. 8, 1811. He was a blacksmith, 
linguist, lecturer, reformer and a noted 
advocate of peace. He died in New 
Britain, March 7, 1879. 

Burritt College, a co-educational 
institution, in Spencer, Tenn.; organ¬ 
ized in 1848, under the auspices of the 
Christian Church. 

Burroughs, George, an American 
clergyman, born in 1650; was exe¬ 
cuted for witchcraft, at Salem, Mass., 
Aug. 19, 1692. He was graduated at 
Harvard in 1670, and preached in 
Salem in 1680. He was accused of 
bewitching Mary Wolcott and others 
by wicked arts and condemned on the 
evidence of the afflicted persons. At 
his execution he repeated without mis¬ 
take the Lord’s Prayer, which a witch 
was said to be unable to do. Cotton 
Mather witnessed his execution. 

Burroughs, George Stockton, 
an American educator; born in Water¬ 
loo, N. Y., Jan. 6, 1855; was grad¬ 
uated at Princeton University in 1873, 
and at its Theological Seminary in 
1877; removed to New England in 
3880; and served in the ministry of 
the Presbyterian Church in Fairfield 
and New Britain, Conn.; and at Am¬ 
herst College; was Professor of Bibli¬ 
cal Literature in 1886-1892; president 
of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, 
Ind., in 1892-1899; and became Pro¬ 
fessor of Old Testament Language and 
Literature in Oberlin Theological 
Seminary in 1899. 

Burroughs, John, an American 
essayist and descriptive writer; born 
in Roxbury, N. Y., April 3, 1837. He 
taught school for about eight years, 
was for a time a journalist and then 
became a clerk in the Treasury De¬ 
partment and subsequently a national 
bank examiner. He settled on a farm 
in New York State and has since de¬ 
voted himself to fruit culture, nature 
study and literature. Many of his 
papers were written in his bark cov¬ 
ered study to which he has given the 
name “ Riverby,” on the banks of the 
Hudson. 

Burrowing Owl. In the West 
Indies these birds dig burrows for 
themselves, in which they form their 
nests and deposit their eggs, while in 


the western part of the United States 
they occupy the holes of the prairie 
dogs jointly with the dogs. 

Burrows, William, an American 
naval officer, born near Philadelphia, 
Pa., Oct. 6, 1785. He served in the 
war with Tripoli and commanded the 
sloop “ Enterprise ” in its successful 
action with the British brig “ Boxer ” 
off the coast of Maine. Both Bur¬ 
rows and the British commander were 
killed in the fight, Sept. 5, 1813, and 
they were buried side by side at Port¬ 
land. 

Burt, Thomas, an English labor 
leader, born in Northumberland, Nov. 
12, 1837. Since 1874 he has had a 
seat in Parliament as a Liberal. 

Burton, Richard, an American 
poet and journalist; born in Hartford, 
Conn., March 14, 1859. He graduated 
from Trinity College, Hartford, and 
took a degree at Johns Hopkins Uni¬ 
versity. 

Burton, Sir Richard Francis, 

an English traveler, linguist, and 
author; born in Barham House, Her- 
fordshire, March 19, 1821; died in 
Trieste, Oct. 20, 1890. 

Buru, or Boeroe, an island of the 
Malay Archipelago, in the Residency 
of Amboyna, from which it lies about 
40 miles to the W. Area, with the 
small island of Amblau, 3,360 square 
miles; population variously estimated 
at from 10,000 to 50,000. 

Burying Beetles. They receive 
their name from a practice they have 
of burying the carcasses of moles, mice 
or other small quadrupeds to afford 
nutriment to their larvae. 

Busaco, a ridge (1,826 feet) on 
the N. side of the river Mondego, in 
the Portuguese Province of Beira, 16 
miles N. N. E. of Coimbra. Here 
Wellington, with 40,000 British and 
Portuguese troops, repulsed the attack 
of Massena with 65,000 French, Sept. 
27, *1810. 

Busk Antelope, also called Bxjsii 
Buck, and Bush Goat, names 
common to a number of species of An¬ 
telope, natives chiefly of the Southern 
and Western parts of Africa. 

Buskel, a measure of capacity used 
for corn; or what is called dry meas¬ 
ure. It contains 32 quarts, 8 gallons, 
or 4 pecks. 






Bushire 


Butler 


Bushire, or Abushehr, (“father 
of cities,” also variously written Bush' 
ahr; in Persian, Bendershehr), a prin¬ 
cipal port of Persia, on a sandy penin¬ 
sula on the E. shore of the Persian 
Gulf, in the Province of Fars. Pop. 
27,000, chiefly Persians, Arabs, and 
Armenians. 

Bushmen, a nomadic race of 
Africa. They are a thin, wiry people, 
poor and debased near the coast, but 
greatly improved further inland. They 
recognize no king or chief, build no 
houses, have no cattle or goats, do not 
till the soil, and wear skins for cloth¬ 
ing. Their language has a rough, 
clicking sound, and they resemble the 
Hottentots. 

Busbnell, Horace, an American 
clergyman and noted writer on reli¬ 
gion, morality and other topics; born 
near Litchfield, Conn., in 1802; died 
in Hartford, Conn., Feb. 17, 1876. 

Bushrangers, in Australia, orig¬ 
inally convicts from the English penal 
stations who took to the bush and 
became robbers. The thickly wooded 
mountainous districts afforded them 
protection, and they soon established 
a reign of terror. They became so 
strong that the government had to 
adopt the most stringent measures to 
suppress them. 

Busiris, a town of ancient Egypt, 
in the Delta, the chief place where the 
rites of Isis were celebrated. The name 
is also given as that of a mythical 
Egyptian King. 

Bussu Palm, a palm growing in 
the tidal swamps of the Amazon. The 
stem is only 10 to 15 feet high; but 
the immense, undivided, coarsely ser¬ 
rate leaves are often 35 feet in length 
by 4 or 5 in width. The leaves make 
excellent and durable thatch. The 
spathe is made into bags, caps, and 
coarse cloth. 

Bust, in sculpture, the representa¬ 
tion of that portion of the human fig¬ 
ure which comprises the head and the 
upper part of the body. 

Bustamante, Anastasio, a Mexi¬ 
can statesman and revolutionist, bom 
in Jiquilpan, Michoacan, July 27, 
1780. In 1837 he was elected Presi¬ 
dent of Mexico. In 1842 he was 
obliged to retire from the Presidency, 
and was succeeded by Santa Ana. He 
served in the Mexican army in the war 


with the United States, retiring from 
military service in 1848. He died in 
San Miguel de Allende, Feb. 6, 1853. 

Bustamante, Carlos Maria, a 
Mexican statesman and historical 
writer, born in Mexico City in 1774. 
He studied law and in 1801 began its 
practice. In 1805 he became editor 
of the “ Diario de Mejico.” He held a 
command under Morelos in 1812, and 
was captured at Vera Cruz. He was 
released, and became a member of 
Congress and held other public offices. 
He published a history of the Mexican 
Revolution, and histories of the times 
of Iturbide and of Santa Ana. He 
died in Mexico City, Sept. 21, 1848. 

Bustard, the name of a genus of 
European birds. The great bustard, 
the little bustard, and Macqueen’s bus¬ 
tard are the best known species. 

Butcher Bird, one of the English 
names of the genus lanius. The spe¬ 
cies are so denominated because they 
cruelly impale on a thorn the small 
birds, small quadrupeds, insects, and 
worms on which they feed. They are 
also called shrikes. 

Butler, Benjamin Franklin, an 
American lawyer and soldier, born in 
Deerfield, N. H., Nov. 5, 1818; studied 
law, and was admitted to the bar in 
1841, and became distinguished as a 
criminal lawyer and politician. He 
was a member of the State Legislature 
in 1853, of the State Senate in 1859- 
1860. Butler had risen to the rank 
of Brigadier-General of militia; and, 
at the outbreak of the Civil War, he 
marched with the 8th Massachusetts 
Regiment, and, after a check at Big 
Bethel, was appointed to the command 
of Baltimore and of Eastern Virginia, 
with his headquarters at Fort Mon¬ 
roe. In February, 1862, he com¬ 
manded the military forces sent from 
Boston to Ship Island, near the mouth 
of the Mississippi; and, after New Or¬ 
leans had surrendered to the naval 
forces under Farragut, he held mili¬ 
tary possession of the city. Relieved 
of his command, he acted under Gen. 
Grant in his operations against Peters¬ 
burg and Richmond in 1865. Return¬ 
ing to Massachusetts at the end of the 
war, he took an active part in politics 
as an extreme radical, advocated the 
impeachment of President Johnson, 
and in 1866-1875 was a member of 




Butler 


Butter 


Congress. In 1877 and 1879 he was 
defeated as a candidate for Governor 
of Massachusetts, but in 1882 was 
elected by a large majority. In 1884 
he ran for the Presidency as the can¬ 
didate of the Greenback and Anti- 
Monopolist Parties, but carried no 
State. He died in Washington, D. C., 
Jan. 11, 1893. 

Butler, Benjamin Franklin, an 

American lawyer, born in Kinderhook 
Landing, N. Y., Dec. 17, 1795. From 
1821 to 1825 he was district-attorney 
of Albany county. He was elected to 
the Assembly in 1828, and from 1834 
to 1838 was United States Attorney- 
General. He was also acting Secre¬ 
tary of War during part of Jackson’s 
administration. He died in Paris, 
France, Nov. 8, 1858. 

Butler, John, a royalist leader 
in the American Revolution, born in 
Connecticut; died in Niagara in 1794. 

Butler, Nicholas Murray, edu¬ 
cator, b. Elizabeth, N. J., April 2, 
1862. He graduated at Columbia 
Univ., 1882, studied in Berlin and 
Paris; from 1885 was assistant, tutor, 
professor, and dean in the faculty of 
philosophy, and in 1902 became Pres, 
of Columbia Univ. His lectures and 
writings on Education are of the high¬ 
est value. 

Butler, Matthew Galbraith, 

soldier and statesman, b. near Green¬ 
ville, S. C., Mar. 8, 1836. He became 
a lawyer 1857; member of the S. C. 
Legislature 1860; served as a Con¬ 
federate in the Civil War; rose to 
Maj.-Gen.; lost his right leg in battle; 
was U. S. Senator 1877-95; Maj.-Gen. 
of Volunteers in the Spanish War and 
Commissioner on Cuban Evacuation. 

Butler, William, an American 
army officer, born in Prince William 
county, Va., in 1759. He served in 
the Revolution in Pulaski’s corps; af¬ 
terward, under Pickens, Lee, and 
Greene; won fame as commander of 
the Mounted Rangers; and, after the 
war, became (1796) Major-General of 
militia. He died in Columbia, S. C., 
Nov. 15, 1821. 

Butler, William Orlando, an 

American army officer and politician, 
born in Kentucky in 1793. He served 
in the War of 1812 and in the Mexi¬ 
can War, and became a Major-Gen¬ 
eral in 1846. He was the unsuccess¬ 


ful Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President in 1848. He died in Car¬ 
rollton, Ky., Aug. 6, 1880. 

Butler, Zebulon, an American 
military officer, born in Lyme, Conn., 
in 1731. He served in the Revolu¬ 
tionary War and commanded the gar¬ 
rison at Wyoming Valley at the time 
of the massacre of July 3, 1778. He 
died in Wilkesbarre, Pa., July 28, 
1795. 

Butler University, a co-educa- 
tional (non-sectarian) institution, in 
Irvington, Ind.; organized in 1855. 

Butt, Isaac, an Irish patriot; the 
first to make political use of the 
phrase “ Home Rule.” He died May 
5, 1879. 

Butte, a French word used in the 
United States for an abrupt, and usu¬ 
ally isolated, eminence, sometimes ap¬ 
pearing in the form of a lofty turret. 
They occur in picturesque grandeur 
along the banks of the Columbia river 
in Oregon, and in the neighborhood 
of Butte, Mont. 

Butte, a city and county-seat of 
Silverbow co., Mont., is the largest 
mining town in the world, employing 
over 10,000 persons in this industry 
alone, which is principally confined to 
copper mining, although there are val¬ 
uable gold and silver mines. The Ana¬ 
conda copper mines are located here. 
Pop. (1890) 10,723; (1900) 30,470. 

Butter, a fatty substance obtained 
from milk. Although occasionally 
made from the milk of goats, buffa¬ 
loes, etc., it is commonly made from 
cow’s milk. It was used by the an¬ 
cients as a fuel or as an ointment or 
hair dressing, but is now used almost 
wholly as a food. 

The great butter making countries 
of the world are the United States, 
Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Northern 
France, Germany, England and Ire¬ 
land, and, in recent years, Australia 
must be added to the list. England 
imports large quantities from Canada, 
the United States, and Denmark, as 
well as from Australia. The United 
States is an exporting country. The 
Southern countries make much less 
butter and consume less than the 
Northern countries. In the South, 
oils, such as olive oil, take, to a con¬ 
siderable extent, the place of butter, 





Buttercup 


Buzzard 


and, among the poorer classes, butter 
is an almost unknown article of diet. 

The term butter has been occasion¬ 
ally applied to other substances. Cer¬ 
tain vegetable oils which are solid at 
ordinary temperatures, such as palm 
oil, cocoanut oil, nutmeg oil, etc., are 
frequently called vegetable butter, and 
the name mineral butter has some¬ 
times been applied to substances 
which are wholly different in nature. 
The word butter has also been used 
in the names which have been given 
to various brands of oleomargarine 
products, e. g., butterine, etc. 

Buttercup, the popular name of 
two or three species of the ranuncu¬ 
lus. They are common plants with 
brilliant yellow flowers. 

Butterfield, Daniel, an American 
soldier, born in Utica, N. Y., Oct. 18, 
1831. At the outbreak of the Civil 
War he was Colonel of the 12th New 
York Militia. He served in the Pen¬ 
insular campaign. At Fredericksburg 
he commanded the 5th Corps, and at 
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg was 
chief of staff. He served as chief of 
staff to Hooker at Lookout Mountain, 
and Ringgold, and Pea Vine Creek. 
He was brevetted Major-General in 
the regular army, but resigned in 
1869, and became chief of the United 
States sub-treasury in New York; died 
in Cold Spring, N. Y., July 17, 1901. 

Butterfly, the popular name of a 
group of lepidopterous insects. 

Butterfly Weed, or Pleurisy 
Root, a plant common in the United 
States, of which the root has medici¬ 
nal repute, the infusion being used as 
a diaphoretic and expectorant. 

Butterine, a substance prepared 
in imitation of butter, from animal or 
vegetable fats. 

Buttermilk, the residue of cream 
after the butter has been removed by 
churning. It forms a wholesome and 
agreeable as well as a nourishing 
drink in hot weather. It possesses 
the slightly acid taste from the acidity 
developed in ripening the cream. 

Butternut, the fruit of white wal¬ 
nut, an American tree, so called from 
the oil it contains. The tree bears a 
resemblance in its general appearance 
to the black walnut, but the wood is 
not so dark in color. The same name 
is given to the nut of South America, 


also known as suwarrow, or suwarra 
nut. 

Butter Tree, a name of several 
trees yielding oily or fatty substances 
somewhat resembling butter. 

Button, a small circular disk or 
knob of mother of pearl, horn, metal, 
or other material. Its chief use is to 
unite portions of a dress together. The 
ancient method of fastening dresses 
was by means of pins, brooches, 
buckles and tie-strings. 

Buttresses, in architecture es¬ 
pecially Gothic, projections on the out¬ 
side of the walls of an edifice, extend¬ 
ing from the bottom to the top, or 
nearly, and intended to give additional 
support to the walls and prevent them 
from spreading under the weight of 
the roof. 

Butyric Acid, an acid obtained 
from butter; it also occurs in perspi¬ 
ration, cod liver oil, etc. 

Buyukderek, a town on the Eu¬ 
ropean shore of the Bosphorus, a few 
miles from Constantinople. It is fa¬ 
mous for its scenery, and is a favorite 
residence of the Christian ambassa¬ 
dors. 

Buzzard, the English name of the 
buteo, a genus of birds, and especially 
of three species. The turkey buzzard 
is more a carrion vulture than a rap¬ 
torial bird. They are natives of our 
Southern States, where they are very 
useful as scavengers, and are so much 
appreciated in this regard that in most 
of the States they are protected by 
law. In consequence they grow quite 
tame, and in some places may be con¬ 
sidered almost a domesticated fowl. 
They are about the size of a common 
turkey, and the species gets its name 
from a distant resemblance between 
the two. They are of a dirty black 
color, and are from 25 to 36 inches 
long, having an immense span of wing 
(proportionate), being remarkable for 
their powerful and graceful flight. Its 
nest is a mere hollow in the ground 
with a rampart of loose, dead branch¬ 
es around it. These birds may be seen 
by hundreds in one locality, hovering 
over and lighting upon the carcass of 
a dead animal. They are rarely found 
N. of. Pennsylvania. After the terri¬ 
ble disaster in Galveston, Tex., in 
1900, there was an entire disappear¬ 
ance from that city of these useful 








Buzzard’s Bay 


Byzantine Empire 


birds. The brown buzzard, called also 
the glead, glede, glade, kite or put- 
tock, feeds on small mammalia, birds, 
lizards, worms and insects. It makes 
its nest in trees and. ledges of rock. 

Buzzard’s Bay a bay indenting 
the S. E. coast of Massachusetts; 
partly formed by the Elizabeth Isl¬ 
ands. Its shores afford many summer 
resorts. Upon the bay New Bedford 
is situated. 

Byers, Samuel Hawkins Mar¬ 
shall, an American historical and de¬ 
scriptive writer, born in 1838. Dur¬ 
ing the Civil War he served in the 
Union army. He was taken prisoner; 
and while in prison in Columbia, S. 
C., wrote the famous song “ Sher¬ 
man’s March to the Sea.” He was 
consul at Zurich, Switzerland, from 
1869 to 1884, and Consul-General to 
Italy in 1885. 

By-Law, a private law, the local 
or subordinate law of a city, town, 
private corporation or other organiza¬ 
tion. 

Byng, John, British admiral, born 
1704, entered the navy in 1727, and 
served under his father, Admiral 
George Byng. He was sent to relieve 
Minorca, blockaded by a French fleet, 
but failed, it was thought, through 
hesitation in engaging the enemy. The 
public odium of the failure was such 
that the ministry allowed Byng, who 
was condemned by a court-martial, to 
be shot at Portsmouth, March 14,1757. 

Bynner, Edwin Lassetter, an 
American novelist, born in Brooklyn, 
N. Y., in 1842; was librarian of the 
Boston Law Library. He died in Bos¬ 
ton, Mass., in 1893. 

Byron, George Gordon Noel, 
Lord Byron, a great English poet, 
was born in Holies street, London, 
an. 22, 1788. He was the grandson 
of Admiral John Byron, only son, 
Captain John Byron, of the Guards, 
so notorious for his gallantries and 
reckless dissipation that he was known 
as ‘ Mad Jack Byron.’ The injudic¬ 
ious indulgence of a fond mother in no 
way restrained the inclinations of a 
naturally wayward disposition, and 
Byron spent an unregulated youth un¬ 
til his eleventh year, when the death of 


his grand-uncle gave him the title and 
estates of the family. While a student 
in Cambridge, he essayed a collection 
of poems, “ Hours of Idleness,” which 
at best, a clever school-boy’s produc¬ 
tion, was treated seriously by Brough¬ 
am, who criticized it over severely in 
the Edinburgh “ Review.” The ire 
this roused in Byron led to a manifes¬ 
tation of his real powers as a poet, 
and his reply to this criticism, “ Eng¬ 
lish Bards ” and “ Scotch Reviewers,” 
recalling with its wit and sarcasm the 
days of Pope, at once made him a man 
of mark. After travel abroad, his 
famous poems appeared in due suc¬ 
cession, and he lived the life of a man 
about town in London, until his mar¬ 
riage in 1815 with Miss Millbanke. 
The truth is not yet known about this 
unhappy marriage, but within a year 
they parted, and a judicial separation 
was arranged. Be the cause, what it 
may, Byron was blamed by the public, 
and fell from the position of popular 
idol to that of the most despised man 
in England, which he left in 1816, 
never to return. The next few years 
were spent in dissipation and literary 
work, until 1823, when he joined the 
Greeks in their effort to throw off the 
yoke of Turkey. The reforms he ac¬ 
complished in a short time in the 
poorly equipped and wretchedly dis¬ 
ciplined army of the Greeks, proved 
him to possess skill as an organizer, 
but his physical condition did not fit 
him for the rigors of a soldier’s life, 
and he died April 9, 1824, after a short 
illness brought on by exposure. 

Byzantine Empire, also known as 
the Eastern Roman Empire, compre¬ 
hended at first in Asia the country on 
this side of the Euphrates, the coasts 
of the Black Sea, and Asia Minor; in 
Africa, Egypt; and in Europe, all the 
countries from the Hellespont to the 
Adriatic and the Danube. This sur¬ 
vived the Western Empire 1,000 years, 
and was even increased by the addition 
of Italy and the coasts of the Mediter¬ 
ranean. It commenced in 395, when 
Theodosius divided the Roman empire 
between his two sons Arcadius and 
Honorius, and ended with Constan¬ 
tine XI., who reigned from 1448 to 
1453. 








H e, the third letter of the 
English alphabet and in oth¬ 
ers derived from the Latin. 
“ In English,” says Ben 
Jonson, “ it might well have 
been spared, for it has no peculiar 
sound of its own.” It has the simple 
power of k before a, o, u, and most of 
the consonants; and the power of s 
before e, i, y. 

Caaba, or Kaaba, the Mohamme¬ 
dan temple at Mecca, especially a 
small oratory within, adored by Mo¬ 
hammedans as containing the black 
stone said to have been given by an 
angel to Abraham on the occasion of 
building the original caaba. The caa- 
ba is at the center of the mosque of 
Mecca, a building called by the Mo¬ 
hammedans El-Haram, i. e., “ The 
Inviolable.” 

Caaing Wbale, one of the Cetacea 
in the dolphin family, belonging to a 
genus common in all seas, and oftener 
stranded than any other whale. The 
total length varies from 16 to 24 feet, 
the maximum girth about 10 feet. The 
caaing whale is very gregarious, and 
vast shoals of 50 to 100 sometimes im¬ 
petuously follow their leader ashore 
when alarmed and surrounded in a 
bay or fiord. Exciting scenes of this 
sort have been frequently witnessed 
on the Faroe Islands and elsewhere. 
It is recorded that 1,110 were killed in 
the winter of 1809-1810 at Hvalfiord, 
in Iceland. In temper the animals are 
mild compared* with some of their al¬ 
lies. They feed chiefly on cuttle¬ 
fishes. Many names are given to these 
common cetaceans —e. g M pilot-whale, 
black-fish, social whale, grindhval, etc. 
The common name is derived from the 
Scotch word caa, meaning “ to drive.” 

Cab, a covered public carriage hav¬ 
ing two or four wheels, and drawn by 


one horse. In a hansom cab the driv¬ 
er’s seat is behind, not in front. Also 
the covered part at the rear end of a 
locomotive which protects the engi¬ 
neer and fireman, and shields the lev¬ 
ers, etc. 

Cabal, in English history applied 
to the ministry under Charles II., 
which consisted of five men famous 
for their intrigues — Clifford, Ashley, 
Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauder¬ 
dale, whose initial letters form this 
word. The use of this word to sig¬ 
nify a body of intriguers was not, 
however, derived from this circum¬ 
stance, as some have supposed, for the 
word cabale, derived from cabala, was 
used in that sense in French before 
this time. 

Cabala, or Cabbala, (that is, re¬ 
ception), a word used by the Jews to 
denote sometimes the traditions ot 
their ancestors regarding the interpre¬ 
tation of the Scriptures; sometimes, 
and most commonly, their mystical 
philosophy. 

Cabanel, Alexandre, a French 

artist, born 1823; died, 1889. He was 
famous for his portraits, one of which, 
Miss Catherine Wolfe, in the Metro¬ 
politan Museum, New York, is a fair 
specimen of his work. He also paint¬ 
ed imaginative subjects, among which 
are “The Birth of Venus” ; “Aglae” ; 
and “Francesca da Rimini.” 

Cabbage, a plant in general culti¬ 
vation for culinary purposes, and for 
feeding cattle. In the Northern parts 
of the United States, cabbages are 
sown about September, kept under 
glass or frames during winter, and 
planted out in spring. 

Cabbage Flea, the name some¬ 
times given to a small leaping beetle, 
I the larvae of which destroy seedling 







Cabbage Moth 


Cabinet 


cabbages, as those of an allied species 
do young turnips. 

Cabbage Moth, a species of moth 
the caterpillar of which feeds on cab¬ 
bage and turnip leaves, and is some¬ 
times very destructive. 

Cabbage Rose, a species of rose 
of many varieties, supposed to have 
been cultivated from ancient times, 
and eminently fitted for the manufac¬ 
ture of rose water and attar from its 
fragrance. It has a large, rounded, 
and compact flower. 

Cabbage Tree, the English name 
for the palm genus Areca, and special' 
ly for the cabbage palm of the West 
Indies. It is so called because the 
bud at the top of its stem is like a 
cabbage, and the inner leaves which 
form this bud are eaten like the vege¬ 
table now mentioned, though the re¬ 
moval of its bud for the sake of these 
leaves is the destruction of the mag¬ 
nificent tree. 

Cabeiri, sacred priests or deified 
heroes, venerated by the ancients as 
the authors of religion and the foun¬ 
ders of the human race. 

Cabell, William Lewis, an 
American lawyer; born in Danville, 
Va., Jan. 1, 1827; was graduated at 
the United States Military Academy 
in 1850. During the Civil War he 
served in the Confederate army; rose 
to the rank of Brigadier-General; was 
captured in Kansas in 1864, and held 
a prisoner of war till April 28, 1865. 
After the war he practised law in 
Fort Smith, Ark., and after 1872 in 
Dallas, Tex. He was mayor of the 
latter city four times. 

Cabell, James Lawrence, an 
American sanitarian, born in Nelson 
county, Va., Aug. 26, 1813. He was 
graduated at the University of Vir¬ 
ginia in 1833, where he later filled the 
chair of anatomy. During the Civil 
War he had charge of military hospi¬ 
tals for the Confederate Government. 
He devised measures to check the yel¬ 
low fever epidemic at Memphis and 
was president of the National Board 
of Health from 1879 till his death, in 
Overton, Va., Aug. 13, 1889. 

Cabet, Etienne, a French com¬ 
munist, born in Dijon, Jan. 2, 1788, 
and educated for the bar, but turned 
his attention to literature and politics. 
Cabet sent a French colony to the Red 


river in Texas, but the colonists who 
went out in 1848 found Texas any¬ 
thing but a Utopia. Their ill fortune 
did not deter Cabet from embarking 
at the head of a second band of colo¬ 
nists. On his arrival he learned that 
the Mormons had just been expelled 
from Nauvoo, Ill., and that their city 
was left deserted. The Icarians es¬ 
tablished themselves there in 1850. 
Cabet’s efforts, however, were not suc¬ 
cessful. He was finally obliged to 
leave Nauvoo and retire to St. Louis, 
where he died Nov. 9, 1856. 

Cabeza, de Vaca, Alvar Nunez, 
a Spanish explorer, born about 1507. 
He was second in command in the 
ill-fated expedition of Panfilo de Nar¬ 
vaez to Florida in 1528. After the 
loss of their commander, Cabeza de 
Vaca, with a few survivors, landed 
W. of the mouth of the Mississippi, 
and after eight years of wandering 
and captivity among the Indians, he 
reached a Spanish colony on the Pa¬ 
cific with three companions. He re¬ 
turned to Spain, and in 1540 was 
appointed Governor of La Plata. He 
died about 1564. 

Cabinet, a deliberative committee 
of the executive authority, consisting 
of the principal members of the Gov¬ 
ernment. The cabinet of the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States is composed 
of the heads Qf the several adminis¬ 
trative departments of the Govern¬ 
ment. They are: 1. The Secretary of 
State, 2. The Secretary of the Treas¬ 
ury. 3. The Secretary of War. 4. 
The Secretary of the Navy. 5. The 
Secretary of the Interior. 6. The 
Postmaster-General. 7. The Attorney- 
General. 8. The Secretary of Agri¬ 
culture. 9. The Secretary of Com¬ 
merce and Labor. They are appointed 
to office by the President, but their 
appointments must be confirmed by 
the Senate, and they generally hold 
office until their successors are ap¬ 
pointed and confirmed. Contrary to 
foreign systems, the United States 
cabinet ministers do not have seats in 
Congress; there is no premier, al¬ 
though the Secretary of State virtu¬ 
ally holds that position as leading 
cabinet officer, and the President, not 
the ministers, is responsible for the 
acts of the Government. The salary 
of members of the cabinet is $8,000 a 
year. 





Cable 


Caceres 


Cable is either a large rope or a 
chain of iron links. Rope cables are 
made of the best hemp or of wire, 
twisted into a mass of great compact¬ 
ness and strength. The circumference 
of hemp rope varies from about 3 
inches to 26. A certain number of 
yarns are laid up left-handed to form 
a strand; three strands laid up right- 
handed make a hawser, and three 
hawsers laid up left-handed make a 
cable. The strength of a hemp cable 
of 18 inches circumference is about 60 
tons, and for other dimensions the 
strength is taken to vary according to 
the cube of the diameter. Wire rope 
has within recent years largely taken 
the place of hemp for tow-line and 
hawsers on board ship. 

Cable, George Washington, an 
American novelist; born in New Or¬ 
leans, La., Oct. 12, 1844; received a 
common school education; entered the 
volunteer service of the Confederate 
army in 1863 and served till the close 
of the war; when he obtained employ¬ 
ment in a mercantile house; and was 
on the editorial staff of the New Or¬ 
leans “ Picayune ” in 1865-1879. His 
sketches of creole life in “ Scribner’s 
Monthly ” proved so successful that 
in 1879 he turned his entire attention 
to literature. He has contributed 
numerous sketches to newspapers and 
magazines; and published various 
books. 

Cabot, George, an American 
statesman; born in Salem, Mass., Dec. 
3, 1751; educated at Harvard College. 
In 1791 he became United States Sen¬ 
ator for Massachusetts, and proved a 
steadfast friend of the Washington 
administration. Pie died in Boston, 
April 18, 1823. 

Cabot, John, (It. Giovanni Cab- 
oto), a Venetian pilot, the discoverer 
of the mainland of North America, 
settled as a merchant, probably as 
early as 1472, in Bristol, England, 
where he is supposed to have died 
about 1498. Under letters-patent 
from Henry VII., dated March 5, 
1496, he set sail from Bristol in 1497, 
with two ships, accompanied by Lewis, 
Sebastian, and Sancto, his sons, and 
on June 24th sighted Cape Breton 
Island and Nova Scotia. Letters- 
patent were granted Feb. 3, 1498, for 
a second expedition, but whether any 
voyages were made under these is 


doubtful. However, they form the 
last authentic record of his career. 

The same uncertainty exists as to 
the birthplace of his second son, Se¬ 
bastian, who, it now appears most 
probable, was born in Bristol in 1474. 
Sebastian’s name is associated with 
that of his father in the charter of 
1496, and in 1499 he appears to have 
sailed with two ships in search of a 
Northwest Passage, and followed the 
American coast from 60° to 30° N. 
lat.; but it has been considered doubt¬ 
ful whether this voyage also should 
not be assigned to his father. In 1519 
Cabot returned to Spain from Eng¬ 
land, and was appointed pilot-major 
of the kingdom by Charles V., for 
whom, in 1526, he commanded an ex¬ 
pedition which examined the coast of 
Brazil and La Plata, where he en¬ 
deavored to plant colonies. The at¬ 
tempt ending in failure, he was im¬ 
prisoned for a year in 1530, and ban¬ 
ished for two years to Oran, in Af¬ 
rica. He seems to have died in Lon¬ 
don in 1557. 

Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, the dis¬ 
coverer (or second discoverer) of Bra¬ 
zil, a Portuguese, born about 1460. 
In 1500 he received command of a 
fleet bound for the East Indies, and 
sailed from Lisbon, but having taken 
a course too far to the West he was 
carried by the South American cur¬ 
rent to the coast of Brazil, of which 
he took possession in the name of 
Portugal. He died about 1526. 

Cacao, or Cocoa, the chocolate 
tree, and also the powder and beverage 
made with it obtained from the fruit 
of this tree. The tree is 16 to 18 feet 
high, a native of tropical America, 
and much cultivated in the tropics of 
both hemispheres, especially in the 
West India Islands, Central and 
South America. Its fruit is contained 
in pointed, oval, ribbed pods 6 to 10 
inches, long, each inclosing 50 to 100 
seeds in a white, sweetish pulp. The 
term cocoa is a corruption of cacao, 
but is more commonly used in com¬ 
merce : cocoa nuts, however, are ob¬ 
tained from an entirely different tree. 

Caceres, Andres Avelino, a Pe¬ 
ruvian military officer and statesman; 
born in Ayacucho, Nov. 11, 1838. 
The. imprisonment of Calderon, the 
President, made him acting President 
of Peru. Afterward, by a general 






Cachalot 


Cade 


election, he was inaugurated Presi¬ 
dent (1886). On the death of Presi¬ 
dent Bermudez in 1894, General Ca- 
ceres was proclaimed dictator, and, 
May 10th, was elected President. In 
1895 he was overthrown in a revolu¬ 
tion headed by ex-Dictator Pierola, 
who was elected President July 10. 



CACAO PLANT. 


Cachalot, the sperm of sperma¬ 
ceti whale. The male is from 46 to 
60, or even 70 feet long; the female 
from 30 to 35. They are gregarious, 
and go in what the fishermen call 
schools, sometimes with as many as 
500 or 600 individuals. The cachalot 
inhabits the northern seas, but strag¬ 
gles through a great part of the 
ocean. 

Cachao. See Hanoi. 

Cachar, a district of Assam, India; 


area, 3,750 square miles. The inhab¬ 
itants (313,900) are mainly engaged in 
rice and tea cultivation. 

Cache, a hole in the ground for 
hiding and preserving provisions 
which it is inconvenient to carry; 
used by settlers in the Western States 
and Arctic explorers. 

Cachet, Lettre de, a name given 
especially to letters proceeding from 
and signed by the kings of France, 
and countersigned by a secretary of 
state. 

Cacholong, a beautiful mineral, 
regarded as a variety of semi-opal. 
It is sometimes called pearl opal, or 
mother-of-pearl opal. It is generally 
of a milk-white color, rarely with a 
yellowish or reddish tinge. 

Cactacese (named from the cac¬ 
tus), Indian figs. About 800 are 
known. The fruit of some species is 
refreshing and agreeable, that of oth¬ 
ers insipid. 

Cactus, an old and extensive ge¬ 
nus of Linnaeus. The plant, though 
now seen all over India, undoubtedly 
came at first from a foreign and a 
distant country. It grows very ex¬ 
tensively in the western and south¬ 
western part of the United States and 
all over tropical America, usually on 
arid lands. Once rooted in a place, 
it spreads so widely abroad that it is 
difficult to get it out again, and it 
is believed to impoverish the land 
of which it takes possession. 

Caddoan Indians, a family of 
North American Indians, comprising 
the Arikari tribe in North Dakota; 
the four Pawnee villages, Grand, Tap- 
age, Republican, and Skidi, in the 
Indian Territory; and the Caddo, Ki- 
chai, Wichita, and other tribes, for¬ 
merly in Louisiana, Texas, and Ar¬ 
kansas. 

Cade, Jack, the leader of a popu¬ 
lar insurrection in the reign of Henry 
VI. of England. He collected 20,000 
followers, chiefly Kentish men, who, 
in June, 1450, flocked to his standard, 
that they might claim redress for the 
grievances so widely felt. Cade de¬ 
feated a detachment of the royal for¬ 
ces at Seven Oaks, and obtained pos¬ 
session of London, the King having 
retired to Kenilworth; but having put 
Lord Say cruelly to death, and laid 
aside the appearance of moderation 







Cadence 


Caesar 


which he had at first assumed, the 
citizens rose, gave his followers bat¬ 
tle, dispersed them, and put Cade to 
death, 1450. 

Cadence, a close, the device which 
in music answers the use of stops in 
language. 

Cadenza, a flourish of indefinite 
form introduced upon a bass note im¬ 
mediately preceding a close. 

Cadet, a younger or youngest son; 
a junior male member of a noble fam¬ 
ily. Also the name or title given to a 
young man in training for the rank 
of an officer in the army or navy, or 
in a military school. In the United 
States cadets are trained for military 
life at West Point, N. Y., and for 
naval life at Annapolis, Md. 

Cadi, or Kadi, in Arabic, a judge 
or jurist. Among the Turks cadi sig¬ 
nifies an inferior judge, in distinction 
from the mollah, or superior judge. 
They belong to the higher priesthood, 
as the Turks derive their law from 
their prophet. 

Cadiz, Spain, an important sea¬ 
port city, capital of a province, which 
forms a part of Andalusia. It reached 
its highest prosperity after the dis¬ 
covery of America, when it became the 
depot of all the commerce with the New 
World; declined greatly as a com¬ 
mercial city after the emancipation 
of the Spanish colonies in South 
America; but again revived, owing 
partly to the extension of the Span¬ 
ish railway system, and partly to the 
establishment of lines of steamers. 

Cadiz is one of the most ancient 
towns in Europe, having been built by 
the Phoenicians, under the name of 
Gaddir (“fortress”), about 1100 b. 
c. It afterwards passed into the 
hands of the Carthaginians, from 
whom it was captured by the Ro¬ 
mans, who named it Gades, and under 
them it soon became a city of vast 
wealth and importance. Occupied af¬ 
terward by the Goths and Moors, it 
was taken by the Spaniards in 1262. 

In 1898 it was the rendezvous' of 
the vessels of the Spanish navy 
which, for a time during the war be¬ 
tween the United States and Spain, 
were expected to make a demonstra¬ 
tion against some of the principal 
American cities on the Atlantic sea¬ 
board. Pop. (1900) 69,382. 


Cadmium, a diatomic metallic ele¬ 
ment, discovered in 1818. It is found 
in most zinc ores. One of its com¬ 
pounds is the pigment known as Cad¬ 
mium yellow, used for fireworks, and 
in calico-printing. 

Cadmus, according to ancient 
Greek tradition, the leader of a colo¬ 
ny of Phoenicians, who settled at a 
very early date in Boeotia, and found¬ 
ed the city of Thebes, b. c. about 1450. 
His history is largely fabulous. 

Caduceus, Mercury’s rod ; a winged 
rod entwisted by two serpents borne 
by Mercury as an ensign of quality 
and office. In modern times it is used 
as a symbol of commerce, Mercury 
being the god or commerce. 

Cadwalader, George, an Ameri¬ 
can lawyer and soldier; born in Phila¬ 
delphia, in 1804. He practised law 
till 1846; was made brigadier-general 
of volunteers; and won distinction at 
Chapultepec. He resumed his law 
practice till 1861; became major-gen¬ 
eral of State volunteers; was placed 
in command at Baltimore; accom¬ 
panied Patterson’s expedition to Win¬ 
chester (1861) ; and, as one of a mili¬ 
tary board, directed the United States 
army operations. He died in Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa., Feb. 3, 1879. 

Cadwalader, John, an American 
soldier, born in Philadelphia, Jan. 10, 
1742. At the outbreak of the Revolu¬ 
tion he was placed in command of a 
battalion and soon became brigadier- 
general. He fought at Trenton, 
Brandywine, Germantown, and Mon¬ 
mouth. He died in Shrewsbury, Pa., 
Feb. 10, 1786. 

Caen, a town of France, in Nor¬ 
mandy, chief place in the department 
of Calvados, 125 miles N. W. of Paris, 
and about 9 miles from the mouth of 
the Orne. Two remarkable churches 
are St. Etienne or Church of the Ab- 
baye-aux-Hommes, built by William 
the Conqueror, who was buried in it, 
and La Ste. Trinity or Church of the 
Abbaye-aux-Dames, founded by the 
Conqueror’s wife. Pop. 44,524. 

Caerleon, a town of England on 
the Usk, 18 miles S. of Monmouth. 
Many fine Roman remains have been, 
and are still, found here. 

Caesar, Cains Julius, son of a 
family of the Julian gens, claiming 





Caesar 


Cagliari 


descent from lulus, son of iEneas. 
The origin of the name is uncertain. 

Caesar, Caius Julius, son of a 

Roman praetor of the same name, was 
born July 12, 100 b. c., according to 
Mommsen in 102 b. c. One of the 
greatest, if not the greatest of mili¬ 
tary commanders, he was likewise 
peerless in his time as politician and 
statesman. He overcame all his ene¬ 
mies in the field, and was the dictator, 
and virtually the first emperor of 
Rome. During the year 46 b. c. he 
conferred a benefit on Rome and on 
the world by the reformation of the 
calendar, which had been greatly 
abused by the pontifical college for 
political purposes. After quelling an 
insurrection which broke out in Spain, 
where Pompey’s sons, Cneius and Sex¬ 
tus, had collected an army, he received 
the title of “ Father of his Country,” 
and also of imperator, was made dic¬ 
tator and praefectus morum for life, 
and consul for 10 years; his person 
was declared sacred, and even divine; 
he obtained a body-guard of knights 
and senators; his statue was placed 
in the temples; his portrait was struck 
on coins; the month Quintilis was 
called Julius in his honor, and on all 
public occasions he was permitted to 
wear the triumphal robe. He pro¬ 
posed to make a digest of the whole 
Roman law for public use, to found 
libraries for the same purpose, to 
drain the Pontine Marshes, to enlarge 
the harbor of Ostia, to dig a canal 
through the Isthmus of Corinth, and 
to quell the inroads of the barbarians 
on the E. frontiers; but in the midst 
of these vast designs he was cut off 
by assassination on the Ides (15th) 
of March, 44 b. c. 

Caesarea, the ancient name of 
many cities, such as: (1) Caesarea 
Philippi in Palestine, N. of the Sea 
of Galilee, rebuilt by Philip, tetrarch 
of Galilee, son of Herod the Great. 
(2) Caesarea, on the shores of the 
Mediterranean, about 55 miles N. W. 
from Jerusalem, enlarged and beauti¬ 
fied by Herod the Great, and named 
in honor of Caesar Augustus; the place 
where St. Paul was imprisoned two 
years (Acts xxiii-xxv). (3) The 
capital of Cappadocia, in Asia Minor. 

Csesarian Operation, the most 
serious operation in midwifery, and 
only resorted to to save life. 

E. 27, 


Csesarion, son of Julius Caesar and 
Cleopatra, put to death by order of 
Augustus. 

Caesars, The Era of, also known 
as the Spanish Era, a period of time 
reckoned from Jan. 1, 38 B. C., being 
the year following the conquest of 
Spain by Augustus. It was much 
used in Africa, Spain, and the S. of 
France; but by a synod held in 1180 
its use was abolished in all the church¬ 
es dependent on Barcelona. Pedro 
IV. of Arragon abolished the use of 
it in his dominions in 1350. John of 
Castile did the same in 1383. It was 
used in Portugal till 1415, if not till 
1422. The months and days of this 
era are identical with the Julian cal¬ 
endar, and to turn the time into that 
of our era, subtract 38 from the year; 
but if before the Christian era, sub¬ 
tract 39. 

Caesium, an element discovered by 
Bunsen in 1860. The pure metal is 
rare; it is similar to potassium, and 
has such an affinity for oxygen, it will 
burst into flame when exposed to the 
air. 

Caffeine, Theine, or Guaranine, 

an alkaloid found in tea, coffee and 
other plants used as beverages. About 
1 per cent, is found in coffee, and 
from 2 to 4 per cent, in tea. It has 
no nutritive value. In small doses as 
in a cup of tea or coffee it helps the 
circulation. In large doses, or after 
prolonged drinking of tea or coffee, 
it paralyses the heart’s action. It is 
used in medicine for various nervous 
ailments. It is the element that makes 
tea and coffee drinking so injurious for 
some persons. 

Cagayan, an island of the Philip¬ 
pines ; the largest of six small islets, 
known as the Cagayan-Sulu group. 
It is 5 miles wide and 8 miles long. 
Pop. (1900) 3,500. There are moun¬ 
tains attaining a height of 1,100 feet. 
The chief products are tobacco and 
sugar. There are pearl and shell fish¬ 
eries. Cagayan was sold by Spain to 
the United States, with Sibutu, in 
1900, upon payment of $100,000, hav¬ 
ing been inadvertently excluded from 
the terms of the treaty of peace. 

Cagliari, Paul, also known under 
the name of Paul Veronese, a painter 
of Verona, born 1528; died 1588, 
See Vebonese, Paul. 




Cagliostro 


Cajabamba 


Cagliostro, Alessandro, Count 

of, (real name Giuseppe Balsamo), 
a celebrated charlatan; born in Pa¬ 
lermo, Italy, June 8, 1743. The dis¬ 
covery of the philosopher’s stone, the 
preparation of a precious elixir vitae, 
etc., were the pretenses by means of 
which he extracted considerable sums 
from credulous people. He died in the 
summer of 1795 in the Castle of St. 
Leo, in the States of the Church. 

Caiaphas, a Jew, was the high- 
priest at the time when the crucifixion 
took place. He was deposed a. d. 35, 
and Jonathan, the son of Annas, ap¬ 
pointed in his stead. 

Cagots, a peculiar race of men in¬ 
habiting France, in the Western Pyre¬ 
nees. In the Middle Ages they were 
believed to be cannibals and heretics, 
and treated with great ignominy. 

Caicos, a group of islands belong¬ 
ing geographically to the Bahamas, 
but annexed in 1874 to Jamaica. The 
North, West, East, Grand, and other 
Caicos, have, together with Turk’s 
Islands, an area of 223 square miles. 
Pop. (1891) 4,745. Salt and sponges 
are their chief products. 

Caillie, Rene or Auguste, a 
French traveler; born in Poitou, 
France, Sept. 19, 1799. Having gone 
to Senegal, he learned about 1826 that 
the Geographical Society of Paris had 
offered a premium of 10,000 francs to 
the first traveler who should reach 
Timbuctoo. He started from Kakon- 
dy in Sierra Leone, April 18, 1827, 
and after some delay caused by ill¬ 
ness, reached the mysterious city, 
April 20, 1828. Caillie died near 
Paris, May 7, 1839. 

Cain, the first-born of the human 
race, and the first murderer. He be¬ 
came an outcast, traveling to the E. 
of Eden, where he built a city and had 
a son, named Enoch. The Jewish tra¬ 
dition is, that he was slain by Enoch. 

Caine, Thomas Henry Hall, an 
English novelist and dramatist; born 
in Runcorn, Cheshire, Eng., May 14, 
1853. His novels, which are striking 
in their pictures of human motives 
and passions, are read throughout the 
world. 

Cairn, a round or conical heap of 
stones erected as a sepulchral monu¬ 
ment. They are found on the hills 
of England, Wales, and Scotland, and 


some have assigned to them a peculiar 
character, as receptacles for the bodies 
of criminals burnt in the wicker im¬ 
ages of the Druids, etc. 

Cairngorm Stone, a mineral; a 
variety of quartz of a smoky yellow 
to smoky brown, and often transpar¬ 
ent, but varying to brownish-black, 
then nearly opaque in thick crystals. 

Cairo, (Arab. Musr el Kaherah, 
“the victorious capital”), the capital 
of modern Egypt, situated in a sandy 
plain between the right bank, of the 
Nile and the ridge of Mokattam, near 
the point of the delta of the Nile. 

The remarkable edifices of Cairo 
comprise many of the finest remains 
of Arabian architecture, all dating 
from the time of the ancient sultans 
of Egypt. Among these, besides 
mosques, chapels, and Coptic churches, 
are several of the ancient gates, an 
aqueduct for conveying water from the. 
Nile to the citadel, the works of the 
citadel, and the palace and well of 
Joseph. At Old Cairo are the seven 
towers, still called the “ Granary of 
Joseph,” and serving their ancient 
purpose. In the island of Rhoda is 
the celebrated Nilometer. On the S., 
outside the walls, are the tombs of the 
Mamelukes, and on the N. E. the obe¬ 
lisk of Heliopolis. There are also a 
public library containing a splendid 
collection of illuminated copies of the 
Koran, one of which, in Old Kufic, is 
ascribed to the 7th century; a mag¬ 
netic observatory, and the Mohamme¬ 
dan college of El Ahzar (originally a 
mosque), the principal university of 
the Mohammedan world, attended by 
30,000 to 12,000 students from all parts 
of the East. Pop. (1897) 570.062. 

Cairo, Ill., a port of entry and city 
at the confluence of the Mississippi 
and Ohio, 150 miles southeast of St. 
Louis. Pop. (1900) 12.566. 

Caisson, a military term, denoting 
a wooden chest to bold ammunition; 
formerly applied to the ammunition- 
wagon itself. In engineering a cais¬ 
son is a wooden case or frame sunk in 
the beds of rivers, etc., to keep out 
the water during the laying of the 
foundations of a bridge, etc. In arch¬ 
itecture, signifies sunken panels. 

Cajabamba, capital of the prov¬ 
ince of Chimborazo, in Ecuador, 102 
miles S. of Quito, on the arid plateau 




Cajamarca 


I 

Calamus 


of Topi, at an elevation of 9,480 feet. 
Pop. 16,000. The former town of 
Riobamba, founded on this site in 
1533, was in 1797 overwhelmed by 
an earthquake in which 30,000 lives 
were lost. 

Cajamarca, a department in the 
N. W. of Peru, between the W. chain 
of the Andes and the Amazon. A 
railway connects it with the Pacific, 
and there is a large farming and cat¬ 
tle-raising industry. Area, 12,538 
square miles; pop. (1896) 442,412. 
Capital, Cajamarca; pop. 12,000. 

Calabar, a maritime district of 
West Africa on the Bight of Biafra, 
intersected by two rivers, called re¬ 
spectively Old and New Calabar, un¬ 
der British protection. Duke Town 
and Creek Town, the chief towns on 
Old Calabar river, are stations of 
British missionaries. 

Calabash, a tree about 30 feet 
high, found in some places wild, in 
others cultivated, in the West Indies 
and other tropical parts of America. 
The fruit of the tree is inclosed in a 
shell used by the natives of the Carib- 
bee Islands for drinking cups, pots, 
musical instruments, and other do¬ 
mestic utensils. 

Calabash Nutmeg, a tree of the 
order Anonaceae, introduced into Ja¬ 
maica probably from Western Africa. 
The fruit resembles small calabashes; 
hence the name. It is called also 
American nutmeg, or Jamaica nutmeg. 

Calabria, a name anciently given 
to the peninsula at the S. E. extrem¬ 
ity of Italy, but now applied to the 
S. W. peninsula in which Italy ter¬ 
minates, from about lat. 40° N. to the 
Strait of Messina; area 6,663 square 
miles; pop. 1,304,980. It is divided 
into three provinces — Cosenza, Reg¬ 
gio, and Catanzaro. 

Caladium, a genus of endogenous 
plants, the typical one of the family 
caladieae. They are cultivated in 
greenhouses here, and flourish in 
warmer parts of the world. The 
leaves of the caladium are boiled and 
eaten in the West Indies. 

Calais, a fortified seaport town of 
France, in the department of Pas-de- 
Calais, on the Strait of, and 25 miles 
S. E. of Dover, and distant 184 miles 
by rail from Paris. The Old Town 
or Calais proper has a citadel, and 


was formerly surrounded by fortifica¬ 
tions; but the modern suburb of St. 
Pierre les Calais having been amal¬ 
gamated with Calais proper, both are 
now surrounded with forts and other 
works, to which morasses lend addi¬ 
tional strength. In 1347 Calais was 
taken by Edward III. of England, 
after a siege of 11 months. In 1558 
it was retaken by the Duke of Guise, 
being the last relic of the French do¬ 
minions of the Plantagenets, which 
at one time comprehended the half of 
France. Pop. (1901) 59,793. 

Calamianes, an island group of 
the Philippine Archipelago. Their 
surface is mountainous, and richly 
wooded, producing rice, wool, cacao, 
and the bird’s nests used for food. 
Busuanga, Calamian and Linacapan 
are the largest of the islands. Area 
about 340 square miles; pop. over 
20 , 000 . 



CALADIUM. 

Calamus, the reed pen which the 
ancients used in writing, made of the 
stem of a reed growing in marshy 
places, of which the best were ob¬ 
tained from Egypt. The stem was 
first softened, then dried, and cut and 
split with a knife, as quill pens are 
made. To this day the Orientals gen¬ 
erally write with a reed. 




Calamus 


Calcium Light 


Calamus, the traditional name of 
the sweet flag, which is no doubt the 
“ calamus aromaticus ” of Roman au¬ 
thors, and probably the sweet calamus 
and sweet cane of Scripture. 

Calas, Jean, a French victim of 
fanaticism; born in 1698. He was a 
Protestant, and was engaged as a 
merchant in Toulouse, when his eld¬ 
est son committed suicide: and as he 
was known to be attached to the Ro¬ 
man Catholic faith, a cry arose that 
he had on that account been murdered 
by his father. Jean Calas and his 
whole family were arrested, and a 
prosecution instituted against him, in 
support of which numerous witnesses 
came forward. The parliament of 
Toulouse condemned him, by eight 
voices against five, to be tortured and 
then broken on the wheel, which sen¬ 
tence was carried out in 1762, his 
property being also confiscated. Vol¬ 
taire became acquainted with his fam¬ 
ily, and procured a revision of the 
trial, when Calas was declared inno¬ 
cent, and his widow pensioned. 

Calatafimi, a town of Sicily near 
its W. end, with a ruined Saracenic 
castle. Near it is the scene of Gari¬ 
baldi’s first victory over the Neapoli¬ 
tans in 1860. 

Calatrava la Viega, a ruined 
city of Spain, on the Guadiana, 12 
miles N. E. of Ciudad Real. Its de¬ 
fence against the Moors, undertaken 
by Raymond, abbot of Fitero, and Die¬ 
go Velasquez in 1158, after it had 
been abandoned by the Templars, is 
famous on account of its having orig¬ 
inated the Order of the Knights of 
Calatrava, which was instituted at 
Calatrava in 1158, by King Sancho 
III. of Castile, and was at several 
periods associated with the Cistercian 
monks. Their almost uniform success 
against the Moors gave rise to rash¬ 
ness, and in 1197 they were defeated 
and nearly exterminated, the survivors 
transferring the seat to the castle of 
Salvatierra. 

Calaveras Grove, Cal., one of the 

famous groves of big trees, and the 
nearest to San Francisco, measures 
1,100 yards by 70 yards, and con¬ 
tains about 100 trees. It is State 
property. 

Calcareous, a term applied to sub¬ 
stances partaking of the nature of 


lime, or containing quantities of lime. 
Thus we speak of calcareous waters, 
calcareous rocks, calcareous soils. Cal¬ 
careous spar (crystallized carbonate of 
lime) is found crystallized in more 
than 700 different forms, all having 
for their primitive form an obtuse 
rhomboid. The rarest and most beau¬ 
tiful crystals are found in Derbyshire, 
England. 

Calceolaria, a well known and 
beautiful genus of plants. The spe¬ 
cies, which are numerous, come from 
South America, chiefly from the west¬ 
ern slope or side of the Andes. The 
greater number have yellow flowers, 
others are purple, while in a few the 
two colors are intermingled. Various 
calceolarias are cultivated in the 
United States. 

Calciferous Epoch, one of the 

subordinate divisions of the Lower Si¬ 
lurian System of North America. The 
division is characterized by the pres¬ 
ence of calcareous sandstones and 
limestones. 

Calcination, the operation of ex¬ 
pelling from a substance by heat, eith¬ 
er water or volatile water combined 
with it. Thus, the process of burning 
lime, to expel the carbonic acid, is 
one of calcination. 

Calcite, Calcareous Spar, or 
Calc-spar, the name usually given 
by mineralogists to carbonate of lime, 
rhombohedral in its crystallization. 
It differs from aragonite only in crys¬ 
tallization. Calcite is one of the com¬ 
monest minerals. 

Calcium, a dyad metallic element. 
Calcium is a yellowish white, ductile, 
malleable metal, which oxidizes in 
damp air; it decomposes water, and 
dissolves easily in dilute acids. 

Calcium Carbide, a chemical 
compound of calcium and carbon. It 
is a hard, bluish-black, clear crystal¬ 
line body, and is impervious to light, 
and insoluble in all known solvents. 
It is used generally for the produc¬ 
tion of acetylene and the reduction of 
iron. See Acetylene. 

Calcium Light, a brilliant light 
produced by directing the flame of an 
oxy-hydrogen blow-pipe against a 
block of compressed quicklime. It 
has been used on the stage for many 
years, and by the aid of colored glasses 
very charming effects are produced. 




Calc-sinter 


Caledonia 


More recently it has been employed in 
lanterns for . projecting photographic 
and biographic pictures on a screen. 

Calc-sinter, a carbonate of lime, 
the substance which forms the stalac¬ 
tites and stalagmites that beautify 
many caves. 

Calculating Machine, a piece of 
mechanism for assisting the human in¬ 
tellect in the performance of arithme¬ 
tical operations. Among modern cal¬ 
culating machines are the slide-rule 
and bank and cash registers. 

Calculus, the medical term for 
what is popularly known as stone. 
Calculi vary in size from a pin’s head 
to a pigeon’s egg, and even larger, and 
weigh from a few grains to several 
ounces. They derive their special 
name and character as well from the 
organs of the body in which they are 
found as from the constituents of 
which they are composed. 

Calculus, The Infinitesimal, or 
Transcendental Analysis, a branch 
of mathematical science. 

Calcutta, (literally, the ghaut or 
landing place of Kali, from a famous 
shrine of this goddess), capital of 
British India, and of the presidency 
and province of Bengal; situated on 
the left bank of the Hooghly, a branch 
of the Ganges, about 80 miles from 
the Bay of Bengal. The Hooghly is 
navigable up to the city for vessels 
of 4,000 tons or drawing 26 feet. The 
port of Calcutta extends for about 10 
miles along the river, and is under the 
management of a body of commission¬ 
ers. Opposite the city it is crossed 
by a great pontoon bridge, which 
gives communication with Howrah 
for vehicles and foot-passengers, and 
can be opened at one point to let 
vessels pass up or down. Beside the 
accommodation for shipping furnished 
by the river, there are also several 
docks. The trade is very large, Cal¬ 
cutta being the commercial center of 
India. There is a very extensive in¬ 
land trade by the Ganges and its con¬ 
nections, as also by railways (the 
chief of which start from Howrah), 
while almost the whole foreign trade 
of this part of India is monopolized 
by Calcutta. In 1773 Calcutta be¬ 
came the seat of British government 
for the whole of India. Since then 
the history of Calcutta has been an 


almost unbroken record of progress 
and prosperity. The pop. in 1872 of 
the city proper was 447,601; in 1901, 
1,121,664. 

Caldecott, Randolph, an Eng¬ 
lish artist; born in Chester, England, 
March 22, 1846. He will chiefly be 
remembered by the admirable “ Calde¬ 
cott’s Picture-books,” which began in 
1878, with “ John Gilpin ” and “ The 
House that Jack Built.” After vain 
attempts to restore his health by trips 
abroad he died in St. Augustine, Fla., 
Feb. 12, 1886. 

Calderon, Francisco Garcia, a 

Peruvian jurist and statesman; bom 
in Arequipa in 1834. He became a 
member of Congress in 1867; accept¬ 
ed the treasury portfolio in 1868, and, 
after the Chilean occupation in 1883, 
became the head of the provisional 
government. Being captured by the 
enemy, he was retained as a prisoner 
at Valparaiso, and, although his elec¬ 
tion as President was confirmed, he 
was unable to take the office. After 
his release he figured prominently in 
public affairs. He died Sept. 21, 1905. 

Caldwell, Charles Henry Bro- 
inedge, an American naval officer; 
born in Hingham, Mass., June 11, 
1828. In the Civil War he command¬ 
ed the “ Itasca,” taking part in the 
bombardment of Forts Jackson and 
St. Philip and the Chalmette batter¬ 
ies, and in the capture of New Or¬ 
leans. He was promoted commodore 
in 1874. He died in Boston, Mass., 
Nov. 30, 1877. 

Caldwell, James, an American 
patriot; born in Charlotte county, 
Va., in 1734. During the growing 
antagonism between the Colonies and 
Great Britain, he warmly took the 
side of the former, and when hostili¬ 
ties began, became chaplain to the 
New Jersey brigade. He was shot by 
a sentinel, at the Point, New York, 
Nov. 24, 1781, and buried at Eliza¬ 
bethtown, N. J., where a costly mar¬ 
ble monument covers the remains of 
the “ soldier-parson.” 

Caledonia and Caledonians, the 
names by which the N. portions of 
Scotland and its inhabitants first be¬ 
came known to the Romans. 

Caledonia, New, a French island 
in the Pacific Ocean; lying some 700 
miles E. of Australia. Its length N. 






Calendar 


Calhoun 


W. to S. E. is 250 miles, the breadth 
being about 35 miles. It is surround¬ 
ed by coral reefs, at a distance of 
from 5 to 18 miles. 

New Caledonia was taken possession 
of by the French on Sept. 24, 1853, 
and a small colony was formed there. 
During the time of the second empire 
it was employed as a place of banish¬ 
ment for criminals, a purpose which 
it still serves. In 1872, by a decree of 
the National Assembly at Versailles, 
New Caledonia was fixed on as the 
place to which the condemned Com¬ 
munists should be transported. The 
number of the condemned amounted 
to more than 3,000. In 1902 the total 
population was 51,033, of whom 8,384 
were European civilians, 1,506 mili¬ 
tary, 10,757 penal, 3,041 Asiatics, and 
27,345 natives. 

Calendar, a systematic division of 
time into years, months, weeks, and 
days, or a register of these or similar 
divisions.. The present calendar was 
adopted in the 16th century, the Ju¬ 
lian, or old Roman calendar having 
become grossly erroneous. 

Luigi Lilio Ghiraldi, frequently 
called Aloysius Lilius, a physician of 
Verona, projected a plan for amend¬ 
ing the calendar, which, after his 
death, was presented by his brother to 
Pope Gregory XIII. To carry it into 
execution, the Pope assembled a num¬ 
ber of prelates and learned men. In 
1577 the proposed change was adopted 
by all the Catholic princes; and in 
1582 Gregory issued a brief abolish¬ 
ing the Julian calendar in all Catho¬ 
lic countries, and introducing in its 
stead the one now in use, under the 
name of the Gregorian or reformed 
calendar, or the “ new style,” as the 
other was now called the “ old style.” 
The amendment ordered was this: 
Ten days were to be dropped after the 
4th of October, 1582, and the 15th 
was reckoned immediately after the 
4th. Every 100th year, which by the 
old style Was to have been a leap 
year, was now to be a common year, 
the fourth excepted; that is, 1600 
was to remain a leap year, but 1700, 
1800, 1900 to be of the common length 
and 2000 a leap year again. In this 
calendar the length of the solar year 
was taken to be 365 days, 5 hours, 49 
minutes, and 12 seconds, the difference 
between which and subsequent obser¬ 


vations is immaterial. In Spain, Por¬ 
tugal, and the greater part of Italy, 
the amendment was introduced ac¬ 
cording to the Pope’s instructions. In 
France the 10 days were dropped in 
December, the 10th being called the 
20th. In Catholic Switzerland, Ger¬ 
many, and the Netherlands, the change 
was introduced in the following year; 
in Poland in 1586, in Hungary in 
1587. Protestant Germany, Holland, 
and Denmark accepted it in 1700, and 
Switzerland in 1701. In the German 
empire a difference still remained for 
a considerable time as to the period 
for observing Easter. In England the 
Gregorian calendar was adopted in 

1752, in accordance with an act of 
Parliament passed the previous year, 
the day after the 2d of September be¬ 
coming the 14th. Sweden followed in 

1753. The change adopted in the 
English calendar in 1752 embraced 
another point. There had been pre¬ 
vious to this time various periods fixed 
for the commencement of the year in 
various countries of Europe. In 
France, from the time of Charles IX., 
the year was reckoned to begin from 
the 1st of January ; this was also the 
popular reckoning in England, but the 
legal and ecclesiastical year began on 
March 25. The 1st of January was 
now adopted as the beginning of the 
legal year, and it was customary for 
some time to give two dates for the 
period intervening between January 1 
and March 25, that of the old and that 
of the new year, as January 175 2/3. 
Russia alone retains the old style, 
which now differs 12 days from the 
new. 

Calends, the first day of the month 
among the Romans. 

Calhoun, John Caldwell, an 

American statesman; born in Abbe¬ 
ville district, S. C., March 18, 1782; 
graduated with distinction at Yale 
College in 1804, and was admitted to 
the South Carolina bar in 1807. After 
serving for two sessions in the Legis¬ 
lature of his native State, he was 
elected to Congress in 1811. From 
that time until his death he was sel¬ 
dom absent from Washington, being 
nearly the whole time in the public 
service, either in Congress or in the 
Cabinet. When he first entered Con¬ 
gress, the difficulties with England 
were fast approaching actual hostile 




Calico Printing 


California 


ties, and he immediately took part 
with that section of the dominant par¬ 
ty, whose object it was to drive the still 
reluctant administration into a decla¬ 
ration of war. They succeeded, and, 
as a member of the Committee on For¬ 
eign Relations, he reported a bill for 
declaring war, which was passed in 
June, 1812. When Monroe formed 
his administration in 1817, Calhoun 
became Secretary of War, a post 
which he filled with great ability for 
seven years. 

In 1824, he was chosen Vice-Presi¬ 
dent of the United States under John 
Q. Adams, and again, in 1828, under 
General Jackson. With the latter he 
did not long continue on amicable po¬ 
litical relations, but entered into 
fierce opposition, when the President, 
and a majority of Congress, deter¬ 
mined to enforce submission to the 
law of 1828, imposing a heavy protec¬ 
tive tariff. It was at this period that 
he broached his famous “ Nullification 
Doctrine,” which is substantially, that 
the United States is not a union of 
the people, but a league or compact 
between sovereign States, any of 
which has a right to judge when the 
compact is broken, and to pronounce 
any law to be null and void which 
violates its conditions. In short, Cal¬ 
houn was the first great advocate of 
the doctrine of Secession. From this 
time forward, for the last 17 years of 
his public service, he hardly aspired to 
be considered a national statesman 
acting for the whole country; he was 
content, even proud, to be viewed only 
as a Southern statesman. Hence his 
advocacy of the extreme doctrine of 
State-Rights; his censure of the Mis¬ 
souri Compromise, passed 13 years 
before, when he was himself in the 
Cabinet; his support of all measures 
tending to the extension of slave-hold¬ 
ing territory; and, finally, his pro¬ 
posal to amend the Constitution by 
abolishing the single office of the pres¬ 
idency, and creating two presidents, 
one for the North, and the other for 
the South, to be in office at the same 
time. The place in which he advo¬ 
cated these doctrines was the floor of 
the United States Senate,. where he 
continued for the rest of his life, ex¬ 
cept for a short time at the close of 
Mr. Tyler’s administration, when he 
accepted the office of Secretary of 


State. He died in Washington, March 
31, 1850. 

Calico Printing, the art of pro¬ 
ducing on calico or cotton cloth varie¬ 
gated patterns by the process of print¬ 
ing, the object as a rule being to have 
the colors composing the designs as 
fast as possible to washing and other 
influences. 

Calient, a seaport of India, in the 
presidency of Madras, on the Malabar 
coast, which was ceded to the British 
in 1792. It was the first port in In¬ 
dia visited by Europeans. It manu¬ 
factures cotton cloth, to which it has 
given the name calico. Pop. (1901) 
75,500. 

California, a State in the Western 
Division of the North American Union, 
bounded by Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, 
Lower California, and the Pacific 
Ocean; land area, 155,980 square 
miles; admitted to the Union Sept. 9, 
1850; number of counties, 57; pop. 
(1890) 1,208,130; (1900) 1,486,053; 
capital, Sacramento. 

The surface of the State is very 
mountainous, being traversed by two 
ranges extending in a N. W. and S. E. 
direction. The Coast Range, consist¬ 
ing of a number of broken ridges, has 
an average width at the base of 65 
miles, and varies from 1,000 to 8,000 
feet in height. The highest peak is 
Mt. Ripley, 7,500 feet. The Sierra 
Nevada Mountains join the Coast 
Range and extend along the E. border 
of the State for about 450 miles, with 
nearly 100 peaks exceeding 10,000 
feet in height, the highest being Mt. 
Whitney, 14,898 feet, Mt. Tyndall, 
14,386 feet, and Mt. Shasta, 14,350 
feet. Between these ranges is a basin, 
at some early time the bed of a lake, 
about 450 miles in length, the N. sec¬ 
tion known as the Sacramento Val¬ 
ley, and the S. section as the San 
Joaquin Valley. This valley contains 
Tulare Lake, and is drained by the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. 
The coast line is irregular, with nu¬ 
merous capes and bays, affording 
many good harbors. San Francisco 
Bay is the largest and best harbor on 
the Pacific coast. 

California was for many years the 
first State in the Union in the pro¬ 
duction of gold, but it has now 
dropped to second place. As early as 
1841 gold was obtained by washing 





California 


California 


near the San Fernando Mission. In 
1848 the discovery at Coloma of large 
gold deposits started the up-building 
of California. At first mining was 
carried on by washing the river gravel, 
and in 1851 sluices were built through 
which the water was passed. These 
sluices were filled with blocks of wood 
or stones, which collected the gold as 
it sank. Digging was carried on also, 
and in 1852 an hydraulic system was 
introduced, by which great streams of 
water were turned against the gravel 
banks. This process was successful, 
but by it the banks were rapidly swept 
away and the detritus threatened to 
choke the rivers, so that its use was 
soon prohibited by law. Gold is found 
in the metallic state, often associated 
with silver and other metals, on the 
slopes of the Sierras. It is also found 
in streams and alluvial deposits in 
coarse grains, and quartz deposits 
where it is extracted by amalgama¬ 
tion. A very rich quality of silver 
occurs in small quantities, and mag¬ 
netic iron and cinnabar abound in the 
Sierras. Pyrites of iron and copper 
are found in gold-bearing quartz, and 
a rich variety of argentiferous galena 
occurs in San Bernardino county. 
Other valuable mineral products are: 
tin, plumbago, cobalt, granites, mar¬ 
bles, sandstones, hydraulic limestones 
and bituminous coal. Diamonds, onyx 
and other precious stones abound, and 
bitumen and petroleum are found in 
many places. In 1898-1899 there was 
a great boom in the mineral oil pro¬ 
ductions in the Los Angeles district, 
and, although the business is still in 
its infancy, it bids fair to become one 
of California’s greatest industries. In 
Los Angeles alone, in 1900, there were 
750 wells working and many new ones 
under construction. In 1898, Cali¬ 
fornia produced 756,483 fine ounces of 
gold, valued at $15,637,900; 642,300 
fine ounces of silver, valued at $830,- 
448; 31,092 flasks (of 76^ pounds 
each) of quicksilver, and 2,257,207 
barrels of petroleum, valued at about 
$1 per barrel. In 1900, the Director 
of the Mint estimated the gold output 
at $15,197,800, an increase over that 
of the preceding year, while the silver 
output decreased to $494,580. 

The soil varies with the surface 
conditions of the State. In the ele¬ 
vated portions it is rich, mellow, and 


easily worked, and timber land 
abounds. In the lower portions the 
soil varies from a rich loam to a heavy 
clay or adobe. What was formerly 
considered desert land can now, under 
irrigation, be turned into valuable 
agricultural districts. Agriculture 
and commerce flourish, and the State 
is the centre of great financial inter¬ 
ests. 

The public schools are liberally 
maintained. For higher education 
there are 96 public high schools, 63 
private secondary schools, four public 
and three private normal schools, 12 
universities and colleges for men and 
for both sexes and Mills College and 
the College of Notre Dame at San 
Jose for women. The principal uni¬ 
versities and colleges are, University 
of California (opened 1869, non-sec¬ 
tarian) ; Leland Stanford Junior Uni¬ 
versity (1891, non-sectarian) ; St. Ig¬ 
natius College (1855, Roman Catho¬ 
lic) ; Santa Clara College (1851, Ro¬ 
man Catholic), and the University of 
Southern California (1880, Methodist 
Episcopal). 

The. strongest religious denomina¬ 
tions in the State are the Roman 
Catholic, Methodist Episcopal, Pres¬ 
byterian, Congregational, Baptist, 
Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, and 
Disciples of Christ. 

The total length of railroads within 
the State, Jan. 1, 1900, was 5,461 
miles, of which 169 miles were con¬ 
structed during the previous year. The 
assessed valuation of railroad tele¬ 
graph, and express property was $46,- 
394,275. In 1901 there were 1,659 
post offices of all grades, and 681 pe¬ 
riodicals, of which 111 were daily, 2 
tri-weekly, 21 semi-weekly, 435 week¬ 
ly, 1 bi-weekly, 6 semi-monthly, 100 
monthly, 3 bi-monthly, and 2 quar¬ 
terly. 

The assessed valuation of all taxable 
property in 1900 was $1,218,228,588. 
The total bonded debt Sept. 1, 1900, 
was $2,281,500, of which $1,526,500 
was held in trust for the public 
schools and $751,000 for the State 
University. There were also out¬ 
standing bonds aggregating $600,000, 
not included in the public indebted¬ 
ness because payable out of collections 
by the harbor commissioners. Of this 
amount the State School Funds held 
$ 200 , 000 . 






California 


Calixtines 


The Governor is elected for a term 
of four years and receives a salary of 
$6,000 per annum. Legislative ses¬ 
sions are held biennially, beginning on 
the first Monday after January 1, and 
are limited to 60 days each. The leg¬ 
islature has 40 members in the Sen¬ 
ate and 80 in the House, each of whom 
receives $8 per day and 10 cents mile¬ 
age. There are seven Representatives 
in Congress. The State government 
in 1901 was Republican. 

In 1869 the completion of the Cen¬ 
tral Pacific R. R. advanced the pros¬ 
perity of the State. From 1870 to 
1890 the agitation against Chinese 
immigration led to the Exclusion Act. 
In 1906 a disastrous earthquake 
caused great destruction in San Fran¬ 
cisco and other coastal towns. The 
same year the Anti-Japanese agitation 
led to international representations, 
and raised the question of State rights 
as affecting Federal interests. 

California, Gulf of, or Sea of 
Cortes, an arm of the Pacific Ocean, 
separating Lower California from the 
Mexican mainland. It is 700 miles in 
length and varies in width from 40 to 
100 miles. 

California, Lower, a territory of 
Mexico, comprising a peninsula jut¬ 
ting into the Pacific Ocean, and sep¬ 
arated from the mainland throughout 
its length by the Gulf of California. 
It is nearly 800 miles in length, and 
in different places 30 to 120 miles 
wide; area 58,328 square miles. It is 
mountainous and arid, but possesses 
valuable agricultural and mineral re¬ 
sources. The chief towns are Loret- 
to and La Paz, the capital. Pop. 
(1900) 47,082, of whom perhaps a 
half are Indians. 

California, University of, a 

non-sectarian coeducational seat of 
learning in Berkeley, Cal. The un¬ 
dergraduate department is located at 
Berkeley, 9 miles from San Francisco; 
the astronomical department and Lick 
Observatory at Hamilton, Santa Clara 
county, and the professional schools 
at San Francisco. At Menlo Park 
the great Flood Mansion and grounds, 
donated in 1898, comprise a commer¬ 
cial college endowment. The univer¬ 
sity receives $15,000 a year from the 
National Government for its agricul¬ 
tural experiment station; the State 


adds a large appropriation; and the 
whole is spent on four stations and 
several sub-stations, where many im¬ 
portant horticultural experiments are 
made. The university in 1899 ac¬ 
cepted plans for a new set of build¬ 
ings to cost about $7,500,000. The 
principal benefactor of the university, 
since 1896, has been Mrs. Phoebe A. 
Hearst, widow of Senator Hearst. 
Her gifts have reached millions of 
dollars. As a result of these and 
other resources of endowment, the in¬ 
stitution has become one of the rich¬ 
est of American universities. 

Caligula, Caius Caesar Augus¬ 
tus Germanicus, a Roman emperor, 
son of Germanicus and Agrippina; 
born A. d. 12, in the camp at Antium. 
He succeeded Tiberius, a. d. 37, and 
made himself very popular by his 
mildness; but at the end of eight 
months he was seized with a disorder, 
caused by his irregular mode of living, 
which appears to have deranged his in¬ 
tellect. After his recovery he sud¬ 
denly showed himself the most cruel 
and unnatural of tyrants. He was 
assassinated by a band of conspirators 
a. d. 41. 

Caliper Compasses, compasses 
made with arched legs to measure the 
diameters of cylinders or globular bod¬ 
ies, or with straight legs and retracted 
points to measure the interior diam¬ 
eter or bore of anything. 

Caliph, Calif, or Khalif, the title 
borne by the successor of Mohammed 
in temporal and religious authority. 

Calisaya Bark, a variety of Pe¬ 
ruvian or cinchona bark, namely, that 
of Cinchona calisaya or flava. 

Calisthenics, or Callisthenics, 
a name for exercises for promoting 
gracefulness and strength, and com¬ 
prises the more gentle forms of gym¬ 
nastics, especially for girls. 

Calixtines, a Christian sect in 
Bohemia, the more moderate of the 
two great sections into which the Hus¬ 
sites were divided in 1420. Unlike 
the Taborites — the other section — 
they did not seek to subvert the gov¬ 
ernment of the Church of Rome, but 
demanded the restoration of the cup 
to the people in the celebration of the 
Supper; the preaching of the Gospel 
in primitive simplicity and purity; 
the separation of the priests from 





I 


Calixtus 


secular, and their entire devotion to 
spiritual, concerns; and, the preven¬ 
tion or punishment, by lawful author¬ 
ity, of “ mortal ” sins. The council 
of Basel, in 1433, to end the disas¬ 
trous Bohemian war, invited envoys 
from the Hussites. Procopius Rasa 
and others appeared, but the effort 
failed. Afterward the council sent 
^Eneas Sylvius into Bohemia. He, 
by conceding the use of the cup to the 
Calixtines, reconciled them to the 
Church of Rome. 

Calixtus, the name of several 
Popes. 

Calixtus (properly Callisen), 
Georg, a German theologian of the 
Lutheran Church; born in Schleswig 
in 1586. He wrote against the celi¬ 
bacy of the clergy, and proposed a re¬ 
union of Catholics and Protestants 
upon the basis of the Apostles’ creed. 
He died in 1656. 

Calkins, Gary Nathan, an Amer¬ 
ican scientist; born in Valparaiso, 
Ind., Jan. 18, 1869. He was grad¬ 
uated at the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology in 1890; had charge of 
scientific expeditions to Alaska in 
1896 and 1897; and in 1900 was in¬ 
structor in Zoology at Columbia Uni¬ 
versity. 

Callahan, James Morton, an 

American publicist; born in Bedford, 
Ind., Nov. 4, 1864. He was grad¬ 
uated at the University of Indiana in 
1894, and became lecturer on Ameri¬ 
can Diplomatic History at Johns Hop¬ 
kins in 1898. 

Callao, the port of Lima, Peru, 
lies 7 miles S. W. of Lima by rail, on 
a small bay. The town possesses a 
floating dock, and fine harbor works, 
embracing an area of 520 acres, with 
extensive pier and dock accommoda¬ 
tion ; and the spacious roadstead, shel¬ 
tered by the island of San Lorenzo, 
is one of the safest in the world. The 
present Callao dates only from 1746, 
when the original city, a short dis¬ 
tance to the S., was destroyed by an 
earthquake and an invasion of the 
sea. Callao was bombarded in 1880 
during the war between Chile and 
Peru. By the completion of a direct 
cable between this port and Mollendo, 
telegraphic communication has been 
established with the United States. 
Pop. about 50.000. 


Caloric 


Callender, John, an American 
historian; born in Boston, Mass., 
1706; collected many papers relating 
to the Baptists in America; and pub¬ 
lished “A Centennial Discourse on the 
Civil and Religious Affairs of the Col¬ 
ony of Rhode Island,” which was the 
only history of that State for more 
than a century. He died in Newport, 
R. I., Jan. 26, 1748. 

Calliope, one of the Muses. She 
presided over eloquence and heroic po¬ 
etry, and is said to have been the 
mother of Orpheus. 

Calliope, an asteroid, the 22nd 
found. It was discovered by Hind, 
on Nov. 16, 1852. Also a series of 
steam whistles, pitched to produce 
musical notes; operated by a keyboard. 

Callisthenes, a Greek philosopher, 
born in 365 B. c. He was a grandson 
of Aristotle, and accompanied Alex¬ 
ander the Great in his expedition to 
Asia. He was accused of conspiracy, 
and put to death b. c. 328. 

Calmar, a fortified seaport town 
of Sweden, on the W. side of a narrow 
strait of the Baltic, separating the is¬ 
land of GSland from the continent, 90 
miles N. E. by E. of Carlskrona. The 
town, built of wood, stands on the 
small island of Quarnholm. Here, in 
1397, was concluded the famous treaty 
which united the kingdoms of Sweden, 
Denmark, and Norway. Here also, 
in 1520, Gustavus Vasa disembarked 
to deliver his country from the domi¬ 
nation of foreigners and of a san¬ 
guinary tyrant. Pop. (1900) 12,715. 

Calms, Regions of, tracts in the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, on the 
confines of the trade-winds, where 
calms of long duration prevail. 

Calomel, mercury sub-chloride. It 
is insoluble in water, and blacked 
by ammonia. It is used in liver com¬ 
plaints, and in any of the complaints 
for which mercury internally adminis¬ 
tered is indicated. Care should be ex¬ 
ercised in its use, as it is likely to in¬ 
duce salivation. 

Calorescence, the transmutation 
of heat rays into light rays. 

Caloric, the name given to a sup¬ 
posed subtle imponderable fluid to 
which the sensation and phenomena of 
heat were formerly attributed. 




Calorimeter 


Calvin 


Calorimeter, an instrument for 
measuring the quantity of heat which 
a body parts with or absorbs when its 
temperature sinks or rises. 

Calotropis, a genus of asclepiads, 
consisting of three species, which 
form shrubs or small trees, and are 
natives of the tropics of Asia and Af¬ 
rica. 

Calotype, a process by which 
paper saturated with iodide of silver 
is exposed to the action of light, the 
image being developed and fixed by 
hyposulphite of soda. 

Calovius, Abraham, (originally 
Kalau), the chief representative of 
controversial Lutheran orthodoxy in 
the 17th century; born in Mohrungen 
in East Prussia, April 16, 1612. He 
waged war incessantly on Arminian, 
Socinian, Reformed and Catholic doc¬ 
trines. He was six times married, the 
last time in his 72d year. He died 
Feb. 25, 1686. 

Caloyers, Greek monks, belonging 
to the order of St. Basil, who lead a 
very austere life. 

Caltrop, a four-pronged. piece of 
iron, each prong about 4 inches in 
length, formerly thrown down in war¬ 
fare to check the approach of the en¬ 
emy. 

Calumba, or Colombo, used in 
medicine, a menispermaceous climber 
of Eastern Africa, which has been in¬ 
troduced into India. Sliced and dried, 
it has a greenish-yellow tint, bitter 
taste, and a faint aromatic odor. It 
is a useful mild tonic and stomachic. 
American Calumba Root is obtained 
from Frasera Walteri, a gentianaceous 
biennial, and has properties like those 
of gentian. 

Calumet, a pipe used by the 
North American Indians. The bowl 
is of stone, and the stem is orna¬ 
mented with feathers, etc. The cal¬ 
umet is the emblem of peace. To re¬ 
fuse it is to make a proclamation of 
enmity, and to accept is a sign of 
friendship. 

Calvados, a French department, 
part of the old province of Norman¬ 
dy, bounded on the N. by the English 
Channel, and E., W. and S. by the 
departments Eure, La Manche, and 
Orne. Area, 2,132 square miles. 


Chief town, Caen. Pop. (1901) 407,- 
639. 

Calvary, the English designation 
of the spot upon which the crucifixion 
of Jesus Christ is recorded as having 
taken place. It lay beyond the city, 
and by Captain Conder is identified 
with the old House of Stoning, or 
place of public execution, according 
to the law of' Moses, on the top of 
the remarkable knoll outside the Da¬ 
mascus gate, on the N. side of Jeru¬ 
salem. It is now generally believed to 
have been the knoll on the north-east 
of the city, formerly known as the 
Grotto of Jeremiah near the Damascus 
Gate. 

Calve, Emma, a French opera 
singer; born in 1866. She made her 
debut at Brussels in Gounod’s 
“ Faust.” She has made successful 
tours of the United States in leading 
roles. 

Calverley, Charles, an American 
sculptor; born in Albany, N. Y., Nov. 
1, 1833. He has won note with 

groups and figures and portrait busts 
of Greeley, Cooper, Howe, etc. He 
was elected to the National Academy 
of Design in 1875. 

Calvi, a seaport on the island of 
Corsica, on a peninsula in the Bay of 
Calvi. It was founded in the 13th 
century. It was so strongly fortified 
as to withstand several sieges, but in 
1794, after a siege of 51 days, was 
taken by the English from the Corsi¬ 
cans. The following year it was re¬ 
taken. 

Calvin, John, (so called from 
Calvinus, the Latinized form of his 
family name, Cauvin, or Chauvin), 
the second great reformer of the 16th 
century; born in Noyon, Picardy, 
July 10, 1509. Calvin died May 27, 
1564, in the 55th year of his age. He 
was of a weak constitution, and suf¬ 
fered from frequent sickness. In 
Strasburg he had married a widow, 
Idelette de Burie, in 1539; a son, the 
fruit of their union, died early. In 
1549 he lost his wife, after which he 
never married again. He was tem¬ 
perate and austere, gloomy and in¬ 
flexible. His disinterestedness was 
rare. He had a yearly stipend of 150 
francs, 15 measures of corn, and 2 
casks of wine; and never received a 
larger one. 




Calvin 


Cambaceres 


The chief doctrines of Calvin’s sys¬ 
tem are: Predestination, particular 
redemption, total depravity, irresisti¬ 
ble grace, and the certain perseverance 
of the saints, denominated the five 
points. The followers of Calvin in 
Germany are called the Reformed. 
In France most Protestants are Cal¬ 
vinists. Calvinism is the professed 
belief of the greatest part of the Pres¬ 
byterians; the Particular Baptists in 
England and India, and the Associated 
Baptists in America; the Independ¬ 
ents of every class in England and 
Scotland, and the Congregationalists 
of New England. 

Calvin, Samuel, a Scotch-Ameri- 
can scientist; born in Wigtonshire, 
Scotland, Feb. 2, 1840. He came to 
the United States when a youth and 
served in the Civil War. He studied 
geology as a life pursuit, and since 
1874 has been Professor of Geology at 
the Universiy of Iowa, and State Ge¬ 
ologist of Iowa since 1892. 

Calvinistic Methodists, a sec¬ 
tion of the Methodists, distinguished 
by their Calvinistic sentiments from 
the ordinary Wesleyans, who are Ar- 
minian. Wesley and Whitfield, the 
colleagues in > the great evangelistic 
movement which did so much spirit¬ 
ually and morally to regenerate Eng¬ 
land in the 18th century, differed 
with regard to the doctrines of grace, 
Wesley being Arminian, and Whit¬ 
field Calvinistic; the latter revival 
preacher may be looked on as the 
father and founder of Calvinistic 
Methodism. In distinctive form it 
dates from 1725, but did not complete¬ 
ly , se .v er its connection with the Eng¬ 
lish Church till 1810. In government 
ic is now Presbyterian. 

Calvo Doctrine. See Drago. 

Calx, properly lime or chalk, but 
the term is more generally applied to 
the < residuum of a metal or mineral 
which has been subjected to violent 
heat, and which is, or may be, re¬ 
duced to a fine powder. 

Calycantbus, a genus of hardy 
American shrubs, of which one spe¬ 
cies, Florida allspice, has yellow flow¬ 
ers, and is sweet-scented. 

Calydonian Boar. According to 
a Greek myth, CEneus, King of Caly- 
don. the ancient capital of JEtolia, 
omitted a sacrifice to Artemis, where¬ 


upon the goddess, when he was absent, 
sent a frightful boar to lay waste his 
fields. No one dared to face the 
monster, until Meleager, son of 
CEneus, with a band of heroes, pur¬ 
sued and slew him. The Curetes laid 
claim to the head and hide, but were 
driven off by Meleager. Later ac¬ 
counts make Meleager summon to the 
hunt heroes from all parts of Greece, 
among them the maiden Atalanta, who 
gave the monster the first wound. 

Calyx, in botany, the name given 
to the exterior covering of a flower, 
that is, the floral envelope consisting 
of a circle or whorl of leaves external 
to the corolla, which it incloses and 
supports. 

Cam, in machinery, a simple con¬ 
trivance for converting a uniform ro¬ 
tary motion into a varied rectilinear 
motion. 

Cam, Diogo, a Portuguese ex¬ 
plorer . of the 15th century, who in 
1484 discovered the mouth of the Kon¬ 
go, near whose bank an inscribed 
stone erected by him as a memorial 
was found. 

Camaldolites, Camaldulians, or 
Camaldunians, a nearly extinct 
fraternity of monks founded in the 
Vale of Camaldoli, in the Apennines. 

Cainayeu, or Camaieu, a term 
used in painting where there is only 
one color, and where the lights and 
shadows are of gold, wrought on a 
golden or azure ground. 

Cambaceres, Jean Jacques de, 
a French Senator; born in Montpel¬ 
lier, Oct. 18, 1753. During the reign 
of terror which followed the condem¬ 
nation of Louis XVI. Cambaceres en¬ 
deavored to check the arbitrary 
measures of the Assembly. He was a 
member of the Council of Five Hun¬ 
dred, and in 1796 drew up a “ Plan of 
a Civil Code,” which became the basis 
of the “ Napoleonic Code.” On the 
abdication of Napoleon, in 1814, Cam¬ 
baceres withdrew into private life, but 
on the return of the emperor from 
Elba, he was promoted to the office of 
Minister of Justice. After the over¬ 
throw of Napoleon, he was banished 
from France on the ground of his hav- 
ing voted for the death of Louis 
X V I.; but m 1818 was reinstated in 
all his civil and political rights; he 
died, in Paris, March 8, 1824. 







Cambert 


Camden 


Cambert, Robert, a French musi¬ 
cian ; born in Paris about 1628. He 
founded the Royal Academy of Music, 
now the Paris Grand Opera. He died 
in London about 1677. 

Cambodia, or Camboja, a State 
in Indo-China under a French pro¬ 
tectorate, on the lower course of the 
Mekong, 220 miles from N. E. to 
S. W., and 150 miles broad, compris¬ 
ing an area of 37,400 square miles; 
population, 1,500,000. France, on 
Aug. 11, 1863, concluded a treaty 
with the King of Cambodia, Noro¬ 
dom, whom, from being a viceroy, the 
French had helped to elevate to the 
throne, placing Cambodia under a 
French protectorate. This treaty was 
superseded by that of June 17, 1884. 
Capital Pnom-Penh. 

Cambon, Jules Martin, a French 
diplomatist; born in Paris, April 5, 
1845. He studied for the law and 
fought in the Franco-Prussian War, 
reaching the grade of captain. He 
was Ambassador to the United States 
in 1897, retiring in 1903, and repre¬ 
sented Spain in drawing up the Span- 
ish-American protocol in 1898. 

Cambria, the ancient name of 
Wales, the Britannia Secunda of the 
Romans. 

Cambrian Rocks, in geology, an 
extensive series of gritstones, sand¬ 
stones, conglomerates, slates, and 
shales, lying under the Lower Silurian 
beds, and above the Archaean, and di¬ 
vided into the Upper and Lower Cam¬ 
brian. 

Cambric, originally the name of a 
fine kind of linen which was manufac¬ 
tured principally at. Cambrai in 
French Flanders, but is now applied 
to a cotton fabric, which is manufac¬ 
tured in imitation of the true cambric. 

Cambridge, a city, and one of the 
county seats of Middlesex county, 
Mass., on the Charles river and the 
Fitchburg railroad; opposite to and 
connected with Boston by four 
bridges. It was founded in 1630- 
1631, under the name of “ Newe- 
Towne,” or Newtown.” In 1636 the 
General Court appropriated $2,000 to 
locate a school in Old Cambridge, 
which later became Harvard College. 
The first printing office in the United 
States was located in Cambridge. 
Cambridge has now extensive printing 


establishments. For historical and 
literary associations, Cambridge is one 
of the most famous cities in the 
United States. The venerable Wash¬ 
ington elm, under which Washington 
took command of the American Army, 
July 3, 1775, still stands. “ Craigie 
House,” built by Col. John Yassall in 
1759, was Washington’s headquarters 
in 1775-1776, and afterward became 
the home of the poet Henry W. Long¬ 
fellow. On Elm avenue is “ Elm¬ 
wood,” the birthplace and home of 
James Russell Lowell. A part of this 
place has been bought by public sub¬ 
scription, to be preserved as a public 
park. Pop. (1890) 70,028; (1900) 
91,886. 

Cambridge, a borough and county 
seat of Cambridge county, England, 
and seat of one of the most noted of 
English universities; on the Cam 
river; 48 miles N. by E. of London. 

Cambridge University, a cele¬ 
brated seat of learning and education, 
dating from English public schools es¬ 
tablished in Cambridge in the 7th cen¬ 
tury. The first college was founded 
under royal charter in 1237. 

Cambyses, (1) a Persian of noble 
blood, to whom King Astyages gave 
his daughter Mandane in marriage. 
(2) The son of Cyrus the Great, be¬ 
came, after the death of his father. 
King of the Persians and Medes, b. c. 
529. In the fifth year of his reign he 
invaded Egypt, conquering the whole 
kingdom within six months. He died 
in 521 b. C. 

Camden, city, port of entry, and 
county seat of Camden county, N. J.; 
on the Delaware river, opposite Phila¬ 
delphia, with which it is connected by 
several ferries. It is noted for its 
immense market gardens and manu¬ 
factures. 

Camden, county-seat of Kershaw 
county, S. C.; 32 miles N. E. of Co¬ 
lumbia. It has extensive cotton and 
grain interests' and is a health resort 
for sufferers from throat and lung 
troubles. Camden was the site of 
three noted battles. On Aug. 16, 
1780, the American forces under Gen¬ 
eral Gates, 3,600 strong, were de¬ 
feated by Lord Cornwallis. This end¬ 
ed Gates’s military career. On April 
25, 1781, Greene, who succeeded 

Gates, was attacked and worsted by 




Camden 


Cameo 


Lord Rawdon at Hobkirk’s Hill, near 
Camden. On Feb. 24, 1865, Camden 
was taken by General Sherman after 
a lively skirmish. Two thousand 
bales of cotton and a quantity of 
tobacco were burned. Pop. (1900) 
2,441. 

Camden, Charles Pratt, Mar¬ 
quis, an English statesman; born in 
1714. After having studied law, he 
was called to the bar in 1738. Af¬ 
ter nearly 20 years devoted to close 
study he was appointed attorney-gen¬ 
eral, and later lord chief justice. He 
distinguished himself by his exertions 
in behalf of the American colonies, 
and in 1766 rose to the highest legal 
dignity, that of lord high chancellor. 
He died in London, April 18, 1794. 

Camel, a genus of ruminant quad¬ 
rupeds, characterized by the absence 
of horns; a fissure in the upper lip ; a 
long and arched neck; one or two 
humps or protuberances on the back; 
and a broad elastic foot ending in 
two small hoofs. The native country 
of the camel is said to extend from 
Morocco to China, within a zone of 



CAMEL. 

900 or j.,000 miles in breadth. The 
common camel, having two humps, is 
found in the N. part of this region, 
and exclusively from the ancient Bac- 
tria, now Turkestan, to China. The 
dromedary, or single-humped camel is 
found throughout the entire length of 
this zone. To people residing in the 
vicinity of the great deserts the camel 
is an invaluable mode of conveyance. 
It will travel three days under a load 
and five days under a rider without 


drinking. The camel’s power of en¬ 
during thirst is partly due to the 
structure of its stomach, to which are 
attached pouches capable of straining 
off and storing water for future use. 
It can live on little food, and of the 
coarsest kind. In this it is helped by 
the fact that its humps are mere ac¬ 
cumulations of fat and form a store 
upon which the system can draw 
when the outside supply is defective. 
Camels which carry heavy burdens 
will do about 25 miles a day; those 
which are used for speed alone, from 
60 to 90 miles a day. The camel is 
rather passive than docile, but it is 
very vindictive when injured. It lives 
from 40 to 50 years. The South 
American members of the family 
Camelidse contain the llama and al¬ 
paca; they have no humps. 

Camelopard, a name given to the 
giraffe, originally from the notion that 
it was a hybrid between a camel and 
leopard. 

Camelopardalis, one of the N. 

circumpolar constellations added by 
Hevelius in 1690. It is a la/ge irreg¬ 
ularly shaped constellation, something 
like the animal, with its head close to 
the Pole. It contains no stars bright¬ 
er than the fourth magnitude. 

Camelot, a name applied in the 
mediaeval romances to the “ City of 
Legions ” which grew out of the per¬ 
manent quarters of the Second Augus¬ 
ta Legion at Caerleon-upon-Usk, but 
was built earlier by the mythical Be- 
linus. 

Camel’s Hump, one of the peaks 
of the Green Mountains, in Vermont, 
17 miles W. of Montpelier. 

Camel’s Thorn, a name of several 
plants. They are half-shrubby plants 
growing in the deserts of the East, 
and derive their name from the fact 
that they afford a food relished by 
camels. 

Cameo, a term applied to gems of 
different colors sculptured in relief. 
The art of engraving on gems boasts 
of high antiquity, having been prac¬ 
tised and was revived in Italy in the 
15th century. The cameos of the an¬ 
cients were confined to the agate, 
onyx, and sard, but are occasionally 
found executed on opal, beryl, or em¬ 
erald. 




Camera Lucida 


Camoens 


Camera Lucida, an instrument 
invented by Wollaston in 1804; de¬ 
signed to produce on a plane surface 
a representation of a landscape or 
other object, which will enable one to 
delineate it with accuracy. 

Camera Obscura, an optical in¬ 
strument used to view or sketch ob¬ 
jects at a short distance. It consists 
of a box, formed of two parts sliding 
in each other, like a telescope, so as 
to adjust the focus to bodies more or 
less distant. A tube with a lens is 
fixed in one side of it, and is turned 
to the object to be represented. The 
rays entering fall on a mirror sloped 
at an angle of 45°, which reflect them 
upward. It is convenient that they 
may be made to pass through a hori¬ 
zontal plate of glass, on which tracing 
paper may be placed so as to enable 
one to draw the figure. 

Camera, Photographic, a camera 
obscura so constructed that sensitized 
plates or films may be placed at the 
back and receive the image. 

Camerarius, Rudolph Jakob, a 
German botanist, born in Wurtem- 
burg, Feb. 12, 1665. To him is as¬ 
cribed the discovery of the sexual re¬ 
lation in plants. He died in Tubin¬ 
gen, Sept. 11, 1721. 

Camerlengo, (“a chamberlain ”), 
one of the highest officers of the Vati¬ 
can court, and who acts as Pope when 
there is a vacancy on the papal throne. 

Cameron, Arnold Guyot, an 
American educator; born in Princeton, 
N. J., March 4, 1864; was graduated 
at Princeton College in 1847, and at 
department of Greek at Princeton 
professor of French and German in 
Miami University; in 1891-1897, as¬ 
sistant professor of French in the 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni¬ 
versity ; and in 1897 accepted the 
chair of French at the John C. Green 
School of Science, Princeton. 

Cameron, James Donald, an 
American capitalist and politician; 
born in Middletown, Pa., May 14, 
1833; oldest son of Simon Cameron; 
was graduated at Princeton College 
in 1852. In 1876 President Grant ap¬ 
pointed him Secretary of War, and in 
1877 he succeeded his father as Unit¬ 
ed States Senator from Pennsylvania, 
retiring from the Senate in 1897. 


Cameron, Simon, an American 
statesman; born in Maytown, Lancas¬ 
ter co., Pa., March 8, 1799; began, 
when 9 years of age, to learn the trade 
of a printer. In 1820 he was editor 
of a paper in Doylestown, Pa., and in 
1822 he held a similar post in Harris¬ 
burg. He then interested himself in 
banking and the building of railroads. 
From 1845 to 1849 he was United 
States Senator from Pennsylvania. He 
became a member of the Republican 
party on its formation, and in 1856 
he was again elected United State*} 
Senator. In 1861 he was appointed 
Secretary of War by President Lin¬ 
coln. In January, 1862, he resigned 
from the Cabinet, and was appointed 
minister to Russia. In November of 
the same year he resigned, and lived 
in retirement till 1866, when he was 
again elected to the United States Sen¬ 
ate. In 1877 he retired from the Sen¬ 
ate in favor of his son, James Don¬ 
ald Cameron. He died in Maytown, 
Pa., June 26, 1889. 

Camisards, the title given to the 
Protestant insurgents in the Cevennes, 
after the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes, from having worn their shirts 
over their dress by way of disguise, 
on the occasion of some nocturnal at¬ 
tacks. 

Camoens, Luis de, a Portuguese 
poet; born in Lisbon, probably in 
1524 or 1525. Disappointed in love, 
he became a soldier, and served in the 
fleet which the Portuguese sent against 
Morocco, losinsr his right eye in a 
naval engagement before Ceuta. An 
affray into which he was drawn was 
the cause of his embarking in 1553 
for India. He landed at Goa, but, 
being unfavorably impressed with the 
life led by the ruling Portuguese there, 
wrote a satire which caused his ban¬ 
ishment to Macao (1556). Here he 
wrote the earlier cantos of his great 
poem, the “ Lusiad.” Returning to 
Goa in 1561, he was shipwrecked and 
lost all his property except his pre¬ 
cious manuscript. After much misfor¬ 
tune Camoens in 1570 arrived once 
more in his native land, poor and 
without influence, as he had left it. 
The “ Lusiad ” was printed at Lisbon 
(1572), and celebrating the glories of 
the Portuguese conquests in India, ac¬ 
quired a wide popularity. The king 




Camomile 


Campbell 


accepted the dedication of the poem, 
but the only reward Camoens obtained 
was a pittance insufficient to save him 
from poverty. His other works con¬ 
sist of sonnets, songs, etc. He died 
June 18, 1579. 

Camomile, or Chamomile. The 

species are annual and perennial herbs, 
all palaearctic, long known for the 
medicinal virtues of an infusion of its 
flowers as a bitter stomachic and 
tonic. 

Camorra, a well-organized secret 
society, once spread throughout all 
parts of the kingdom of Naples. 

Camp, the space occupied by an 
army halted with tents pitched. 

Campagna di Roma, the coast 
region of Middle Italy, in which Rome 
is situated, from 30 to 40 miles wide 
and 100 long, and forming the undu¬ 
lating mostly uncultivated plain which 
extends from near Civita Yecchia or 
Viterbo to Terracina, and includes the 
Pontine Marshes. The soil is very 
fertile in the lower parts, 1 though its 
cultivation is much neglected, owing 
to the malaria which makes residence 
there during midsummer dangerous. 
In ancient times the Campagna was 
well cultivated and populated. Noth¬ 
ing of its former prosperity being vis¬ 
ible but the ruins of great temples, 
circuses, and monuments, and long 
rows of crumbling aqueducts over¬ 
grown with ivy and other creeping 
plants. 

Campania, anciently a province on 
the W. coast of Italy, having Capua 
as its capital, lying between Latium, 
Samnium, and Lucania. It was one 
of the most productive plains in the 
world, yielding in extraordinary abun¬ 
dance corn, wine, and oil; and by 
both Greek and Roman writers is 
celebrated for its soft and genial cli¬ 
mate, its landscapes, and its harbors. 

Campani-Alimenis, Matteo, an 
Italian mechanician. In optics, his 
greatest achievement was the manu¬ 
facture of the object-glasses, through 
which Cassini discovered two satellites 
of Saturn. He invented the illum¬ 
inated dial for clocks. 

Campanile, a tower for the recep¬ 
tion of bells, principally used for 
church purposes, but now sometimes 
for domestic edifices. The most re¬ 


markable of the campaniles ds that 
at Pisa, commonly called the “ Lean¬ 
ing Tower.” It is cylindrical in form, 
and surrounded by eight stories of 
columns, placed over one another, 
each having its entablature. The 
height is about 150 feet to the plat¬ 
form, whence a plumb-line lowered 
falls on the leaning side nearly 13 
feet outside the base of the building. 

The campanile of St. Mark, dom¬ 
inating all the surrounding buildings 
of St. Mark’s Square, Venice, was 
the most conspicuous landmark of the 
city for over 1,000 years. The tower 
was 325 feet high and 42 feet square 
at the base. On the morning of July 
14, 1902, it fell with a great crash 
into the square. The church of St. 
Mark and the palace of the Doges 
were not hurt, but the campanile in 
falling carried away the Sansovino 
Loggctta and the library of the Royal 
Palace. 

Campbell, Alexander, founder of 

the sect known as the “Disciples of 
Christ ”; born near Ballymena, in 
County Antrim, Ireland, Sept. 12, 
1788. He emigrated to the United 
States in 1807. Though at first a 
Presbyterian, in 1812 he formed a 
connection with the Baptists, and for 
some time he labored as an itinerant 
preacher. In 1826 he published a 
translation of the New Testament, in 
which the words “ baptism ” and 
“ baptist ” gave place to “ immersion ” 
and “ immerser.” By his discussions 
on public platforms, and his serial 
publications, as well as his assiduity 
in preaching tours and training young 
men for the ministry, Campbell grad¬ 
ually formed a large party of follow¬ 
ers, who began about 1827 to form 
themselves into a sect under the des¬ 
ignation of “ The Disciples of 
Christ.” In 1841 Campbell founded 
Bethany College in West Virginia, 
where he died March 4, 1866. 

Campbell, Allan, an American 
civil engineer; born in Albany, N. Y., 
in 1815. He laid out the route of the 
New York and Harlem railroad; built 
a railroad from Callao to Lima, Peru; 
was appointed engineer of the harbor 
defenses of New York in the early 
part of the Civil War; was chief en¬ 
gineer in the construction of the 
Union Pacific railroad; and became 




Campbell 


Campero 


commissioner of public works in New 
York (1876). He died in New York 
city, March 18, 1894. 

Campbell, Bartley, an American 
dramatist; born in Allegheny City, 
Pa., Aug. 12, 1843. He died in Mid¬ 
dletown, N. Y., July 30, 1888. 

Campbell, Charles, an American 
historian; born in Petersburg, Va., 
May 1, 1807. He died in Staunton, 
Va., July 11, 1876. 

Campbell, Sir Colin, Lord 
Clyde, a British military officer; born 
in Glasgow, Oct. 20, 1792. He took 
part in the expedition to the United 
States (1814), and then passed nearly 
30 years in garrison duty at various 
places. On the outbreak of the Cri¬ 
mean War, in 1854, he was appointed 
to the command of the Highland Bri¬ 
gade ; the victory of the Alma was 
mainly his; and his, too, the splendid 
repulse of the Russians by the “ thin 
red line ” in the battle of Balaklava. 
When, on July 11, 1857, the news 
reached England of the sepoy mutiny, 
Lord Palmerston offered him the com¬ 
mand of the forces in India. He ef¬ 
fected the final relief of Lucknow, and 
on Dec. 20, 1858 announced to the 
Viceroy that the rebellion was ended. 
He died Aug. 14, 1863. 

Campbell, Douglas Hougbton, 
an American educator; born in De¬ 
troit, Mich., Dec. 16, 1859; was grad¬ 
uated at the University of Michigan 
in 1882; then studied in Europe. Re¬ 
turning he was Professor of Botany 
in the University of Indiana till 1891, 
when he was called to the similar 
chair in Stanford University in Palo 
Alto, Cal. 

Campbell, Helen Stuart, an 

American sociological writer; born in 
Lockport, N. Y., July 4, 1839. She 
has given close attention to the study 
of social problems. From 1881 till 
1884 she was literary editor of “ Our 
Continent,” Philadelphia. 

Campbell, Henry Donald, an 
American scientist; born in Lexing- 
troit, Mich., Dec. 16, 1859; was grad¬ 
uated at Washington and Lee Uni¬ 
versity in 1882; later studied at Ber¬ 
lin and Heidelberg, and in 1887 be¬ 
came Professor of Geology and Biol¬ 
ogy at Washington and Lee Univer¬ 
sity. 

E. 28. 


Campbell, John, a British his¬ 
torian; born in Edinburgh, March 8, 
1708. From 1755 to the close of his 
life, he was agent of the British gov¬ 
ernment for the province of Georgia. 
He died Dec. 28, 1775. 

Campbell, John Pendleton, an 
American scientist; born in Cumber¬ 
land, Md., Nov. 20, 1863. He studied 
at Johns Hopkins University, and in 
1888 became Professor of Biology at 
the University of Georgia. 

Campbell, Loomis J., an Ameri¬ 
can philologist; born in Oneonta, N. 
Y., in 1831. Died in Oneonta, Nov. 
6, 1896. 

Campbell, Thomas, a Scotch 
poet; born in Glasgow, July 27, 1777. 
He died in Boulogne, June 15, 1844, 
and was interred at Poets’ Corner, in 
Westminster Abbey, close to the tomb 
of Addison. Some of his poems have 
gained a permanent place in liter¬ 
ature. 

Campbell, William W., an Amer¬ 
ican lawyer and historian; born in 
Cherry Valley, N. Y., in 1806. Set¬ 
tled in New York city, he was a judge 
of the State Supreme Court. He died 
in Cherry Valley, Sept. 7, 1881. 

Campbell, William Wilfred, a 
Canadian poet; born in Western On¬ 
tario, Canada, in 1861. 

Campbellites,the followers of Rev. 
John McLeod Campbell, of Dumbart¬ 
onshire, who was deposed from the 
Church of Scotland, May 24, 1831, for 
teaching the universality of the Atone¬ 
ment. 

Campbell’s Station, a town in 
Knox county, Tenn., noted for the 
battle fought (Nov. 16, 1863) between 
a Federal army under Burnside and a 
Confederate one under Longstreet, in 
which the Confederates were repulsed 
at nightfall, after sharp fighting. 

Campeacby, or San Francisco 
de Campeche, a seaport on the W. 
side of the peninsula of Yucatan, on 
a bay of the same name. 

Campero, Narciso, a Bolivian 
statesman and soldier; born in Tojo 
(now in Argentina), in 1815. He 
studied and traveled in Europe, t and 
on his return entered the Bolivian 
army, and rose to the rank of Briga¬ 
dier-General. After the overthrow of 
Diaz (1880), he was chosen President 




Camphausen 


Canaanites 


of Bolivia. Internally, his administra¬ 
tion was quiet. 

Campliausen, Wilhelm, a Ger¬ 
man painter; born in Dusseldorf, Feb. 
8, 1818. He was specially famous for 
battle-pieces. He died in Dusseldorf, 
June 16, 1885. 

Camphene, the commercial term 
for purified oil of turpentine, obtained 
by distilling the oil over quicklime to 
free it from resin. 

Camphor, a powerful diffusible 
stimulant and autispasmodic. It en¬ 
ters into union with opium, as a sed- 
aditive, under the name of paregoric. 

Campi, a family of Italian artists 
who founded what is known in paint¬ 
ing as the school of Cremona. 

Campion, Edmund, an English 
Jesuit; born in London, Jan. 25, 1540. 
He was educated at Oxford, and dis¬ 
tinguished himself greatly. Though 
at first a Roman Catholic, he adopted 
the Reformed faith, and took deacon’s 
orders in the Church of England; but 
he afterward recanted, became a Jes¬ 
uit, and attacked Protestantism. He 
was found guilty of conspiring to raise 
sedition, and was executed at Tyburn, 
Dec. 1, 1581. 

Camp Meetings, gatherings of de¬ 
vout persons, held usually in thinly- 
populated districts, and continued for 
several days at a time, with the view 
of securing prolonged and uninterrupt¬ 
ed religious exercises. 

Campo-Formio, a town in Italy, 
66 miles N. E. of Venice, famous for 
the treaty of peace between Austria 
and France, which was signed in its 
neighborhood on Oct. 17, 1797. 

Campos, Arsenio Martinez, a 
Spanish military officer; born in Cu¬ 
ba in 1834. Appointed a lieutenant 
in the army in 1858; became chief of 
the battalion in the Morocco cam¬ 
paign of 1859; was on duty in Cuba 
with the rank of colonel in 1864- 
1870; took part in suppressing the 
Carlist insurrection and was promoted 
brigadier-general in 1870; opposed the 
republic after the abdication of King 
Amadeus, and was imprisoned as a 
conspirator. Under a nlea for per¬ 
mission to be allowed to serve as a 
private, he was released and given 
command of a division. With General 
^ovellar, he called Alphonso XII, to 


the throne; was made commander-in¬ 
chief of the Catalonia district, and 
crushed Don Carlos at Pena de la 
Plata in 1876. In 1877 he was ap¬ 
pointed commander-in-chief in Cuba, 
and brought the revolution there to a 
close. In April, 1895, he was appoint¬ 
ed governor-general and commander- 
in-chief in Cuba, and in January, 
1896, he was recalled to Spain. On 
his arrival in Madrid he repeated his 
belief that the trouble in Cuba could 
only be ended by granting reforms. 
He died Sept. 23, 1900. 

Campo Santo (lit. “Holy 
Field ”), the name given to a burying- 
ground in Italy. 

Campus Martius (the “Field of 
Mars”), an extensive plain or mead¬ 
ow without the walls of Rome, where 
the levies of troops were made by the 
tribunes, where the ballot for the con¬ 
scription was drawn, and where all 
military exercises were performed. It 
was also a gymnasium for youths. It 
was here that the great assemblies of 
the people took place to elect their 
public officers. 

Campus Sceleratus, a name given 
to a spot within the walls of Rome, 
and close by the Porta Collina, where 
those of the vestal virgins who had 
transgressed their vows were entombed 
alive. 

Cam Wood, a wood used for 
making knife-handles and ornamental 
knobs to furniture. It is called also 
Barwood and Ringwood. 

Cana, a town of Palestine celebra- 
ed in Scripture as the scene of our 
Lord’s first miracle, when he turned 
water into wine. 

Canaan, the country W. of the 
Jordan, called also Chanaan, and the 
Land of Canaan, after one of the sons 
of Ham. The Greeks applied the term 
Cana to the entire region between 
the Jordan and the Mediterranean up 
to Sidon, afterward termed by them 
Phenicia, a name which by degrees 
came to be confined to Phenicia proper. 

Canaanites, The, a word used in 
two senses: (1) For the tribe of the 
“Canaanites” only. (2) Applied as 
a general name to the non-Israelite in¬ 
habitants of the land. Instances of 
this are: Genesis xii: 6; Numbers 
xxi; 3. Judges i: 10; and Gene- 




Canada 


Canada 


sis xiii: 12. See also Genesis xxiv: 3, 
37; comp, xxviii: 2, 6; E?odus, xiii: 
11; comp. 5. Like the Phoenicians, 
the Canaanites were probably given 
to commerce. 



MAP SHOWING TRIBAL POSSESSIONS. 


Canada, Dominion of, a Federal 
Union of Provinces and Territories, 
comprising all the British possessions 
in North America, excepting New¬ 
foundland ; bounded by the Arctic, Pa¬ 
cific, and Atlantic oceans, and the 
United States, including Alaska; land 
area, 3,619,818 square miles; number 
of Provinces and Districts, 14; popu¬ 
lation (1891) 4,833,239; (1901) 5,- 
338,883; capital, Ottawa. 

Extending over so large a territory, 
Canada presents a great variety of 
surface. Along the Atlantic coast is 
a range of hills extending inland from 
15 to 20 miles. About 60 miles in¬ 
land, the Cobequid mountains, some 
reaching an altitude of 1,100 feet, ex¬ 
tend in a line parallel to the coast 
from the Bay of Fundy, through Nova 
Scotia to the Strait of Canso. Nova 
Scotia is a long fertile plain. A third 
mountain range crosses New Bruns¬ 
wick from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to 
the State of Maine. An extensive 
plateau intervenes between these 
mountains and the Cobequids, The 


central part of the Dominion consists 
of a vast undulating plain, extending 
W. to the foothills of the Rocky 
Mountains. This section consists of 
three prairie plateaus. The E., 800 
feet high, known as the Red River 
Valley and Lake Winnipeg region, 
contains about 7,000 square miles of 
valuable wheat land. The middle pla¬ 
teau has an area of 105,000 square 
miles, altitude, 1,600 feet, and includes 
the Qu’Appelle and Assiniboia River 
valleys. The third plateau extends 
450 miles E. from the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, and has an average altitude of 
3,000 feet. The Rocky Mountains are 
the most prominent physical features 
of the Dominion, and stretch from 
Alaska to California, some of the 
peaks attaining a height of 16,000 
feet. Among the highest are Mt. 
Hooker, 16,760 feet; Mt. Brown, 16,- 
000 feet, and Mt. Murchison, 15,700 
feet. The Canadian Pacific railroad 
crosses the Rockies through the Kick¬ 
ing Horse Pass, just S. of Mt. Mur¬ 
chison, at an altitude of 5,300 feet. 
Between these mountains and the Pa¬ 
cific coast are the Selkirk Mountains, 
the Gold Range, a central plateau, and 
the Cascade or Coast Range. The Cas¬ 
cade or Coast Range is a continuation 
of the Sierra Nevada of California, 
reaches an altitude of 7,000 feet, and 
contains many extinct volcanoes. The 
Selkirk range has a glacier region of 
greater extent than that of Switzer¬ 
land. The coasts of the Dominion have 
numerous indentations, the largest of 
which are the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
the Gulf of Georgia, the Bay of Fun¬ 
dy, and the Bay of Chaleurs. In the 
N. are many large bays or inland seas, 
of which Baffin Bay, on the N. E., 
and Hudson Bay, near the center of 
the Dominion, are the largest. The 
lakes of Canada are the most exten¬ 
sive in the world; besides the Great 
Lakes, there are many large lakes in 
the Northwest Territories and Mani¬ 
toba. 

Canada is very rich in its mineral 
deposits. The most important min¬ 
erals found are gold, silver, iron, cop¬ 
per, nickel, lead, and coal; besides 
manganese, cobalt, asbestos, pyrites, 
phosphates, building stones, marbles, 
petroleum, and salt. Gold is princi¬ 
pally mined in British Columbia, the 






Canada 


Canada 


newly organized Yukon Territory, and 
Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia gold 
district extends over an area of 6,000 
square miles, and the metal is ex¬ 
tracted from the quartz, in a very 
fine and pure state. Gold is also found 
in rich deposits in the Northwest Ter¬ 
ritories. Extraordinary silver deposits 
are found in several islands on the N. 
shore of Lake Superior and in argen¬ 
tiferous galena in Quebec, Nova Sco¬ 
tia, and British Columbia. Copper 
abounds in British Columbia, Nova 
Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, New Bruns¬ 
wick, and the Northwest Territories. 
The copper found on the N. shore of 
Lake Superior, and in Ontario, is of 
excellent quality. Iron is found in 
great quantities at Hull, Ontario, in 
a bed 90 feet thick. This ore is mag¬ 
netic, yielding 70 per cent pure iron. 
Magnetite is also found in Nova Sco¬ 
tia and New Brunswick. Silver-bear¬ 
ing lead, tin, zinc, and bismuth are 
found in many places. Coal exists in 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British 
Columbia, and the Northwest Terri¬ 
tories. The Nova Scotia and New 
Brunswick fields are of great extent, 
and the value of this output in Brit¬ 
ish Columbia alone is second only to 
that of its gold. Anthracite is found 
in Queen Charlotte and Vancouver 
Islands. 

The soil is generally clay, beneath 
a rich vegetable loam, and is covered 
in its natural state with oak, elm, 
walnut, white wood, pine* fir, and 
maple trees. It is well adapted to 
general agriculture, and is capable of 
the highest cultivation. The climate 
varies greatly. In the S. provinces the 
summers are warm, and, although the 
winters are cold, they are pleasant and 
bracing. In the W. the climate is 
milder than in the rest of the Do¬ 
minion. In the extreme N. the ground 
is covered with snow nearly the entire 
year and the winters are very severe. 
The greater part of the Dominion is 
covered with forests. 

The greater part of Nova Scotia, 
Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, and 
Vancouver Island, beside the country 
lying between Lake Superior and the 
Rocky Mountains, is admirably adapt¬ 
ed to agriculture. And this industry 
is rapidly developing. The fisheries 
are also extensive and profitable. 


Canada has no National system of 
education, but under the British North 
America Act, 1867, the right to legis¬ 
late on matters respecting education 
was placed in the hands of the govern¬ 
ment of the separate provinces. In 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British 
Columbia, and Prince Edward Island, 
the schools are strictly undenomina¬ 
tional. In Manitoba all public schools 
are non-sectarian. In Quebec and On¬ 
tario the schools are non-sectarian, 
but the Protestants and Roman Cath¬ 
olics are allowed separate schools 
within certain limits. 

According to the Dominion census 
of 1901 the Roman Catholic was the 
strongest denomination, numerically, 
followed by the Methodist, Presbyter¬ 
ian, Church of England, Baptist, Luth¬ 
eran, Congregational, Disciples of 
Christ, Protestant Brethren, Jew, Ad¬ 
ventist, Quaker, Universalist, and 
Unitarian. 

There are over 19,500 miles of steam 
railroads, and 46 electric lines with 
700 miles in operation. There are 169 
railways, 25 of which were combined 
to form the Grand Trunk System, and 
28 others formed the Canadian Pa¬ 
cific. 

There are more than 20 canal sys¬ 
tems in Canada. Of these the St. 
Lawrence System is probably the most 
important. It consists of 12 separate 
canals, having a total length of 70 
miles, with 53 locks. 

According to the Canadian Budget, 
the revenue for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1903, amounted to $66,034,- 
108, and the expenditures of the year 
amounted to $51,707,173. The gross 
debt of Canada in 1903 was $361,393,- 
047. The assets in 1903 were 99,- 

943.486, leaving a net debt of 261,- 

943.486. 

The Constitution of Canada is after 
the model of the mother-country. The 
Parliament consists of the King, an 
upper house styled the Senate, and a 
House of Commons. The King is rep¬ 
resented by a governor-general, who 
exercises his authority with the aid 
and advice of a council of ministers, 
styled the King’s Privy Council for 
Canada. The authority of the gov¬ 
ernor-general is largely nominal, the 
government really being carried on by 
the Prime Minister and Council, who 






Canada 


Canada 


are directly responsible to Parliament. 
The cabinet must be supported by a 
majority of the House of Commons, or 
go out of office. The Senate consists 
of not more than 78 members. The 
senators are chosen by the governor- 
general-in-Council, and hold the ap¬ 
pointment for life. Among other qual¬ 
ifications, a senator must have real 
property to the value of $4,000, and 
must be a resident in the province for 
which he is appointed. The Speaker 
of the Senate is nominated by the gov¬ 
ernor-general. The House of Commons 
consists of 215 members. The dura¬ 
tion of a House of Commons is not to 
exceed five years. In July, 1885, an 
Electoral Franchise Act was passed, 
providing for a uniform franchise for 
the whole Dominion in elections for 
the House of Commons. The House 
of Commons elects its own Speaker. 
Any bill passed by the Houses of Par¬ 
liament, even though assented to by 
the governor-general in the King’s 
name, may afterward be disallowed by 
the Imperial Privy Council. 

Each one of the different provinces 
also has an executive and a legis¬ 
lature of its own, presided over by a 
lieutenant-governor, and constituted 
much as before the Union. The lieu¬ 
tenant-governor are appointed by the 
governor-general. In this distribution 
of legislative power between the gen¬ 
eral and the provincial parliaments, 
certain classes of subjects of a local 
nature are assigned exclusively to the 
legislatures of the provinces, while 
subjects of more general concern are 
assumed by the Parliament. The debts 
of the several provinces, at the Union, 
were assumed (with certain limita¬ 
tions) by the Federal Government; 
and, on the other hand, certain duties 
and revenues, and certain public works 
and properties belonging to the several 
provinces before the Union, were taken 
possession of to form a consolidated 
revenue-fund for defraying the inter¬ 
est of these debts, and for other ex¬ 
penditures of the Federal Government. 

On Sept. 1, 1905, Alberta and Sas¬ 
katchewan, formed from the provi¬ 
sional districts of Alberta, Athabaska, 
Assiniboia and Saskatchewan, were 
made provinces. The Yukon Terri¬ 
tory, of which the Klondike is a small 
section, was constituted in 1898. 


The Northwest Territories now 
comprise Mackenzie, Keewatin, Un- 
gava and Franklin. The oldest estab¬ 
lished provinces are Quebec, Ontario, 
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince 
Edward Island, British Columbia and 
Manitoba (see separate titles). Rail¬ 
ways, irrigation, and immigration are 
developing the new provinces and ter¬ 
ritories, north and west. 

The largest cities are Montreal, pop. 
266,826; Toronto, 207,971; Quebec, 
68,834; Ottawa, 59,902, and Hamil¬ 
ton, 52,550. 

In 1534 Jacques Cartier, a French 
navigator, entering the St. Law¬ 
rence on the festival of the saint of 
that title, took nominal possession of 
North America in the name of his 
king, Francis I. In 1608 Quebec was 
founded by De Champlain; in 1623 
he built Fort St. Louis, from which 
stronghold France ruled for 150 years 
a vast region extending E. to Acadia 
(now Nova Scotia), W. to Lake Su¬ 
perior, and ultimately down the Mis¬ 
sissippi as far as Florida and Louis¬ 
iana. The Recollet and Jesuit mis¬ 
sionaries traversed the country, and 
underwent incredible hardships in 
their zeal for the conversion of the 
Indians. These fearless priests were 
the pioneers of civilization in the far 
West, and to La Salle is due the dis¬ 
covery of the Mississippi valley. In 
1670 Charles II. granted the Hudson 
Bay Company the perpetual exclusive 
right of trading in the territory wa¬ 
tered by all the streams flowing into 
Hudson Bay. Garrisoned forts were 
raised at suitable points, and bitter 
enmity between the French and English 
traders led to bloody struggles. The 
wars on the American continent fol¬ 
lowed the course of the wars in Eu¬ 
rope, until the long struggle between 
France and England for the suprem¬ 
acy in America came to a close on the 
“ Plains of Abraham ” in 1759, when 
General Wolfe defeated Montcalm. 
Peace was concluded between Great 
Britain and France, 1763, when Can¬ 
ada was formally ceded to England, 
and Louisiana to Spain. In the same 
year a small portion of the recently 
acquired territory was by royal procla¬ 
mation organized under English laws. 
In 1774 the new province was ex¬ 
tended by parliamentary enactment, 
and that under French laws, down the 




Canada 


Canal 


Ohio to its confluence with the Mis¬ 
sissippi, and up the latter stream to 
its source. Finally, Canada receded 
to its present limits in 1783. In 1791 
Canada was divided under separate 
legislatures into two sections, the E. 
retaining French institutions, and the 
W. receiving those of England; and 
these sections were reunited for legis¬ 
lative purposes in 1841. In 1867 Up¬ 
per and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, 
and New Brunswick were united as 
the Dominion of Canada, and in 1870 
the Hudson Bay Company’s territory 
was divided into Manitoba and the 
Northwest Territories and united to 
the Dominion. British Columbia en¬ 
tered the Union in 1871, and Prince 
Edward Island in 1873. The division 
of the Northwest was attended by the 
rebellions of half-breeds under Louis 
Riel in 1870 and 1885. Fenian raids 
in 1866 and 1870-71 also disturbed the 
peace of the Dominion. In 1893 a 
court of arbitration on the Bering Sea 
Seal Fisheries met in Ottawa. In 
1896 Quebec’s boundaries were ex¬ 
tended to Hudson Bay. In 1897 pref¬ 
erence was given British goods. In 1903 
the Alaskan Boundary dispute was de¬ 
cided in favor of the United States. 

Canada, a Spanish term used to 
indicate a small canon, or valley with 
steep rocky walls. 

Canada Balsam, a pale balsam, 
obtained by incision from a Canadian 
tree, the American silver-fir, sometimes 
called the Balm of Gilead fir. 



CANADA GOOSE. 

Canada Goose, an American wild 
goose 30 to 35 inches long, brownish 
above, lighter below, head, neck, bill, 
and feet black, a white patch on the 
cheek; breeds in the N. of the conti¬ 


nent and migrates S. when the frost 
becomes severe. 

Canada Hemp, a perennial herb, 

of the dogbane family native of 
North America. It has a strong fiber, 
used by the Indians for twine, nets, 
woven fabrics, etc. 

Canada Rice, a floating grass 
growing in lakes and sluggish streams 
in Canada and the Northern United 
States, yielding a grain that forms 
part of the food of the Indians, and is 
eaten by the whites also. 

Canadian Pacific Railway, a 
line of railway which traverses British 
North America from the St. Law¬ 
rence to the Pacific, and opened 
for general traffic in June, 1886. Com¬ 
mencing at Montreal, the line goes to 
Ottawa, thence round the N. of the 
Great Lakes to Port Arthur at the 
head of Lake Superior, and thence to 
Winnipeg, Manitoba, thence to Stephen 
in the Rocky mountains, then across 
British Columbia to Vancouver on the 
Pacific. The length of the line from 
Montreal to Vancouver is 2,909 miles. 

Canadian River, a river that rises 
in the N. E. part of New Mexico, and 
runs generally E. through Texas and 
Indian Territory to the Arkansas. Its 
length is about 900 miles. 

Canaigre, a species of dock, grow¬ 
ing abundantly in New Mexico and 
Texas. The rootstock furnishes a ma¬ 
terial used in tanning. 

Canaille, a French word, denoting 
the most degraded element of the pop¬ 
ulace, and applied to an individual as 
a term of contempt. 

Canal, an artificial water-course or 
channel, especially used for the passage 
of boats. The Egyptians very early 
made a canal connecting the Nile and 
the Red Sea. Most of the ancient na¬ 
tions had canals. The great canal of 
China was constructed partly in the 
7th and partly in the 9th century 
a. d. ; it is 825 miles long. The first 
known English canal was cut by the 
Romans at Caerdike. The Caledonian 
canal projected in 1803 was opened 
in 1822. The Erie canal, so important 
to New York city, was begun in 1817. 
and completed in 1825. The Welland 
canal parallel to Niagara river and 
cataract, and the United States and 
Canadian Sault Ste. Marie canals 







Canandaigua Lake 


Cancel* 


overcoming St. Mary’s Falls, were 
opened in 1833, and 1876, and con¬ 
nect for navigation the Great Lakes 
and the St. Lawrence River basins. 
The Languedoc, or Canal du Midi, 
connecting the Atlantic with the Medi¬ 
terranean, was completed in 1861. The 
Suez canal, connecting the Mediter¬ 
ranean and the Red Sea, was opened 
in 1J569. It is 99 miles long; 26 
feet deep; 327 feet wide for 77 miles; 
and 196 feet for the remainder. Its 
success suggested the cutting of the 
Panama Canal (see article), across 
the isthmus, to join the Pacific and 
Atlantic Oceans. This great undertak¬ 
ing, begun by the renowned engineer 
of the Suez canal, M. de Lesseps, was, 
after a prosecution to a stage near 
completion, abandoned in 1892, as a 
result of a terrific scandal. The great 
Manchester ship canal, extending from 
Eastham to Manchester, England, was 
opened Jan. 1,1894. The Corinth ship 
canal, across the Isthmus of Corinth, 
was opened by King George of Greece, 
Aug. 6, 1893. On June 20, 1895, the 
great Baltic and North Sea canal was 
opened by the German Emperor in the 
presence of a navy representing all na¬ 
tions. Work began on the great Chi¬ 
cago drainage canal Sept. 3, 1892, and 
by Jan. 1, 1900, it was completed; The 
main channel is 29 miles long, of 
which about nine miles was cut 
through solid rock. In rock the mini¬ 
mum depth of the channel is 22 feet, 
with a width of 160 feet on the bottom 
in rock, which makes it the largest 
artificial channel in the world. 

Canandaigua Lake, a lake in 
Western New York, 668 feet above the 
sea and 437 feet above Lake Ontario. 
It lies mostly in Ontario county and 
has an extreme length of 15 miles, and 
a width of one mile. Its outlet is 
Seneca river. 

Canar, a small province of Ecua¬ 
dor, between the provinces of Chimbo¬ 
razo and Azuay ; capital, Azogues. 

Canard, a false report; a silly 
rumor. 

Canary Bird, a singing bird, a 
kind of finch from the Canary Islands. 
They were introduced into Europe 300 
or 400 years ago. 

Canary Flower, an annual climb¬ 
ing plant of the Indian cress family, a 


native of New Granada, cultivated in 
Europe for its showy yellow flowers. 

Canary Islands, a group of islands 
belonging to Spain in the Atlantic 
Ocean, off the N. W. coast of Africa, 
forming a Spanish province. The group 
consists of seven large and several 
small islets, with a joint area of about 
2,800 square miles, and a pop. (1900) 
of 358,564. The principal islands are 
Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Ca¬ 
naria, Tenerifife, Gomera, Palma, and 
Hierro or Ferro. The distance from 
Fuerteventura to the African coast is 
about 62 1 / £ geographical miles. The 
coasts are steep and rocky, and the 
surface is diversified with high moun¬ 
tains, narrow gorges, and deep valleys. 
All the islands are volcanic, and every¬ 
where show plain marks of their 
origin. There are no rivers, and on 
several of the islands water is very 
scarce. 

Teneriffe, the largest island of the 
group, has an area of 877 miles, with 
a population of 112,000. The chief 
town and port is Santa Cruz de San¬ 
tiago, on the S. E. coast. 

Canby, Edward Richard Sprigg, 
an American army officer; born In 
Kentucky, in 1817. He graduated at 
West Point in 1839; served in the 
Mexican War, commanded the United 
States troops in New York city dur¬ 
ing the draft riots of 1863; succeeded 
General Banks in the command of the 
army in Louisiana, 1864; became 
Brigadier-General, 1866. He was 
treacherously shot by an Indian while 
negotiating for the removal of the Mo- 
docs from Northern California, April 
11, 1873. 

Cancan, a dance, something of the 
nature of a quadrille, but accompanied 
by violent leaps and indecorous contor¬ 
tions of the body. 

Cancer, in astronomy, the fourth 
sign in the zodiac. The sun enters 
this sign about June 21. He is at his 
greatest N. declination on entering, 
and the point which he reaches is 
called the summer solstice, because he 
appears for the moment to stop in fiis 
progress N., and turn S. again. 

Cancer, (derived from the Latin 
cancer, a crab), or Carcinoma, in 
medicine and surgery a name which is 
given to a group of malignant diseases, 




Cancer Root 


Candler 


In consequence of their supposed re¬ 
semblance to a crab. In the treatment 
of cancer it is necessary to get the dis¬ 
ease at an early stage of its growth, so 
that it may be thoroughly removed. 
If it is detected and removed at this 
period of its existence it is curable, 
but if the neighboring glands have be¬ 
come involved in the disease the relief 
is only temporary. 

Cancer Root, or Beech Drops, 
a parasitic herb of the order Oroban- 
chese, a native of North America, 
growing on the exposed roots of beech- 
trees. The whole plant is powerfully 
astringent, and the root is especially 
bitter and nauseous. 

Cancrum Oris, (literally “ sore in 
the mouth”), known also as Noma, 
Water-cancer, and Water-canker, a 
peculiar form of mortification, arising 
apparently from defective nutrition. 
The disease seldom occurs except be¬ 
tween the 2d and 11th years, and is 
usually preceded by measles, remit¬ 
tent or intermittent fever, or some 
other serious disease. 

Candace, a name apparently com¬ 
mon to the warrior queens of Ethiopia 
in the later period of the kingdom of 
Meroe. The most distinguished of 
them invaded Egypt 22 b. c., was de¬ 
feated by the Romans and obliged to 
sue for peace, which she obtained, 
with a remission of the tribute imposed 
on her by Petronius. One of her suc¬ 
cessors is mentioned in Acts vii: 27; 
her high treasurer was baptized by 
Philip the Deacon on the road to Gaza. 

Candelabrum, a lamp-stand. IL, 
tripedal form among the ancients is 
believed to have been derived from the 
shape of its predecessors — braziers or 
basins for holding fuel, mounted on 
tripods. 

Candia, or Crete, (called in the 
most ancient times Idaea, from Mount 
Ida, afterward Creta, whence the 
Turkish name Kirid), one of the most 
important islands of the Turkish em¬ 
pire; situated in the Mediterranean, 
81 miles from the S. extremity of the 
Morea, and 230 from the African 
coast. Length 160 miles; breadth 7 to 
35 ; area 3,330 sq. m.; pop. 310,400. In 
1868 a formidable insurrection, fo¬ 
mented by Greece, was with difficulty 
suppressed by the Turks. In conse¬ 


quence of this revolt the Turks grant¬ 
ed to the Cretans a degree of auton¬ 
omy, but Turkish bad faith produced 
another revolt nine years later. At 
that time a new constitution of a par¬ 
liamentary character was inaugurated, 
but many of its provisions were an¬ 
nulled in 1889. In 1896 there was 
again a rising against the Turks, in 
which the Greeks took part. The Greek 
troops landed on the island were with¬ 
drawn at the instance of the Great 
Powers, who undertook to secure an 
autonomous government under Turk¬ 
ish suzerainty and to cause the Turk¬ 
ish troops to be withdrawn. On Sept. 
6, 1898, the Mohammedans of Candia 
rose against the Christians, and the 
fighting resulted in the death of many 
of the latter, including some British 
sailors. The leading powers at once 
demanded the complete withdrawal of 
the Turkish troops who had abetted 
the rebels, and ultimately on Oct. 11, 
the Sultan complied with their de¬ 
mand, the troops being soon after 
withdrawn. Shortly afterward Prince 
George of Greece was appointed high 
commissioner or governor of the island. 

Candidate, a term taken from the 
Latin candidatus, a candidate, liter¬ 
ally a person dressed in white, because, 
among the Romans, a man who soli¬ 
cited an office, such as the praetorship 
or consulship, appeared in a bright 
white garment. 

Candleberry, a shrub, natural or¬ 
der Myricaceae, growing from 4 to 18 
feet high, and common in North Amer¬ 
ica, where candles are made from its 
drupes or berries which are about the 
size of peppercorns, and covered with 
a greenish-white wax. 

Candle Fish, a small fish peculiar 
to the Pacific coast of the United 
States. It is so oily that when dried 
and a wick is drawn through it, it will 
burn like a candle. 

Candlemas, the feast of the puri¬ 
fication of the Virgin, Feb. 2d; so- 
called from being formerly celebrated 
with processions and shows of candles. 
It was instituted in the 6th century. 

Candler, Warren A., an Ameri¬ 
can clergyman: born in Carroll coun¬ 
ty, Ga., Aug. 23, 1857. He was grad¬ 
uated at Emory Colleae in 1875, was 
ordained to the Methodist ministry. 





Candlisb 


Cannon 


and in 1888 was elected a bishop. He 
has been President of Emory College 
since 1888. 


Candlisb, Robert Smith, a 

Scotch clergyman, born in Edinburgh, 
March 23, 1806; was educated at 
Glasgow University. After the death 
of Chalmers, Candlish was the ruling 
spirit in the Free Church. He died 
Oct. 19, 1873. 

Candy, or Kandy, a city of Cey¬ 
lon, near the center of the island, 72 
miles N. E. of Colombo. Pop. (1901) 
26,522. 

Canea, the capital and chief com¬ 
mercial town of Crete, situated on the 
N. W. coast. It occupies the site of 
the ancient Cydonia. Pop. 22,000. 

Canebrake, a colossal reed, which 
reaches a height of 30 or 40 feet, and 
forms dense swamp-jungles in marshy 
places along the banks of the Red 
river, the Arkansas, the Mississippi, 
and their tributaries. 

Canes Venatici, (Latin “the 
Hunting-dogs,” Asterion and Chara), 
one of the northern constellations 
added by Hevelius in 1690, between 
Bootes and Ursa Major. 


Canfield, James Hulme, an 

American educator; born in Delaware, 
O., March 18, 1847; in 1877-1891 he 
was Professor of History in the Um- 
versity of Kansas, and in 1891-189o 
was Chancellor. lie then became 
President of the Ohio State Univer¬ 
sity. He became librarian of Colum¬ 
bia University in 1899. 

Gang, Cangue, or Kea, the wood¬ 
en collar, weighing from 50 to 60 
pounds, and fitting closely round the 
neck, imposed upon criminals in 
China. 

Canicula, the dog-star or Sirius; 
hence Canincular days, the dog-days. 


Canidse, a family of mammals, con¬ 
taining the dogs, wolves, foxes, and 
jackals. 

Canis Major, a constellation of 
the Southern hemisphere, remarkable 
as containing Sirius, the brightest 
st ar .— Canis Minor is a constellation 
in the Northern hemisphere, immedi¬ 
ately above Canis Major, the chief star 
in which is Procyon. 

Canker, (1) in medicine, a collec¬ 
tion of small sloughing ulcers in the 


mouth. (2) In horticulture, a disease 
to which fruit-trees are liable. (3) 
In farriery, a disease in horses’ feet 
causing a discharge of fetid matter 
from the cleft in the middle of the 
frog. 

Canker-worm, a worm or larva de¬ 
structive to trees or plants. 

Cannel Coal, a variety of bitum¬ 
inous coal, containing earthy matters, 
which render it specifically heavier 
than water. It varies much in ap¬ 
pearance. It is very dense and com¬ 
pact, and not easily frangible, break¬ 
ing with an uneven fracture, and does 
not soil the fingers. When burning, 
it splits and crackles, without melting, 
and leaves 3 or 4 per cent, of ash. 

Cannes, a seaport of France, on 
the shore of the Mediterranean, in the 
Department of Alpes-Maritimes; fam¬ 
ous as the place where Napoleon 
landed when he returned from Elba, 
March 1, 1815. Pop. 19,500. 

Cannibalism, the act or practice 
of eating human flesh by mankind. 
When America was discovered, canni¬ 
balism was found to prevail to a very 
great extent. It is stated, on excellent 
authority, to exist in Hayti, and un¬ 
doubtedly prevails among certain 
South American tribes. In many parts 
of Africa, cannibalism is systematic¬ 
ally practised. 

Canning, George, an English or¬ 
ator and statesman; born in London, 
April 11, 1770; educated at Eton and 
at Oxford. He was first brought into 
Parliament by Pitt in 1793, and in 
1796 became Under-Secretary of 
State. In 1797 he projected, with 
some friends, the “ Anti-Jacobin,” of 
which Gifford was appointed editor, 
and to which Canning contributed the 
“ Knife-grinder ” and other poems and 
articles. In 1798 he supported Wil- 
berforce’s motion for the abolition of 
the slave-trade. In 1807 he was ap¬ 
pointed Secretary of State for Foreign 
Affairs. As British Minister of For¬ 
eign Affairs he earnestly advocated 
the principles embodied in the Mon¬ 
roe Doctrine. April 12, 1827, his ap¬ 
pointment to be Prime-Minister was 
announced. He died in Chiswick, 
Aug. 8, 1827. 

Cannon, George Q., born in Liv¬ 
erpool, England, Jan. 11, 1827; re¬ 
moved to the Salt Lake, where he be- 





Cannon 


Canteen 


came a Mormon leader. He was a 
member of the Legislative Council of 
Utah in 1865-1866 and 1869-1872, 
and was a delegate to Congress from 
1865 to 1881. At a Constitutional 
Convention at Salt Lake City in 1872 
he was chosen to present the consti¬ 
tution and memorial to Congress for 
the admission of the Territory into 
the Union as a State. He died in 
Monterey, Cal., April 12, 1901. His 
son, Frank J. Cannon, was elected 
one of the first two United States 
Senators from Utah. 

Cannon, Joseph G., an American 
lawyer; born in Guilford, N. C., May 
7, 1836. He removed to Illinois, and 
was admitted to the bar there. He 
was State Attorney in 1861-1868; was 
elected to the 43rd Congress, and with 
the exception of the session of 1891- 
1893 lias since held the seat. He was 
elected Speaker of the House, in Dec. 
1903. 

Cano, Juan Sebastian del, a 

Spanish navigator, born in Guetaria, 
Guipuzcoa, about -1460. He was one 
of the first to circumnavigate the globe 
(1522). He died on the Pacific, Aug. 
4, 1526. 

Canoe, a boat made of a hollow 
trunk of a tree, or of the bark shaped 
and strengthened. They were original¬ 
ly used by the North American In¬ 
dians. 

Canon, in its original sense, a cane 
or reed used as a measure or rale. 
Specifically, a law or rule in genera). \ 
In ecclesiastical history a canon is al 
book containing the rules of a religi¬ 
ous order used in monastic institu¬ 
tions. A list or catalogue of the can¬ 
onized saints of the Roman Catholic 
Church. A dignitary of the Church; 
one who possesses a prebend, or rev¬ 
enue allotted for the performances of 
divine services in a cathedral or col¬ 
legiate church. 

Canon, the Spanish word for tube, 
funnel, cannon; applied by the Span¬ 
ish Americans, and hence in North 
America generally, to long and narrow 
river gorges or deep ravines with pre¬ 
cipitous and perpendicular sides. 

Canonical Hours, certain stated 
times of the day appropriated by ec¬ 
clesiastical law to the offices of prayer 
and devotion in the Ropian Catholic 
Churcb 


Canonization, a ceremony in the 
Roman Church, by which deceased 
persons are declared saints. 

Canon-law, the body of ecclesias¬ 
tical law as laid down by the canons. 
The oldest canons are called Apostolic 
canons. The canons of the Councils 
of Nice (a. d. 325), Constantinople 
(a. d. 381), Ephesus (a. d. 431), 
and Chalcedon (a. d. 451), obtained 
civil sanction by decree of Justinian. 
Afterward papal decrees of various 
dates were added to the Roman Cath¬ 
olic canon law. 

Canon of Scripture, the term 
canon, as applied to the Scriptural 
writings, has been narrowed in its 
application to those inspired writings 
recognized by Christian believers. 

Canossa, a ruined castle near Reg¬ 
gio, Italy, interesting for its historical 
associations. The Emperor Henry 
IV., excommunicated by Gregory VII., 
humbly waited for three days in its 
courtyard bareheaded, barefooted and 
fasting, until the Pope reversed his 
decision. Hence the term “ going to 
Canossa,” meaning to yield to papal 
wishes or demands. 

Canova, Antonio, an Italian 
sculptor, born in 1757 ; died 1822. He 
was largely self-taught, and at 15 
years of age produced two statues. 
He excelled in whatever style he 
chose, and his versatility is shown in 
the delicate beauty of his famous 
“ Cupid and Psyche ” and the rugged 
strength of his colossal “ Hercules 
throwing Lichas into the Sea.” 

Canso, Cape, the E. extremity of 
Nova Scotia, at the entrance of Ched- 
abucto Bay. Canso Strait or Gut, 
17y 2 miles long and 2 y 2 in average 
breadth, separates Nova Scotia from 
the island of Cape Breton. 

Cantacuzenus, a Greek princely 
family, which gave two emperors to 
Constantinople, and a branch of which 
has been distinguished in the service 
of Russia. In 1903, a scion married 
a granddaughter of General Ulysses 
S. Grant. 

Canteen, in military language, a 
regimental establishment managed by 
a committee of officers, in barracks or 
forts, for the sale of liquors, tobacco, 
groceries, etc. The word is also ap¬ 
plied to a flat can or metallic bottle 
used by soldiers for carrying drinking 





Canterbury 


Caoutchouc 


water. The sale of liquors in the 
United States army establishments 
known as canteens was recently pro¬ 
hibited by law. 

Canterbury, a city and parliamen¬ 
tary and municipal borough of Eng¬ 
land in Kent, 55 miles S. E. of Lon¬ 
don. In the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th 
centuries the city was dreadfully rav¬ 
aged by the Danes, but at the Con¬ 
quest its buildings exceeded in extent 
those of London. The ecclesiastical 
importance of the place was consum¬ 
mated by the murder of Thomas a 
Becket in the cathedral. Henry VIII. 
dissolved the priory in 1539, and or¬ 
dered the bones of Becket to be 
burned; and the troopers of Oliver 
Cromwell made a stable of the cathe¬ 
dral. The cathedral, one of the finest 
ecclesiastical structures in England, 
has been built in different ages, the 
oldest part dating from about 1174. 
The great tower, 235 feet in height, 
is a splendid specimen of the Pointed 
style. Pop. (1901) 24,900. 

Cantbaris, or Spanish Fly. Ex¬ 
ternally used as a rubefacient in the 
form of a liniment, also as a vesicant 
in the form of the common blister. 

Canticle, certain detached psalms 
and hymns used in the service of the 
Angh’can Church. The word is also 
applied to that book of the Old Testa¬ 
ment also known as the “Song of 
Solomon.” 

Canton, called also Yang-Ching, 
city of rams, a large commercial city 
and port in the south of China, and 
capital of the province of Kwang- 
tung, on the N. or left side of the Shu- 
kiang, or Pearl river, in a rich alluvial 
plain, 70 miles N. of Macao and 90 N. 
W. of Hong-kong. The city is sur¬ 
rounded by walls 25 to 40 feet high, 
20 feet thick, with an esplanade in¬ 
side, 6 miles in circumference; and it 
is divided by a partition wall run¬ 
ning E. and W. into two unequal 
parts. There are 12 outer gates, four 
gates in partition wall, and two water 
gates, shut and guarded by night. The 
entire circuit, including suburbs, is 
nearly 10 miles. At the S. W. corner 
of the suburbs S. of the river, are the 
Hongs or European quarter, divided 
from the river by a quay, 100 yards 
wide. The streets, more than 600, 
are in general less than 8 feet wide, 


and very crooked. The houses along 
the water-side are built on piles and 
subject to inundations. Ancient bar¬ 
ricades inclose each street, and in the 
principal streets night-watchmen in 
watch-towers proclaim the hours and 
sound fire alarms. 

The chief exports from Canton are 
tea, silk, sugar, and cassia; the chief 
imports, cotton, woolen and metal 
goods, food-stuffs, opium, kerosene, 
etc. The population of the city, 
which was ravaged by the plague in 
1894 (as was also Hong-kong), is 
stated at 1,800,000, although estimates 
in 1900 placed it at over 2,000,000. 

Canton, city and county-seat of 
Stark county, O.; 60 miles S. of 

Cleveland. It was for many years the 
residence of President McKinley. His 
widow now resides there. 

Canute, or Cnut, King of England 
and Denmark, succeeded his father 
Swegen or Sweyn on his death in Eng¬ 
land in 1014 a. d., and confirmed the 
Danish power in England. He died 
in 1036 at Shaftesbury, leaving Nor¬ 
way to his eldest son, Sweyn; to the 
second, Harold, England; to the third, 
Hardicanute, Denmark. 

Canvas, a kind of coarse, un¬ 
bleached linen cloth, used in old times 
for sifting, now for sails, tents, paint¬ 
ings, etc. 

Canvas-back, a species of duck. 
It is a great favorite with huntsmen 
in the United States. It derives its 
name from the speckled feathers on 
the back. 

Canzona, or Canzone, a short 
song, in which the music is of much 
more importance than the words. 

Canzonet, a short song, one brief 
compared with the sacred airs of the 
oratorio, or with the aria of the Ital¬ 
ian opera. 

Caoutchouc, india-rubber, an elas¬ 
tic, gummy substance, consisting 
of the inspissated juice of various 
more or less milky species of plants. 
It exists to a certain extent in most 
milky plants. Caoutchouc was first 
exported to Europe early in the 18th 
century. Chas. Goodyear invented 
the vulcanizing process, which by com¬ 
pounding with it a small amount of 
sulphur renders it as hard as horn, 
and well adapted for various purposes 
in the arts. 




Cap 


Capella 


Cap, in ships, a strong piece of 
timber placed over the head or upper 
end of a mast, having in it a round 
hole to receive the top or top-gallant 
masts. 

Cape Breton, an island of the 
Dominion of Canada, separated from 
Nova Scotia, to which province it be¬ 
longs, by the narrow Gut or Strait of 
Canso; area 3,120 square miles. Tim¬ 
ber, fish, and coal are exported. The 
island belonged to France from 1632 
to 1763, and Louisburg, its capital, 
was long an important military post. 
It was separate from Nova Scotia be¬ 
tween 1784 and 1820. Chief town, 
Sydney. Pop. of Cape Breton, 84,500. 

Cape Coast Castle, a settlement 
of Great Britain in the Gold Coast 
Colony, in Upper Guinea, 315 miles 
W. of Lagos. The place lies in a 
chasm, and is defended by the great 
castle near the water’s edge, and by 
three small forts on the hills behind. 
Ceded by the Dutch to the English 
in 1665, Cape Coast Castle, from 1672, 
was possessed by several British Afri¬ 
can companies till 1843, when it was 
taken over by government. In 1875 
it was superseded by Accra as capital 
of the Gold Coast. Pop. 11,614. 

Cape Cod, a noted peninsula of the 
United States on the S. side of Massa¬ 
chusetts Bay; 65 miles long and from 
1 to 20 broad. 

Cape Colony, a British colony at 
the S. extremity of Africa, washed on 
the W., S., and E., by the ocean. The 
colony extends about 450 miles from 
N. to S. and 600 from E. to W.; the 
coast line is about 1,300 miles. The 
area is 276.000 square miles; the pop. 
(1901) 2.350,000. 

The colony is better adapted for 
pasturage than for agriculture. All 
kinds of vegetables and pot herbs, and 
all the fruits of temperate climates 
thrive excellently, and fruits, dried 
and preserved, are exported. The vine 
is cultivated, and some excellent wines 
are made. 

Sheep-rearing is the most important 
industry, and wool is the chief export 
(although surpassed in value by dia¬ 
monds). Cattle-breeding is carried 
on to some extent, especially along the 
coasts and in the E. and N. districts. 
There are no manufactures of any im¬ 
portance. 


The European inhabitants consist 
in part of English, Scottish, and Irish 
settlers and their descendants, but the 
majority are of Dutch origin, while 
there are also a considerable number 
of German origin. The colored peo¬ 
ple are qliiefly Hottentots, Kaffirs, Be- 
chuanas, Basutos, Griquas, Malays, 
and a mixed race, the offspring of 
black women and white fathers. 

The constitution which was formed 
under the acts passed in the years 
1853, 1865, and 1872 vests the execu¬ 
tive in the governor and an executive 
council composed of office-holders ap¬ 
pointed by the crown. The legislative 
power is 'in the hands of a legislative 
council of 23 members, elected for 
seven years, and a house or assembly 
of 95 members, elected for a term of 
five years. 

The Dutch, who had early fixed 
upon the Cape as a watering-place for 
their ships, first colonized it under 
Van Riebeek, in 1652. It was cap¬ 
tured by the British in 1795. restored 
at the peace of Amiens (1802), and 
again taken in 1806. From this time 
it has remained in the possession of 
Great Britain, to which it was for¬ 
mally assigned in 1815, along with 
Dutch Guiana. Subsequently the area 
of the colony was gradually enlarged 
by the annexation of surrounding dis¬ 
tricts. 

Cape Fear River, a river of 
North Carolina; navigable for steam¬ 
boats for 120 miles from its mouth. 

Cape Finistere, the westernmost 
point of Spain, in the province of Co¬ 
runna, extending S. W. into the At¬ 
lantic. 

Cape Hatteras, a dangerous cape 
on the coast of North Carolina off 
which many wrecks have occurred. 

Cape Haitien, a town on the N. 
coast of Haiti. It has an excellent 
harbor. Pop. about 15,000. 

Cape Horn, or The Horn, the ex¬ 
tremity of an island of the same name, 
forming the extreme S. point of South 
America. It is a dark, precipitous 
headland, 500 to 600 feet high, run¬ 
ning far into the sea. Navigation 
round it is dangerous on account of 
frequent tempests. 

Capella, the name of a star situa¬ 
ted in the constellation Auriga, and is 
of remarkable brilliancy. 






Cape Matapan 


Cape Verde Islands 


Cape Matapan, a promontory of 
Greece, forming the S. extremity of 
the Peloponnesus. 

Capen, Elmer Hewitt, an Amer¬ 
ican educator, born in Stoughton, 
Mass., April 5, 1838; graduated at 
Tufts College, and became a lawyer 
and later a Universalist clergyman. 
From 1875 he was president of Tufts 
College. He died Mar. 22, 1905. 

Capen, Nahum, an American his¬ 
torical writer; born at Canton, Mass., 
1804; was postmaster of Boston, 
Mass.; introduced street letter-box 
collections. He died Jan. 4, 1886. 

Cape Nome, a cape and center of 
a remarkably rich gold mining region, 
on the S. face of the peninsular pro¬ 
jection of Alaska, which separates 
Kotzebue Sound on the N. from Ber¬ 
ing Sea on the S., and terminates on 
the W. in Cape Prince of Wales. 

In a direct line of navigation, it lies 
about 2,500 miles N. W. of Seattle, 
and 175 miles S. E. of Siberia. The 
nearest settlement of consequence to 
it prior to 1899 was St. Michael, 100 
miles to the S. E., but that year vari¬ 
ous mining camps built them¬ 
selves up in closer range and reduced 
the distance some 60 miles. The Nome 
district as settled centers about the 
lower course of the Snake river, which 
discharges into the sea at a position 
13 miles W. of Cape Nome proper. 

The first discovery of gold was made 
in September, 1898, but it was not un¬ 
til July, 1899, that the beach gold was 
discovered. In the middle of October 
following Nome City had 5,000 inhabi¬ 
tants. The yield of gold has been very 
great, and the district is being exten¬ 
sively exploited. 

Cape Nun, a headland on the W. 
coast of Morocco, extending into the 
sea at the S. W. extremity of the At¬ 
las range. 

Cape of Good Hope, a promon¬ 
tory near the S. extremity of Africa, 
at the termination of a small penin¬ 
sula extending S. from Table moun¬ 
tain, which overlooks Cape Town. 
Bartholomew Diaz, who discovered the 
Cape in 1487, called it Cape of 
Storms; but John II. of Portugal 
changed this to its present designation. 
It was first doubled by Vasco de Gama 
in 1497. Here is one of the principal 
astronomical institutions of the world. 


Cape Ortegal, a rugged promon¬ 
tory forming the N. extremity of 
Spain, extending into the Bay of Bis¬ 
cay. 

Caper, the unopened flower-bud of 
a low trailing shrub which grows in 
the countries bordering the Mediter¬ 
ranean. Pickled in vinegar and salt 
they are much used as a condiment. 

Capercailzie, a species of grouse, 
of large size, formerly indigenous in 
the highlands of Scotland, but which 
became extinct, and had to be reintro¬ 
duced from the Scandinavian Penin¬ 
sula. 

Cape River, or Rio de Segovia, 

a river of Nicaragua, which after a 
generally N. E. course of nearly 300 
miles enters the Caribbean Sea, after 
forming part of the boundary between 
Honduras and Nicaragua. 

Capernaum, a city of Galilee in 
Palestine, about 70 miles N. by E. of 
Jerusalem, situated on the N. W. 
shore of the Sea of Tiberias. It was 
here that Jesus Christ began his pub¬ 
lic ministry; and in its neighborhood 
he delivered the Sermon on the Mount 

Capers, Ellison, an American cler¬ 
gyman ; born in Charleston, S. C., 
Oct. 14, 1837. He entered the Prot¬ 
estant Episcopal ministry in 1867, 
and was chosen bishop of South Caro¬ 
lina in 1893. 

Cape St. Vincent, the S. W. point 
of Portugal. 

Capet, the name of the French race 
of kihgs which has given 118 sover¬ 
eigns to Europe, viz., 36 kings of 
France, 22 kings of Portugal, 11 of 
Naples and Sicily, 5 of Spain, 3 of 
Hungary, 3 emperors of Constantino¬ 
ple, 3 kings of Navarre, 17 dukes of 
Burgundy, 12 dukes of Brittany, 2 
dukes of Lorraine, and 4 dukes of 
Parma. 

Cape Town, a city and capital of 
Cape Colony, South Africa; between 
the N. base of Table Mountain and 
Table Bay. Pop. with suburbs, 83,- 
718. 

Cape Verde, the most westerly 
headland of Africa, jutting out into 
the Atlantic Ocean, between $e rivers 
Gambia and Senegal. 

Cape Verde Islands, a group in 
the North Atlantic Ocean, belonging 
to Portugal, about 370 miles W. of 





Cape Wrath 


Capitol 


Cape Verde, which, as well as the is¬ 
lands, derives its name from the green¬ 
ish tinge given to the adjoining sea by 
the abundance of sea-weed. The group 
consists of 14 islands, besides islets 
and rocks, having a united area of 
about 1,790 square miles. They are, 
in general, mountainous, rocky, and 
very ill supplied with water; all are 
evidently of volcanic origin. The cli¬ 
mate is exceedingly unhealthy, and 
droughts are of frequent occurrence. 
The pop. (1900, 147,424) is a mixed 
race of Portuguese and negroes. These 
islands were discovered in 1450. Dur¬ 
ing the early part of the war between 
the United States and Spain (1898), 
the islands were made the rendezvous 
of the Spanish fleet under Cervera. 

Cape Wrath, a pyramidal promon¬ 
tory of unrivaled wildness and gran¬ 
deur, the N. W. extremity of Scotland 
and running out into the Atlantic. 

Capillaries. The tubes which con¬ 
vey the blood from the left side of the 
heart to the various parts of the body 
are called arteries, while those which 
return it to the right side of the heart 
are known as veins. The name capil¬ 
laries is given to the minute vessels 
which form the connection between 
the terminal branches of the arteries 
and the commencement of the trunks 
of the veins. 

Capita, an expression of frequent 
occurrence in laws regulating the dis¬ 
tribution of the estates of persons dy¬ 
ing intestate. When all the persons 
entitled to shares in the distribution 
are of the same degree of kindred to 
the deceased person, and claim di¬ 
rectly from him in their own right, 
and not through an intermediate rela¬ 
tion, they take per capita, that is, 
in equal shares, or share and share 
alike. 

Capital, the surplus of individual 
or national wealth which remains af¬ 
ter current necessities have been met. 
It consists of what are popularly 
called savings. It is available for the 
employment of new labor, and if this 
be done judiciously it will produce a 
further surplus; or, in other words, 
the capital will increase. In every 
well ordered community it tends to do 
so indefinitely. Capital and labor mu¬ 
tually require each other, and are not 
natural foes, but natural friends. 


Capital, in geography, a city in 
which reside the highest authorities 
of a district, province, country, etc. 

Capital Punishment. The pun¬ 
ishment of crime by death. In the 
United States the method is usually 
by hanging, except in New York, Ohio 
and some other States, where elec¬ 
tricity is used. In Utah and the In¬ 
dian Territory shooting is also a legal 
form of death penalty. Capital punish¬ 
ment has been abolished in Rhode Is¬ 
land, Maine, Michigan, and Wiscon¬ 
sin, except that in Rhode Island a life 
prisoner who commits murder can be 
hanged. 

Capitation-grant, a grant of so 

much per head; specifically applied to 
grants from government or governing 
bodies to schools according to the 
number of scholars in attendance, or 
to the number of those passing a cer¬ 
tain test examination, and to volun¬ 
teer companies on account of such 
members as reach the stage of “ effi¬ 
cients.” 

Capitation-tax, a tax or impost 
upon each head or person. Generally 
called a poll-tax in the United States. 

Capito, or Kopfel, Wolfgang 
Fabricus, an Alsatian reformer; born 
in Haguenau in 1478, entered the 
Benedictine order, and became Profes¬ 
sor of Theology at Basel, He approved 
of Luther’s action, but nevertheless in 
1519 entered the service of Albert of 
Mainz; and it was not till some years 
later that he finally declared for the 
Reformation. He died in Strasburg 
in November, 1541. 

Capitol. A Roman height on 
which was erected a famous temple of 
Jupiter. The word is also applied to 
the building in which the Congress of 
the United States holds its sessions. # 

The S. E. corner-stone of the Capi¬ 
tol was laid Sept. 18, 1793, “ by 
Brother George Washington, assisted 
by the Worshipful Masters and Free 
Masons of the surrounding cities, the 
military, and a large number of peo¬ 
ple.” The N. wing was ready for oc¬ 
cupancy in 1800, the S. wing in 1808; 
but both were partially destroyed by 
the British in 1814. The foundation 
of the main building was laid in 1818 
(March 24), the restoration of the 
wings having been commenced three 
years earlier; and the whole was com- 






Capitoline Games 


Capron 


pleted in 1827. July 4, 1851, the cor¬ 
ner-stone of the S. extension was laid 
by President Fillmore, and this was 
finished in 1857. The N. extension 
was occupied by the Senate in 1859. 
The present dome, commenced in 1855, 
was completed eight years later, and 
Dec. 12, 1863, the American flag float¬ 
ed from its summit. The cost of the 
entire building was $13,000,000: main 
building, $3,000,000; dome, $1,000,- 
000; extensions, $8,000,000; miscel¬ 
laneous items, $1,000,000. The length 
of the entire building is 751 feet 4 
inches; its greatest breadth, 324 feet, 
and it covers a little over 3% acres. 
The distance from the ground to the 
top of the dome is 307% feet; the 
diameter of the dome, 135% feet. The 
buildings in which state legislatures 
meet are also called capitols, but in 
New England usually “ State Houses.” 

Capitoline Games, annual public 
sports, instituted at Rome 387 b. c., 
at the suggestion of Camillus, in honor 
of Jupiter Capitolinus, and to com¬ 
memorate the preservation of the city 
from the Gauls. They fell into disuse 
for a time, but were revived by Nero. 

Capitularies, the name given to 
the laws, or royal enactments, issued 
by the Frankish kings. 

Capo d’Istrias, Ioannes An¬ 
tonios, Count, was born in Corfu, 
Feb. 11, 177G; president of the Greek 
republic from 1828 to 1831. He de¬ 
voted himself to political life, and in 
1809 entered the diplomatic service of 
Russia. Here his policy tended to the 
separation of Greece from Turkey. In 
1828 he entered on a seven years’ 
presidency of Greece; but imbued as 
he was with Russian ideas, he aroused 
discontent by his autocratic measures; 
and on Oct.* 9, 1831, he was assassin¬ 
ated in a church at Nauplia. 

Capote, Domingo Mendez, a 
Cuban statesman; born in Cardenas 
in 1863 ; spent his youth there; was 
graduated at the University of Ha¬ 
vana, and became one of the best 
known lawyers in Cuba. Subsequent¬ 
ly he was a professor in the Univer¬ 
sity of Havana for many years. In 
December, 1895, he joined the insur¬ 
gents under Gen. Maximo Gomez; be¬ 
came a Brigadier-General; and was 
appointed civil governor of Matanzas 
and of Las Villas. In November, 1897, 


he was elected Vice-President of the 
Cuban Republic. When the Cuban 
Constitutional Convention appointed a 
commission of five members to confer 
with President McKinley and Secre¬ 
tary Root concerning the future rela¬ 
tions of the United States and Cuba, 
he became its leader. The conference 
was held in Washington, D. C., in 
April, 1901. 

Cappadocia, in antiquity, one of 
the most important provinces in Asia 
Minor, the greater part of which is in¬ 
cluded in the modern province of Ka- 
raman. It was conquered by Cyrus, 
and was ruled by independent kings 
from the time of Alexander the Great 
until 17 A. d., when it became a Ro¬ 
man province. 

Capri, an island in the beautiful 
Gulf of Naples, remarkable for sev¬ 
eral remarkable caverns or grottoes in 
its steep rocky coast. 

Capricornus “ the Goat,” one of 
the 12 signs of the Zodiac, between 
Sagittarius and Aquarius; also the 
corresponding zodiacal constellation, 
one of Ptolemy’s original 48. 

Caprimulgidse, the goat-suckers, a 
family of birds, nearly allied to the 
swallow tribe. 

Caprivi, Georg Leo, Graf von 

sometimes called Caprivi de Caprara 
de Montecuculi, a German soldier 
and statesman; born in Berlin, Feb. 
24, 1831; entered the army in 1849; 
and in 1883 he became commander of 
his old army corps. Hence he was 
removed, on the fall of Bismarck, in 
1890, to become Imperial Chancellor 
and Prussian Prime Minister. His 
principal measures were the army 
bills of 1892 and 1893, and the com¬ 
mercial treaty with Russia in 1894, in 
which year he resigned. He died at 
Skyren, Feb. 6, 1899. 

Capron, Allen Kissam, an Amer¬ 
ican military officer (son of Allyn 
Capron) ; born in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
June 24, 1871. He enlisted as a pri¬ 
vate (1890), and rose to a sec¬ 
ond lieutenancy (1893), joining the 
“ Rough Riders ” on the outbreak of 
the war with Spain. He was made a 
captain for bravery, and was killed at 
Las Guasimas, Cuba, June 24, 1898. 

Capron, Allyn, an American mili¬ 
tary officer; born in Tampa, Fla., 
Aug. 27, 1846. He was a son of Capt 




Capsicum 


Carabo*,., 


Erastus A. Capron, killed in the Mex¬ 
ican war, and was graduated at West 
Point in 18(37. He rose to the rank of 
captain (1888), and in the war with 
Spain led an advance at the battle of 
Santiago. He further distinguished 
himself at El Caney. He contracted 
typhoid in Cuba and died at Fort 
Myer, Va., Sept. 18, 1898. 

Capsicum, a genus of plants bear¬ 
ing membranous pods containing sev¬ 
eral seeds, noted for their hot, pungent 
qualities. 

Capstan, a strong, massive appara¬ 
tus of wood or iron made to revolve, 
and thus raise a heavy weight by 
winding a rope round it. It is espe¬ 
cially used on shipboard for weighing 
the anchor. 


amphitheatre, said to have been capa¬ 
ble of containing 100,000 spectators, 
and of some of its tombs, attest its 
former splendor and magnificence. It 
was destroyed by the Saracens, a. d. 
840. 

Capuchin Monkey, a name given 
to various species of South American 
monkeys of the genus Cebus. The hair 
of their heads is so arranged that it 
has the appearance of a capuchin’s 
cowl, hence the name. 

Capuchins, a branch of the Fran¬ 
ciscan order of monks, founded by 
Matthew de Baschi, an Italian. So 
called from their peculiar capuche or 
cowl — a pointed hood attached to the 
ordinary Franciscan coat, and said to 
have been worn by St. Francis himself. 



HALL IN BATHS 

Captain, one who is at the head or 
has authority over others, especially: 
(1) The military officer who com¬ 
mands a company, whether of infan¬ 
try, cavalry, or artillery. (2) An of¬ 
ficer in the navy commanding a ship 
of war. (3) The master of a mer¬ 
chant vessel. 

Capua (ancient Capoa or Capua), 
a strongly fortified city of Southern 
Italy, on the left bank of the Voltur- 
no, in a fine plain 18 miles N. of Na¬ 
ples. The city has a citadel, the work 
of Vauban, and is reckoned one of the 
keys of the kingdom. The ancient Ca¬ 
pua was situated about 2^ miles from 
the modern city. The remains of its 


OF CAKACALLA. 

Capulets and Montagues, the 

English spelling of the names of the 
Cappelletti and Montecchi, two noble 
families of Northern Italy, according 
to tradition of Verona, chiefly mem¬ 
orable from their connection with the 
legend on which Shakespeare has 
founded his tragedy of “ Romeo and 
Juliet.” 

Carabobo, a State of Venezuela, 
between the Caribbean Sea and the 
State of Zamora; area, 2,974 square 
miles; population, 198,021, mostly in¬ 
habiting the fertile depression of Lake 
Valencia, where large crops of coffee, 
sugar, and excellent cacao are grown. 
Capital, Valencia. 
























































































Caracal 


Caravel 


Caracal, a species of lynx, of a 
reddish-brown color, with black ears, 
tipped with long black hair. It is a 
native of Africa, India, Persia, and 
Turkey. 

Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius An¬ 
toninus, eldest son of the Emperor 
Severus, was born in Lyons, A. D. 188. 
On the death of his father he succeed¬ 
ed to the throne with his brother, An¬ 
toninus Geta, whom he speedily mur¬ 
dered. To effect his own security up¬ 
wards of 20,000 other victims were 
butchered. He was himself assassin¬ 
ated by Macrinus, the pretorian pre¬ 
fect, near Eaessa, in 217. Among the 
buildings of Caracalla in Rome, the 
baths—Thermae Caracallae—near Por¬ 
ta Capena, were most celebrated, and 
their ruins are still magnificent. 

Caracas, the capital of the Repub¬ 
lic of Venezuela and of the Federal 
District, 6 miles (24 by rail) S. of La 
Guaira, its port. Built on the S. slope 
of the Avila (8,635 feet), it is 3,025 
feet above the tide-level. The streets, 
built at right angles, are broad and 
well paved. There are a handsome 
promenade and numerous public parks 
and gardens; excellent water and gas 
plants; street railways; and the ter¬ 
mini of several steam railways. Pop¬ 
ulation 72,429. 

Caracci, Ludovico, Agostino, 
and Annibale, born about the mid¬ 
dle of the 16th century, were three of 
the first painters of Italy, kinsmen, 
fellow-students, and co-laborers, na¬ 
tives of Bologna, and founders of the 
Bolognese School. 

Caraccioli, Francesco, an Ital¬ 
ian admiral, born in Naples about 
1748. When Ruffo took Naples in 
1799 Caraccioli was arrested, and, 
contrary to the terms of capitulation, 
was condemned to death, and hanged 
at the yard-arm of a Neapolitan fri¬ 
gate, Lord Nelson consenting to his 
execution, June 29, 1799. 

Caractacus, a king of the Britons, 
for nine years (43-50 A. d.). warred 
gallantly against the Roman invaders, 
but at length was completely over¬ 
thrown by Ostorius in a battle near 
the border of South Wales. His wife 
and daughters fell into the hands of 
the victors, and his brothers surren¬ 
dered. Caractacus himself fled to 
Cartismandua, queen of the Brigan- 
K 29 . 


tes, who delivered him up. He was 
carried to Rome, 51 A. D., and exhib¬ 
ited in a triumphal procession by the 
Emperor Claudius, who was greatly 
impressed by his dauntless bearing and 
language. According to tradition he 
died in Rome about a. d. 54. 

Caramel, the name of a certain 
preparation of candy. 

Carat, a weight of 3^ grains; the 
tweny-fourth part of an ounce. It is 
used by jewelers to express the fine¬ 
ness of gold, the whole mass being 
supposed to be divided into 24 parts, 
and said to be so many carats fine, 
according to the number of twenty- 
fourth parts of pure gold contained in 
it. Twenty-four carat means all 
gold, 18 carat three-quarters gold. 

Carausius, a Roman general, a na¬ 
tive of Batavia. He was sent by the 
Emperor Maximilian to defend the At¬ 
lantic coasts against the Franks and 
Saxons; but foreseeing impending dis¬ 
grace, he landed in Britain and had 
himself proclaimed emperor by his le¬ 
gions (287 a. d.). In this province 
he was able to maintain himself six 
years, when he was assassinated at 
York by one of his officers named Al- 
lectus (293 a. d.). 

Caravaggio, Micbel Angelo 
Amerighi, or Merighi da, a cele¬ 
brated painter, born in Caravaggio in 
1569. He died near Rome in 1609. 

Caravan, a Persian word used to 
denote large companies which travel 
together in Asia and Africa for the 
sake of security from robbers, having 
in view, principally, trade or pilgrim¬ 
ages. Camels are used as a means of 
conveyance on account of their re¬ 
markable powers of endurance. 

Caravansary, or Caravansera, a 
large public building, or inn, for the 
reception and lodgment of caravans in 
the desert. Though serving instead 
of inns, there is this essential differ¬ 
ence between them, that the traveler 
finds nothing in the caravansary for 
the use either of himself or his cattle, 
but must carry all his provisions and 
necessaries with him. Caravansaries 
are also numerous in cities, where 
they serve not only as inns, but as 
shops, warehouses, and even ex¬ 
changes. 

Caravel, the name of different 
kinds of vessels, particularly a small 





Caraway 


Cardamine 


ship used by the Spaniards and Portu¬ 
guese in the 15th and 16th centuries 
for long voyages. It was in com¬ 
mand of three caravels that Columbus 
crossed the Atlantic and discovered 
America. 

Caraway, a plant valued and culti¬ 
vated for the sake of the well-known 
aromatic “ caraway seeds ” which it 
bears; these being, however, in strict¬ 
ness not seeds, but the mericarps, into 
which the fruit in this order splits 
when ripening. Caraways are chiefly 
used entire as a spice by bakers and 
confectioners. 

Carbide, a compound formed by 
the union of carbon with an element, 
as iron or hydrogen. 

Carbine, a fire-arm used by cav¬ 
alry and artillery, shorter in the bar¬ 
rel than the ordinary musket or rifle. 
It was used by light cavalry as early 
as the 16th century. 

Carbineers, or Carabineers, for¬ 
merly light horsemen, used chiefly to 
watch and harass the enemy, defend 
narrow passes, and act as skirmish¬ 
ers. 

Carbolic Acid, obtained by the dry 
distillation of salicylic acid. It is 
also formed by the dry distillation of 
coal, in the coal-tar oil. It is used as 
a disinfectant, and to preserve meat, 
etc. Taken internally it soon proves 
fatal, and its use should therefore be 
carefully guarded. 

Carbon, the name of the element 
which exists, more or less pure, in 
charcoal, coke, coal and such bodies. 
It is very widely distributed, and is 
an essential constituent of the tissues 
of plants and animals. It also occurs 
in the mineral kingdom, chiefly as car¬ 
bonic acid, which is either free, as 
in the atmosphere; or combined, as in 
limestone, dolomite, marble, and all 
the other carbonates. 

Carbonari, the name given to a 
secret political association, formed in 
Italy at the beginning of the 19th cen¬ 
tury, its professed aim being the re¬ 
organization and reform of the gov¬ 
ernment of that country. 

Carboniferous, a term applied to 
the extensive and thick series of strata 
with which seams of paleozoic coal are 
more or less immediately associated. It 
is applied as well to that great sys¬ 


tem of formations which yield our 
main supply of coal, or to some di¬ 
visions of that system, such as the 
Carboniferous limestone and the Car¬ 
boniferous slates. It is also applied 
to the fossils found in any stratum 
belonging to the system. 

Carborundum, an artificial abra¬ 
sive, composed of carbon and clay 
fused together at a high temperature. 

Carboy, a large and somewhat 
globular bottle of green glass pro¬ 
tected by an outside covering of wick¬ 
erwork or other material, for carry¬ 
ing vitriol or other corrosive liquid. 

Carbuncle, a beautiful gem of a 
deep-red color with a mixture of scar¬ 
let, found in the East Indies. When 
held up to the sun it loses its deep 
tinge, and becomes exactly the cplor 
of a burning coal. The carbuncle of 
the ancients is suj>posed to have been 
a garnet. 

Carbuncle, in surgery, an inflam¬ 
mation of the true skin and tissue be¬ 
neath it akin to that occurring in 
boils. It is more extensive than the 
latter, and instead of one has several 
cores. It is associated with a bad 
state of general health, from which 
condition its danger arises, for it may 
threaten life by exhaustion or blood 
poisoning. 

Carburetted Hydrogen, the name 
given to two compounds of carbon and 
hydrogen, one known as light car¬ 
buretted hydrogen, and the other as 
olefiant gas. 

Carcajou, a species of badger 
found in North America. 

Carcanet, a necklace or collar of 

jewels. 

Carcass, in military language, an 
iron case, with several apertures, 
filled with combustible materials, 
which is discharged from a mortar, 
howitzer, or gun, and intended to set 
fire to buildings, ships, and wooden de¬ 
fenses. 

Card, an instrument for combing, 
opening, and breaking wool, flax, etc., 
and freeing it from the coarser parts 
and from extraneous matter. It is 
made by inserting bent teeth of wire 
in a thick piece of oblong board to 
which a handle is attached. 

Cardamine, a pretty meadow 
plant, with large pale lilac flowers. 





Cardamoms 


Cardinal Virtues 


Cardamoms, the aromatic capsules 
of different species of plants of the 
natural order gingers employed in 
medicine as well as an ingredient in 
sauces and curries. 

Cardboard, pasteboard paper 
stiffened by several layers being joined 
together. 

Cardenas, a seaport of Cuba, on 
the N. coast, 75 miles E. of Havana, 
with which it is connected by rail. It 
has a good harbor, and exports sugar. 
Pop. (1899), 24,801, mostly whites. 
During the blockade of the Cuban 
coast in the war between the United 
States and Spain a severe engagement 
took place here on May 11, 1898. 

Cardia, the heart; also the upper 
orifice of the stomach, called, on ac¬ 
count of its vicinity to the heart, by 
the same Greek name. 

Cardiff, (“the city on the Taff ”), 
a municipal and parliamentary bor¬ 
ough and seaport, the county town of 
Glamorganshire, Wales, situated at 
the mouth of the Taff on the estuary 
of the Severn. It is a rapidly increas¬ 
ing town, and the principal outlet for 
the mineral produce and manufactures 
of South Wales. Iron shipbuilding is 
carried on, and there are iron and 
other works on a large scale. Pop. 
(1901) 164,420. 

Cardiff Giant, the name given to 
a rude statue 10 ^ feet high, dug up, 
in 1869, at Cardiff, N. Y., and exhibit¬ 
ed for months as a petrifaction. The 
persons who thus deluded the public 
at last confessed that the “ Giant ” 
had been cut from a block of gypsum 
quarried at Fort Dodge, la., sculp¬ 
tured at Chicago, conveyed to Cardiff, 
and there buried and “ accidentally 
discovered.” 

Cardigan, James Thomas Bru- 
denell, seventh Earl of, born in 
Hampshire, Oct. 16, 1797; sat in the 
House of Commons from 1818 to 1837, 
when he succeeded his father. He en¬ 
tered the army in 1824, and rapidly 
bought himself into the command of 
the 15th Hussars, which he resigned 
in 1833, on the acquittal of an officer 
whom he had illegally put under ar¬ 
rest. He commanded a cavalry bri¬ 
gade under Lord Lucan in the Crimea, 
and led the famous charge of the Six 
Hundred at Balaklava He was in¬ 
spector-general of cavalry. 1855-1860, 


and died in Deene Park, March 28, 
186S. 

Cardigan Bay, a semicircular 
bend at St. George’s Channel, on the 
W. coast of Wales, 54 miles wide from 
N. to S., and 35 miles deep, with a 
sweep of coast of 130 miles. 

Cardinal, one of the body of coun¬ 
sellors of the Pope who, next to him, 
hold the highest dignity in the church. 
According to the present law the 
appointment of cardinals rests with 
the Pope, who generally consults the 
existing cardinals, and often receives 
proposals from secular governments. 
The cardinals in Conclave elect the 
new Pope, have constant access to 
him, and form his chief council. They 
have a vote at general councils, and 
since the 13th century, precedence 
over all other members. They have 
had since Urban VIII. the title of 
“ Eminence.” The body of cardinals 
is called the Sacred College. Their 
insignia are the red cardinal’s hat, 
which is given them by the Pope, and 
not worn, but suspended in the church 
of their title, and finally buried with 
them; the red biretta, the sapphire 
ring, the mitre of white silk, etc. If 
a cardinal holds an episcopal see, he 
must reside there; otherwise he must 
not leave Rome without permission. 
At the head of the college of cardinals 
stands the dean, who is usually Bishop 
of Ostia and senior of the cardinal 
bishops. It is he who consecrates the 
newly-elected Pope, if not already a 
bishop. In the United States the first 
cardinal was McCloskey (187b) ; the 
second, Gibbons (1886). Gibbons was 
the first American cardinal to take 
part in the election of a pope — that 
of Pius X. in 1903. 

Cardinal Bird, a North American 
bird of the finch family, with a fine 
red plumage, and a crest on the head. 
Its song resembles that of the night¬ 
ingales, hence one of its common 
names. 

Cardinal Points, the N., S., E., 
and W. points of the horizon; the 
four intersections of the horizon with 
the meridian and the prime vertical 
circle. 

Cardinal Virtues, or Principal 
Virtues, in morals, a name applied 
to justice, prudence, temperance, and 
fortitude. 






Carding 


Carib 


Carding, the process wool, cotton, 
flax, etc., undergo previous to spinning 
to lay the fibers all in one direction, 
and remove all foreign substances. 

Carditis, inflammation of the heart 
substance. 

Cardoon, a perennial plant belong¬ 
ing to the same genus as the artichoke, 
and somewhat resembling it. It is a 
native of Canada. 

Cards, oblong pieces of pasteboard, 
inscribed with certain figures and 
points, and used in various games of 
skill and hazard. The origin of this in¬ 
vention is obscure. An immense va¬ 
riety of games are played with cards, 
some involving chance only, some 
combining chance and skill, the best of 
them furnishing very agreeable and 
intellectual amusement. 

Carducci, Giosue, an Italian poet 
and philologist, born in Valdicastello, 
Tuscany, July 27, 1836. He was 

Prof, of Literature at Bologna Univ. 
from 1860. He died Feb. 15, 1907. 

Carew, Thomas, an English poet; 
born in 1598. He stood high in favor 
with Charles I., and was an intimate 
friend of the greatest poets and schol¬ 
ars of his time. He died in 1639. 

Carey, Henry Charles, an Amer¬ 
ican economist, born in Philadelphia, 
Dec. 15, 1793; trained in his father’s 
publishing house, he accumulated a 
competence from the business and re¬ 
tired to devote himself to study. The 
“ Essay on the Rate of Wages ” 
(1836) and “The Principles of Po¬ 
litical Economy” (1837-1840) won 
him an authoritative international po¬ 
sition. He died in Philadelphia, Oct. 
13, 1879. 

Carey, Mathew, an American pub¬ 
lisher and prose writer, born in Ire¬ 
land, Jan. 28, 1760. The best known 
of his political writings was his “Olive 
Branch ” (1814). It was an effort to 
promote harmony among political par¬ 
ties during the War of 1812. It 
passed through ten editions. In 1819 
he published his “ Irish Vindications,” 
and in 1822, “ Essays on Political 
Economv.” He died in Philadelphia, 
Pa., Sept. 16, 1839. 

Carey, William, an English Ori¬ 
ental scholar and missionary, born in 
Northamptonshire, Aug. 17, 1761. He 
was early apprenticed to a shoemaker, 
but having a natural turn for lan¬ 


guages, and zeal for the spread of the 
Gospel, he acquired Latin, Greek, and 
Hebrew, and likewise studied theology. 
In 1786 he became pastor of a Bap¬ 
tist congregation at Moulton, and in 
1787 was appointed to a similar sit¬ 
uation in Leicester. In 1793 he sailed 
for the East Indies as a Baptist mis¬ 
sionary, and in 1800, in conjunction 
with Marshman, Ward, and others, 
he founded the missionary college at 
Serampore. Here he had a printing 
press, and issued various translations 
of the Scriptures. His first work was 
a “ Bengali Grammar,” and later, un¬ 
der his direction the whole Bible was 
translated into 6, and the New Testa¬ 
ment into 21 Hindustani dialects. He 
was long professor of Sanskrit, Mah- 
ratta, and Bengali, in Calcutta. He 
died in Serampore, India, June 9, 
1834. 

Carhart, Henry Smith, an 

American scientist, bom in Coeymans, 
N. Y., March 27, 1844. He was gradu 
ated at Wesleyan University in 1869 
and since then has taught physics and 
chemistry. Since 1886 he has been 
Professor of Physics at the University 
of Michigan. 

Caria, a country of Asia Minor, 
whose boundaries have been dissimilar 
in different ages. Its chief town was 
Halicarnassus. 

Cariacou, the Virginia deer. It is 
somewhat smaller than the common 
stag. 

Cariama, a bird, a native of Bra¬ 
zil and Paraguay. The head is crested. 

Carib, the name given by the early 
European navigators to the inhabi¬ 
tants or aborigines found on the small¬ 
er of the West India Islands, and also 
inhabiting some part of the adjacent 
American continent. The Spaniards, 
finding them always a bold and de¬ 
termined enemy, finally expelled all 
but a mere remnant from their native 
possessions. Those who escaped the 
Spanish sword sought refuge in that 
part of Southern America near the 
mouth of the Orinoco, except a few 
whom the English removed and landed 
on the island of Ruatan, in the Bay of 
Honduras. The Carib have always 
been distinguished from the rest of the 
American peoples by their athletic 
stature, firmness, courage, and resolu¬ 
tion. 




Caribbean Sea 


Carlisle 


Caribbean Sea, the grandest inlet 
of the Western hemisphere, separated 
from the Gulf of Mexico by Yucatan, 
and from the Atlantic Ocean by the 
great arch of the Antilles. 

Caribbees, or Lesser Antilles, 
usually divided into the Windward 
and Leeward Islands, a section of the 
West India Islands. 

Cariboo, or Caribou, an animal, 
the American Woodland Reindeer, the 
Attehk of the Cree, and Tantseeah ot 
the Copper Indians. It is employed by 
the Laplanders to draw their sledges. 

Carica, a genus of plants which 
contains about ten species, all natives 
of tropical America. 

Caricature, a representation of the 
qualities and peculiarities of an ob¬ 
ject, but in such a way that beauties 
are concealed and peculiarities or de¬ 
fects exaggerated, so as to make the 
person or thing ridiculous, while a 
general likeness is retained. 

Caries, a disease of bone analogous 
to ulceration in soft tissues. The bone 
breaks down into unhealthy matter, 
which works its way to the surface 
and bursts. Caries of the teeth is 
decay of the dentine or body of the 
tooth. 

Carillon, a species of chime, played 
by hand or clockwork on a number 
of bells, forming a complete series or 
scale of tones or semi-tones, like those 
of the organ or harpsichord. 

Carintbia, a W. duchy or province 
of Austria, on the borders of Italy; 
area, 4,006 square miles. It is ex¬ 
tremely mountainous, generally sterile, 
and one of the most thinly populated 
provinces of Austria. The iron, lead, 
and calamine mines are the main 
sources of its wealth, though there are 
several manufactories of woolens, cot¬ 
tons, silk stuffs, etc., most of which 
are in IClagenfurt, the capital. Pop. 
(1900), 367,340. 

Carisbrooke, a village near the 
center of the Isle of Wight, and over¬ 
looked by the ruins of its ancient cas¬ 
tle, where Charles I. was imprisoned 
13 months previous to his trial and 
execution. 

Carlen, Emilia Elygare, a Swed¬ 
ish novelist, born at Stromstad, Aug. 
8 1807. She died in Stockholm, Beb. 
5 . 1892. 


Carlen, Rosa, a Swedish novelist, 
born in 1836; died in 1883. 

Carleton, Henry Guy, an Ameri¬ 
can journalist and dramatist, born in 
Fort Union, New Mexico, June 21, 
1855. He pursued journalism in New 
Orleans and New York City, and has 
written several plays. 

Carleton, Will, an American 
poet, born in Hudson, Mich., Oct. 21, 
1845. He is best known in literature 
by his ballads of home life, many of 
them having gained great popularity. 

Carleton College, a co-educational 
institution in Northfield, Minn.; or¬ 
ganized in 1866 under the auspices of 
the Congregational Church. 

Carli, Giovanni Rinaldo, an 
Italian economist and archaeologist, 
born in Capo d’lstria, April 11, 1720; 
died Feb. 22, 1795. 

Carlisle, Rickard, an English 
Radical, born in Ashburton, Devon¬ 
shire, Dec. 8, 1790; died Feb. 10, 1843. 

Carlisle, an ancient city of Eng¬ 
land; the capital of Cumberlandshire; 
at the confluence of the Caldew and 
Eden rivers. Pop. (1901) 45,500. 

Carlisle, borough and county-seat 
of Cumberland county, Pa.; on the 
Cumberland Valley, and the Gettys¬ 
burg and Harrisburg railroads; 18 
miles W. of Harrisburg. It is the 
site of Dickinson College, Metzger 
Female College, and the United States 
Indian Training School. It was the 
headquarters of Washington during 
the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, and 
was bombarded by the Confederates in 
1863. Pop. (1900) 9,626. 

Carlisle, John Griffin, an Amer¬ 
ican statesman, born in Kenton coun¬ 
ty, Ky., Sept. 5, 1835; received a 
common-school education, studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar (1858). 
He served several terms in the lower 
house of the State Legislature. Dur¬ 
ing the Civil War he actively opposed 
secession, and in 1866 and 1869 was 
a member of the State Senate. He 
was lieutenant-governor of Kentucky 
(1871-1875), was elected to Congress 
(1876), and five times reelected. His 
ability soon made him one of the 
Democratic leaders. In the 48th, 
49th, and 50th Congresses he was 
chosen Speaker. In 1890 he was 
elected United States Senator, but re¬ 
signed in March, 1893, to accept th® 




Carlists 


Carlstadt 


portfolio of Secretary of the Treasury 
in President Cleveland’s Cabinet. At 
the close of his term he settled in New 
York City to practice law. 

Carlists, a Spanish political fac¬ 
tion which advocates the claims of 
Carlos of Bourbon and his descend¬ 
ants to the Spanish throne. In 1833 
they revolted and held the advantage 
until 1836, when Espartero inflicted 
on them a terrific defeat at Luchana. 
In August, 1839, their commander, 
Maroto, treacherously made peace, 
and the remaining Carlists soon fled 
to France. In 1873 the grandson of 
the first pretender raised another re¬ 
volt, but after several sharp conflicts 
was defeated, and in 1876 with his 
chief supporters fled into France. 

Car 11, John Franklin, an Ameri¬ 
can geologist, born in Long Island, N. 
Y., May 7, 1828. He became identified 
with coal oil development early in 
life, and has perfected many oil pump¬ 
ing devices. Since 1874 he has been 
connected with the Pennsylvania Ge¬ 
ological Survey. 

Carlos, Don, Duke of Madrid, 
nephew of Don Carlos of Montemolin, 
born March 30, 1848. On the death 
of his uncle (1861) he became head 
of the Carlist party. In 1872 he is¬ 
sued a manifesto to the Carlist party 
at Madrid and appeared in the Basque 
provinces, but was badly defeated at 
Oroquieta and fled back to France. 
In 1873 he reappeared in the N. prov¬ 
inces of Spain; captured the strong¬ 
hold Estella, and had soon overrun 
Navarre, Catalonia, Aragon, and Va¬ 
lencia, with the exception of the great 
cities. By February, 1876, the rebels 
were hemmed in along the N. coast, 
and the majority surrendered at Pam¬ 
plona. He himself fled over the French 
border, and has since lived in exile 
and comparative poverty. During the 
Spanish-American War he came into 
notice again, and on April 13, 1898, 
from his retreat in Switzerland, is¬ 
sued a manifesto to his supporters. 
He accomplished nothing toward the 
overthrow of the Spanish government, 
and again went into retirement. 

Carlos I., King of Portugal; born 
in 1863, formerly known as Duke of 
Braganza, son of Louis I. He mar¬ 
ried, in 1886, Marie Amelie de Bour¬ 
bon, daughter of the Count of Paris. 


Immediately after his accession to the 
throne, in 1889, a revolution broke 
out in Brazil, which resulted in the 
overthrow of the empire and the for¬ 
mation of a republic. 

Carlotta, Ex-empress of Mexico, 
born in Brussels, June 7, 1840, the 
daughter of Leopold I. of Belgium. 
She was married to Maximilian, Arch¬ 
duke of Austria (1857). She accom¬ 
panied her husband to Mexico in 1864, 
but in 1866 returned to Europe to so¬ 
licit aid from the French Emperor 
and from the Pope. Her failure and 
the news of her husband’s overthrow 
unbalanced her mind. She still lives 
near Brussels. 

Carlovingians, the second dynasty 
of the French or Franklin kings, 
which supplanted the Merovingians, 
deriving the name from Charles Mar¬ 
tel or his grandson Charlemagne (that 
is, Karl or Charles the Great). 

Carlsbad, a town in Bohemia, on 
the Tepl, near its influx to the Eger, 
116 miles W. by N. of Prague. It is 
widely celebrated for its hot mineral 
springs, and is frequented in summer 
by visitors of the most aristocratic 
character from all parts of Europe. 

Carlskrona, the capital of the 
Swedish province, built on five rocky 
islets in the Baltic, 240 miles S. S. W. 
of Stockholm. It has a magnificent 
harbor, with a sufficient depth of 
water to float the largest vessels. The 
only practicable entrance is strongly 
defended. Pop. (1901) 23,955. 

Carlsruhe, or Karlsruke, the 
capital of the grand-duchy of Baden, 
founded in 1715, and built in the form 
of a fan, with 32 streets radiating 
from the palace. Before the palace 
stands a bronze statue of the city’s 
founder, the Margrave Charles Wil¬ 
liam ; and in the market-place is a 
stone pyramid inclosing his remains. 
Pop. (1900 ) 96,976. 

Carlstadt, a fortified town of 
Croatia, Austro-Hungary, on the Kul- 
pa, 32 miles S. W. of Agram by rail. 
It is the seat of a Greek bishopric, 
and has a large transit trade. Carl¬ 
stadt, in Bavaria, on the Maine, is 15 
miles N. N. W. of Wurzburg. 

Carlstadt, Andreas Rudolf Bo- 
denstein, a German reformer, born in 
Carlstadt in 1480. He was appointed 
professor of theology at Wittenberg 





Carlyle Carminative 


in 1513. About 1517 he became one of 
Luther’s warmest supporters. He was 
excommunicated by the bull against 
Luther, and was the first to appeal 
from the Pope to a general council. 
In 1524 he declared himself publicly 
the opponent of Luther, and com¬ 
menced the controversy respecting the 
sacrament, denying the bodily pres¬ 
ence of Christ in the sacramental ele¬ 
ments. This controversy ended in 
the separation of the Calvinists and 
Lutherans. After many misfortunes 
he settled as vicar and professor of 
theology at Basel, where he died, Dec. 
25, 1541. 

Carlyle, Jane Welsh, wife of 

Thomas Carlyle; born in Haddington, 
Scotland, July 14, 1801. She claimed 
descent from William Wallace and 
John Knox and was from youth re¬ 
markable for beauty, wit and intellect. 
Her “ Letters,” edited by her husband, 
were published in 1883, the work being 
given to the world by J. A. Froude. 
She died in London, April 21, 186G. 

Carlyle, Thomas, author, born in 
Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 
Dec. 4, 1795. He was the eldest son 
of James Carlyle, a mason, afterward 
a farmer, and was intended for the 
Church, with which object he was 
carefully educated. His first literary 
productions were short biographies and 
other articles for the “ Edinburgh En¬ 
cyclopaedia. ” His career as an author 
may be said to have begun with the 
issue in monthly portions of his “ Life 
of Schiller ” in the London Magazine, 
in 1823, this work being enlarged and 
published separately in 1825. The 
largest and most laborious work of 
his life was “The History of Fried¬ 
rich II. of Prussia, called Frederick 
the Great,” the last two volumes of 
which appeared in 1865, and* after 
this time little came from his pen. 
While still in Scotland the sad news 
reached him that his wife had died 
suddenly in London. Toward the end 
of his life he was offered a government 
pension and a baronetcy, but declined 
both. Carlyle died in Chelsea, Feb. 
5, 1881. 

Carman, Elbert S., an American 
editor, born in Hempstead, N. Y., in 
183G. He became owner and editor 
of the “ Rural New Yorker ” in 1876, 
in connection with which publication 


he established a farm at River Edge, 
N. J., where he gave much of his time 
to testing new plants, vines and seeds. 
He died in New York City, Feb. 28, 
1900. 

Carman, Ezra Ayers, an Ameri¬ 
can military officer; born in Metuchen, 
N. J., Feb. 27, 1834. He served 
through the Civil War in the Army ot 
the Potomac and the Army of the 
Cumberland; and attained the rank of 
Brigadier-General of volunteers. 

Carmagnole a dance accompanied 
by singing. Many of the wildest ex¬ 
cesses of the French revolution of 
1792 were associated with this dance. 
It was afterward applied to the bom¬ 
bastic reports of the French successes 
in battle. The name was also given 
to a sort of jacket worn as a symbol 
of patriotism. 

Carmel, a range of hills in Pales¬ 
tine. It has a length of about 16 
miles, and its highest point is 1,850 
feet above the sea. 

Carmelite, an order of mendicant 
friars. They claim to be in direct 
succession from Elijah, but their real 
founder was Berthold, a Calabrian, 
who, with a few companions, migrated 
to Mount Carmel about the middle of 
the 12th century, and built a humble 
cottage with a chapel, where he and 
his associates led a laborious and soli¬ 
tary life. The order is divided into 
two branches, viz., the Carmelites of 
the ancient observance, called mod¬ 
erate or mitigated, and those of the 
strict observance, who are known as 
the barefooted Carmelites. 

Carmen Sylva, the pen-name of 
Elizabeth, Queen of Rumania, born 
Dec. 29, 1843; the daughter of Prince 
Hermann of Wied Neuwied, and 
Maria of Nassau; married King (then 
Prince) Charles of Rumania in 1869. 
Her only child, a daughter, died in 
1874, and out of this great sorrow of 
her life arose her literary activity. 
In the war of 1877-1878 she endeared 
herself to her people by her devotion 
to the wounded soldiers, and since 
that time she has diligently fostered 
the national women’s industries. 

Carminative, a substance which 
acts as a stimulant to the stomach, 
causing expulsion of flatulence, also 
allaying pain and spasm of the in¬ 
testines. Most of the ordinary condi- 






Carmine 


Carnegie 


merits, as pepper, mustard, ginger, 
cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oil of pep¬ 
permint, etc., are carminative. 

Carmine, the fine red coloring mat¬ 
ter or principle of cochineal. It is 
used in dyeing. 

Carnac, a village of Brittany, 
France, remarkable for the so-caned 
Druidical monuments in this vicinity. 
These consist of 11 rows of unhewn 
stones, which differ greatly both in 
size and height, the largest being 22 
feet above ground, while some are 
quite small. These avenues originally 
extended for several miles, but many 
of the stones have been cleared away 
for agricultural improvements. They 
are evidently of very ancient date, but 
their origin is unknown. 

Carnatic, a region on the E. or 
Coromandel coast of India, now in¬ 
cluded in the province of Madras. The 
Carnatic is no longer an administra¬ 
tive division, but is memorable as the 
theater of the struggle betwen France 
and England for supremacy in India. 

Carnation, in the fine arts, flesh 
color; the parts of a picture which 
are naked or without drapery, exhibit¬ 
ing the natural color of the flesh. 

Carnation, the popular name of 
the clove-pink. Carnations are much 
prized for the beautiful colors of their 
sweet-scented double flowers. 

Carneades, a Greek philosopher, 
born in Cyrene, in Africa, about 213 
b. c. He studied logic at Athens un¬ 
der Diogenes, but became a partisan 
of the Academy, and an enemy of the 
Stoics. In 155 b. C., along with Dio¬ 
genes and Critolaus, he was sent as 
ambassador to Home, but his philoso¬ 
phy made him enemies and caused his 
return. He died at Athens, 129 b. c. 

Carnegie, Andrew, an American 
manufacturer and philanthropist, born 
in Dunfermline, Scotland, Nov.25,1837. 

The elder Carnegie was a master 
weaver of Dunfermline, Scotland. But 
the newly invented steam machinery 
drove him and his four hand looms out 
of business, and in 1848 he and his 
wife with their two boys decided to 
follow some relatives across the ocean 
to America. Here Andrew began work 
in a steam cotton factory, tending 
bobbins. In less than a year he had 
been taken from the factory by one 
who had noticed the boy, and, in the 


new works, he learned how to run the 
engine and was promoted to this work, 
his salary of 20 cents a day not being 
increased, until he did clerical work 
for his employer as well — for he had 
some knowledge of arithmetic and 
wrote a good hand. He next became a 
messenger boy in the Ohio Telegraph 
Company, shortly after which his 
father died, and at the age of 14 he 
became the sole support of his mother 
and younger brother. But the weight 
on his shoulders was merely a spur to 
his ambition. He had not been in the 
office a month when he began to learn 
telegraphy, and a little friendly in¬ 
struction soon had him spending all 
his spare minutes at the key. Char¬ 
acteristically, he was not content with 
the general custom of receiving by the 
tape, but doggedly mastered the click¬ 
ing tongue of the instrument, until 
the supposed insecurity of taking mes¬ 
sages by sound was found not to ap¬ 
ply to him. He became an operator 
presently at a salary which seemed 
to him princely, though he augmented 
even this $25 a month by copying tele¬ 
graphic news for the daily papers. 

When the Pennsylvania railroad 
needed an operator he was chosen to 
fill the vacancy. A little later Colonel 
Scott selected him for his secretary; 
and before long, when Colonel Scott 
advanced to the vice-presidency of the 
road, the young man found himself 
superintendent of the Pennsylvania’s 
Western Division. 

One day as the young superinten¬ 
dent was examining the line from a 
rear car, a tall, thin man stepped up 
to him, introduced himself as T. T. 
Woodruff, an inventor, and asked if 
he might show him an idea he had for 
a car to accommodate passengers at 
night^Out came a model from a green 
baize bag. 

“ He had not spoken a minute be¬ 
fore, like a flash, the whole range of 
the discovery burst upon me. ‘ Yes,’ 
I said, ‘ this is something which this 
continent must have.’ 

“ Upon my return I laid it before 
Mr. Scott, declaring that it was one 
of the inventions of the age. He re¬ 
marked : * You are enthusiastic, young 
man, but you may ask the inventor to 
come and let me see it.’ I did so, and 
arrangements were made to build two 
trial cars, and run them on the Penn- 






Carnegie Institution 


Carnegie Institution 


sylvania railroad. I was offered an 
interest in the venture, which, of 
course, I gladly accepted. 

“ The notice came that my share of 
the first payment was $217.50 — as 
far beyond my means as if it had been 
millions. I was earning $50 per 
month, however, and had prospects, or 
at least I always felt that I had. I 
decided to call on the local banker, 
and boldly ask him to advance the 
sum upon my interest in the affair. 
He put his hand on my shoulder and 
said: ‘ Why, of course, Andie, you are 
all right. Go ahead! Here is the 
money.’ . . . The cars paid the 

subsequent payments from their earn¬ 
ings. I paid my first note from my 
savings, so much per month, and thus 
did I get my foot upon fortune’s lad¬ 
der. It is easy to climb after that. 
And thus came sleeping-cars into the 
world.” 

But the man had not yet struck his 
true vocation. That came presently, 
when his attention was drawn to the 
wooden bridges universally used at 
that time. The Pennsylvania road 
was experimenting with a cast-iron 
bridge. Andrew Carnegie went out 
and formed a company to build iron 
bridges. He had to raise $1,250, but 
he had behind him the confidence of a 
Pittsburg banker, and this proved 
easy. 

From this time on the name of An¬ 
drew Carnegie is inseparably associat¬ 
ed with that astonishing development 
of American iron and steel, which is 
among the modern wonders of the 
world. The Keystone Company built 
the first great bridge over the Ohio 
river; and the Union Iron Mills ap¬ 
peared in a few years as the natural 
outgrowth of this ramifying industry. 
Then, in 1868, Carnegie went to Eng¬ 
land. The Bessemer process of mak¬ 
ing steel rails had lately been perfect¬ 
ed. The English railways were re¬ 
placing their iron rails with steel ones 
as rapidly as possible. The English 
manufacturers were beginning to whis¬ 
per to each other that they, had a 
firm grip of a gigantic revolutionizing 
idea. The young Scotchman went 
back to Pittsburg, and before the Eng¬ 
lishmen were well aware of his ex¬ 
istence he laid the foundation of the 
steel works which have now finally 
beaten them at their own game. 


The iron-master was now fairly 
launched on his life work. He bought 
up the Homestead works, his most 
formidable rival, and by 1888 he con¬ 
trolled seven huge plants, all within 
five miles of Pittsburg, which he pro¬ 
ceeded to forge and amalgamate into 
a steel-armored giant, called the Car¬ 
negie Steel Company. 

Next to his fame as the “Steel King,” 
Carnegie is undoubtedly most wide¬ 
ly known through his remarkable list 
of public benefactions in the shape of 
libraries, museums, and other worthy 
public objects. In the aggregate his 
gifts amount to over $50,000,000, and 
include the Carnegie Institute, Pitts¬ 
burg, $10,000,000; branches of the 
New York Public Library, $5,200,000; 
Scotch Universities, $10,000,000; Car¬ 
negie Steel Co.’s relief fund for em¬ 
ployes, $5,000,000; Carnegie Institute, 
Washington, $10,000,000; 'St. Louis 
Public Library, $1,000,000 ; The Hague 
Peace Temple and International Law 
Library, $1,500,000; Carnegie Hero 
Fund, $5,000,000; Carnegie College 
Professors’ Annuity Fund, $10,000,- 
000, etc. He is the author of “ Tri¬ 
umphant Democracy,” “ An American 
Four-in-Hand in Britain,” “ The Gos¬ 
pel of Wealth,” “ The Empire of 
Business.” 

Carnegie Hero Fund, created 
Mar. 12, 1904, for the benefit of the 
dependents of those losing their lives 
in heroic effort to save their fellow 
men, or for the heroes themselves, if 
injured only. The field embraced, for 
acts performed on or after April 15, 
1904, is Canada, Newfoundland, and 
the United States. Annual reports 
are published giving details of the 
awards and reasons therefor. 

Carnegie Institution, an educa¬ 
tional body incorporated Jan. 4, 1902, 
in Washington, D. C., by John Hay, 
Secretary of State; Edwin D. White, 
Justice of the Supreme Court; Daniel 
C. Gilman, ex-president of Johns Hop¬ 
kins University; Charles D. Walcott, 
superintendent of the United States 
Geological Survey; Dr. John S. Bill¬ 
ings, Director of the New York Pub¬ 
lic Library; and Carroll D. Wright, 
United States Commissioner of Labor. 
The aims of the university, as ex¬ 
pressed by the founder, are: (1) To 
increase the efficiency of the universi- 





Carnifex Ferry 


Carnot 


ties and other institutions of learn¬ 
ing throughout the country by utiliz¬ 
ing and adding to their existing facili¬ 
ties, and by aiding teachers in the 
various institutions for the experi¬ 
mental and other work in these insti¬ 
tutions as far as may be advisable. 
(2) To discover the exceptional man 
in every department of study, when¬ 
ever and wherever found to enable 
him by financial aid to make the work 
for which he seems especially designed 
his life work. (3) To promote origi¬ 
nal research, paying great attention 
thereto as being one of the chief pur¬ 
poses of this institution. (4) To in¬ 
crease the facilities for higher educa¬ 
tion. (5) To enable such students as 
may find Washington the best point 
for their special studies to avail them¬ 
selves of such advantages as may be 
open to them in the museums, librar¬ 
ies, laboratories, observatory, meteoro¬ 
logical, piscicultural, and forestry 
schools and kindred institutions of the 
several departments of the govern¬ 
ment. (6) To insure the prompt pub¬ 
lication and distribution of the results 
of scientific investigation, a field con¬ 
sidered to be highly important. 

The board of trustees elected by the 
corporators of the institution was as 
follows: The President of the United 
States (ex-officio), the President of 
the United States Senate, the Speak¬ 
er of the House of Representatives, 
the Secretary of the Smithsonian In¬ 
stitution, the President of the Nation¬ 
al Academy of Sciences, and Grover 
Cleveland (New Jersey), John S. Bill¬ 
ings (New York), William N. Frew 
(Pennsylvania), Lyman J. Gage (Illi¬ 
nois), Daniel C. Gilman (Maryland), 
John Hav (District of Columbia), 
Abram S. Hewitt (New Jersey), Hen¬ 
ry L. Higginson (Massachusetts), 
Henry Hitchcock (Missouri), Charles 
L. Hutchinson (Illinois), William 
Lindsay (Kentucky), Seth Low (New 
York), Wayne MacVeagh (Pennsyl¬ 
vania), D. O. Mills (California), S. 
Weir Mitchell (Pennsylvania), W. 
W. Morrow (California), Elihu Root 
(New York), John C. Spooner (Wis¬ 
consin), Andrew D. White (New 
York), Edward D. White (Louis¬ 
iana), Charles D. Walcott (District 
of Columbia), and Carroll D. Wright 
(District of Columbia). 

The trustees assembled in Washing¬ 


ton on Jan. 29, 1902, received from 
Mr. Carnegie the deed of gift of $10,- 
000,000, and elected Daniel C. Gilman, 
LL. D., president of the Institution. 

Carnifex Ferry, a place on the 
Gauley river, in Nicholas Co., Va. A 
sharp battle occurred here Sept. 10, 
1861, between Federal troops under 
General Rosecrans and Confederates 
under General Floyd. After nightfall 
Floyd retreated across the river. 

Carnival, the festival celebrated in 
Roman Catholic countries, and espe¬ 
cially in Rome and Naples, with great 
mirth and freedom during the week 
before the beginning of Lent. In the 
United States carnivals are annually 
celebrated in New Orleans, in St. 
Louis and in Memphis. That at New 
Orleans is especially spectacular, the 
festivities being prolonged three days 
and attracting thousands of visitors. 

Carnivora. All animals which 
prey upon other animals are carniv¬ 
orous, but the term Carnivora, as the 
designation of a group, is now restrict¬ 
ed to that order of mammals to which 
the cat, dog, bear, and seal belong. 

Carnivorous Plants, plants which 
derive nourishment directly from the 
bodies of insects or other small crea¬ 
tures entrapped by them in various 
ways. In all these the apparatus for 
catching insects consists of a modified 
leaf or portion of a leaf, and in some 
the modifications are so curious and 
the adaptations so perfect that the 
plant seems almost endowed with in¬ 
telligence. 

Carnoclian, John Murray, an 

American surgeon, famous for his bold 
and skillful operations; born in Sa¬ 
vannah, Ga., July 4, 1817; studied 
at Edinburgh and at various European 
universities; and began his practice 
in New York city in 1847. In 1851 
he became professor of surgery at the 
New York Medical College, and sur¬ 
geon-in-chief to the State Immigrant 
Hospital. He died in New York, Oct. 
28, 1887. 

Carnot, Lazare Hippolyte a 

French Democrat, born in St. Omer, 
April 6, 1801. After the February 
Revolution (1848) he was appointed 
Minister of Public Instruction, but 
soon resigned. He was elected a sen¬ 
ator for life in 1875, and died March 
16, 1888. 







Carnot 


Caroline Islands 


Carnot, Lazare Nicolas Mar¬ 
guerite, a French statesman, general, 
and strategist; born in Burgundy, 
May 13, 1753. In 1791 he was ap¬ 
pointed deputy to the constituent as¬ 
sembly. In the following March he 
was sent to the Army of the North, 
where he took command and success¬ 
fully repulsed the enemy. On his re¬ 
turn he was made member of the Com¬ 
mittee of Public Safety, and directed 
and organized the French armies with 
great ability and success. In 1797 
Carnot was appointed Minister of 
War by Napoleon (1800). But he 
remained in principle an inflexible 
Republican, voted against the consul¬ 
ship for life, and protested against 
Napoleon’s assumption of the imperial 
dignity. For seven years after this 
Carnot remained in retirement, pub¬ 
lishing several valuable military 
works. In 1814 Napoleon gave him 
the chief command at Antwerp, and 
in 1815 the post of Minister of the 
Interior. After the Emperor’s sec¬ 
ond fall he retired from France. He 
died in Magdeburg, Prussia, Aug. 3, 
1823. 

Carnot, Marie Francois Sadi, 

President of the French Republic; 
born in Limoges, Aug. 11, 1837; a 
grandson of the famous war minister 
of the Revolution. During the siege 
of Paris in 1871 he was made prefect 
of the Seine-Inferieure and showed 
great ability as commissary-general. 
In politics he was an earnest Repub¬ 
lican. Elected to the National As¬ 
sembly in 1871 by the Cote d’Or, he 
soon rose to prominence. In 1876 he 
was chosen secretary of the Chamber 
of Deputies; in 1878 Secretary of 
Public Works. He was Minister of 
Public Works in 1881-1882 and 1886. 
In December, 1887, on the resignation 
of M. Grevy he was chosen President. 
His policy was one of peace with for¬ 
eign nations, careful development of 
the army and navy, and economy in 
all departments. While attending an 
exposition at Lyons, June 24, 1894, 
he was stabbed by a fanatical Italian 
Anarchist, from the effect of which 
he died the next day. 

Caro, Miguel Antonio, a Colom¬ 
bian prose-writer and poet; born in 
Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 10, 1843. He 
has been an editor and contributor to 
periodicals. 


Carob, a tree, native of the Levant. 
It is an evergreen, and produces long 
horn-like pods filled with a mealy, suc¬ 
culent pulp of sweetish taste, used for 
food for horses, and sometimes even 
for human beings, and called St. 
John’s bread. 

Carol, a song of praise sung at 
Christmastide. It originally meant a 
song accompanied with dancing, in 
which sense it is frequently -used by 
the old poets. 

Caroline, Queen of England; 
daughter of the Duke of Brunswick- 
Wolfenbuttel; born May 17, 1768. In 
1795 she was married to the Prince of 
Wales, afterward George IV. The 
marriage was not to his liking, and 
after the birth of the Princess Char¬ 
lotte he separated from her. Many 
reports were circulated against her 
honor, and a ministerial committee 
was formed to inquixe into her con¬ 
duct. But the people in general sym¬ 
pathized with her, regarding her as an 
ill-treated wife. When the Prince of 
Wales ascended the throne in 1820 
he offered her an income of £50,000 on 
condition that she would never return 
to England. She refused, and in 
June of the same year entered Lon¬ 
don amid public demonstrations of 
welcome. The government now insti¬ 
tuted proceedings against her for adul¬ 
tery, but the public feeling and the 
splendid defense of Brougham obliged 
the ministry to give up the divorce 
bill after it had passed the lords. 
Though banished from the court, the 
queen then assumed a style suitable 
to her rank. She died Aug. 7, 1821. 

Caroline Islands, a group in the 
Western Pacific, lying between the 
Marshall and Pelew islands, with an 
area of about 270 square miles, and a 
population of some 22,000; but the 
Pelew group is now generally in¬ 
cluded in the Caroline Archipelago 
(area, 560 square miles; population 
36,000), which thus stretches across 
32° of Ion. and 9° of lat. There are 
some 500 small atolls in the archi¬ 
pelago, but three-fourths of both' area 
and population are included in the 
five volcanic islands of BabeltHouap, 
Yap, Rouk, Ponape (Ascension), and 
Kusari (Strong Island) ; these are all 
fertile and well watered, and many 
of the low-lying lagoons, though less 
so, are well wooded and to some ex- 





Carolus 


Carpenter 


tent inhabited. The climate is moist, 
but not unhealthy, and is tempered 
by cooling breezes. The people belong 
to the brown Polynesian stock. The 
islands were discovered in 1527 by the 
Portuguese, and called Sequeira; in 
1686 they were annexed and rechrist¬ 
ened in honor of Charles II. by the 
Spaniards, who, however, shortly 
changed the name to New Philippines. 
After the failure of several missionary 
attempts in the 18th century, Spain 
took little active interest in the group 
until August, 1885, when the German 
flag was hoisted on Yap. The sharp 
dispute which followed was submitted 
to the Pope as arbitrator, who decided 
in favor of Spain, but reserved to 
Germany special trade privileges. In 
1887 disturbances broke out at Po- 
nape, in which the governor, who had 
arrested one of the American Protes¬ 
tant missionaries, was killed by the 
natives; but the rising was shortly 
put down. In February, 1899, Ger¬ 
many purchased from Spain the Caro¬ 
line and Pelew islands, and all of the 
Ladrones excepting Guam, which had 
been ceded to the United States in the 
treaty of peace. 

Carolinium, an element possess 8 - 
ing radio-active powers of great inten¬ 
sity. With another named Berzelium, 
it was discovered in 1904, by Prof. C. 
Baskerville of North Carolina. 

Carotid, the great arteries of the 
neck. 



CABP. 

Carp, a fresh-water fish. It is a 
native of Asia, but has been extensive¬ 
ly introduced into the United States. 

Carpathian Mountains, (Ger¬ 
man, Karpathen), a range of # moun¬ 
tains in Southern Europe, chiefly in 
Austria, nearly 800 miles in length. 

Carpeaux, Jean Baptiste, a 
French sculptor, born in Valenciennes, 
May 14, 1827; died Oct. 11, 1875. 


Carpel, the leaf forming the pistil. 
Several carpels may enter into the 
composition of one pistil. 

Carpentaria, Gulf of, a large 
gulf on the N. coast of Australia. 

Carpenter, Charles Carroll, an 
American naval officer, born in Green¬ 
field, Mass., Feb. 27, 1834. He was 
promoted rear-admiral Nov. 11, 1894; 
was commander-in-chief of the United 
States Asiatic squadron from Aug. 27, 
1894, till Nov. 9, 1895; and was re¬ 
tired on reaching the age-limit, Feb. 
28, 1896. During the summer of 1895 
he rendered invaluable service in 
China in protecting American mission¬ 
aries and in cooperating with United 
States Minister Charles Denby and the 
British and Chinese authorities to 
preserve peace, particularly after the 
Kucheng massacre. He died April 1, 
1899. 

Carpenter, Esther Bernon, an 

American prose writer, bom in Wake¬ 
field, R. I., 1848; died in 1893. 

Carpenter, Francis Bicknell, 
an American painter, born in Homer, 
N. Y„ Aug. 6, 1830. In 1852 he be¬ 
came an associate of the National 
Academy. Among his works are a 
portrait of President Lincoln, in the 
capitol at Albany, N. Y., and the 
“Emancipation Proclamation” (1864), 
in the capitol at Washington. He 
died in New York city, May 23, 1900. 

Carpenter, Gilbert Saltonstall, 
an American military officer, born in 
Medina, O., April 17, 1836; was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in 1861, and imme¬ 
diately afterward entered the Union 
army. He served through the Civil 
War, in which he received the brevet 
of captain for gallantry in the battle 
at Stone river. Subsequently he ren¬ 
dered service in various Indian cam¬ 
paigns ; was commissioned a brig¬ 
adier-general of volunteers in the war 
with Spain in 1898; and became col¬ 
onel of the 18th United States In¬ 
fantry, June 20, 1899. His volunteer 
appointment was for his gallantry at 
El Caney, Cuba. Died Aug. 12, 1904. 

Carpenter, Louis G., an Ameri¬ 
can engineer; born in Orion, Mich., 
March 28, 1861. In 1888 he became 
Professor of Engineering at the Colo¬ 
rado Agricultural College, where he 
organized the first course in irriga¬ 
tion engineering given in any Amer- 





Carpenter 


Carr 


ican college. He founded the Amer¬ 
ican Society of Irrigation Engineers 

In 1891. 

Carpenter, Louis H., an Ameri¬ 
can military officer, born in Glass- 
boro, N. J., Feb. 11, 1829. He served 
in the Army of the Potomac through 
numerous engagements, was an aide- 
de-camp to General Sheridan, was 
commissioned colonel of volunteers 
in 1865, subsequently served in var¬ 
ious Indian campaigns, became col¬ 
onel of the Fifth United States Cav¬ 
alry in 1897, and brigadier-general of 
volunteers in 1898, and brigadier-gen¬ 
eral, U. S. A., Oct. 18, 1899, for ser¬ 
vices in the Spanish-American war, 
and particularly as commander of the 
Department of Porto Principe, Cuba. 
He was retired Oct. 19, 1899. 

Carpenter, Mary, an English 
philanthropist, born in Exeter, April 
3, 1867. Trained as a teacher, and 
afterwards a governess, she took an 
active part in the movement for the 
reformation of neglected children, and 
besides advocating their cause in her 
writings, sha founded a ragged school 
and several reformatories for girls. 
She founded in 1835 a “working and 
visiting society,” of which she was sec¬ 
retary for more than 20 years. She 
promoted the Industrial Schools Act 
of 1857, and some of her proposals 
were adopted in the amended Acts of 
1861 and 1866. In the prosecution 
of her philanthropic labors she vis¬ 
ited India four times, and in 1870 in¬ 
stituted the National Indian Associa¬ 
tion, whose journal she edited. She 
attended a congress on women’s work 
at Darmstadt as a guest of the Prin¬ 
cess Alice, and visited the United 
States in 1873. She died June 14, 
1877. She was the author of a num¬ 
ber of popular books. 

Carpenter, Matthew Hale, an 
American legislator, born in More- 
town, Vt., Dec. 22, 1824. He studied 
at West Point, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1845. lie removed in 1848 
to Wisconsin and was sent to the 
United States Senate from that State 
in 1869 and in 1879. He died in 
Washington, D. C., Feb. 24, 1881. 

Carpenter, Stephen Cutter, an 
American journalist, born in England. 
He came to the United States in 1803, 
and settled in Charleston, S. C., where 


he founded and published with John 
Bristed the “Monthly Register Maga¬ 
zine and Review of the United States.” 
His works included: “Memoirs of 
Jefferson, Containing a Concise His¬ 
tory of the United States from the 
Acknowledgment of Their Indepen¬ 
dence, with a View of the Rise and 
Progress of French Influence and 
French Principles in that Country.” 
He died about 1820. 

Carpenter, William Benjamin, 
an American physiologist, born in Ex¬ 
eter, Oct. 29, 1813; died Nov. 13, 
1885. 

Carpenter, William Henry, an 

American philologist, born in Utica, 
New York, July 15, 1853. He re¬ 
ceived a university education in the 
United States and Europe. Became 
professor of Germanic Philology in 
Columbia University. He has pub¬ 
lished numerous works in the line of 
his specialty. 

Carpentry, the art of combining 
pieces of timber to support a weight 
or sustain pressure. 

Carpet, a thick fabric, generally 
composed wholly or principally of 
wool, for covering floors. They were 
originally introduced from the East, 
where they were fabricated in pieces, 
like the modern rugs. 

Carpet-bagger, a political ad¬ 
venturer, who goes about the country 
pandering to the prejudices of the ig¬ 
norant with the view of getting into 
place or power, so called because re¬ 
garded as having no more property 
than might fill a carpet-bag. Orig¬ 
inally anplied to needy adventurers 
of the Northern States, who tried in 
this way to gain the votes of the 
negroes of the Southern States after 
the close of the Civil War. 

Carr, Eugene Asa, an American 
army officer, born in Concord, N. Y., 
March 20, 1830; graduated at the 
United States Military Academy in 
1850. He was in active service 
throughout the Civil War, command¬ 
ing the 4th Division of the Army of 
the Southwest, and subsequently act¬ 
ing as commander of the same army. 
In December, 1863, he was assigned to 
the Army of Arkansas. At the close 
of the war he was promoted to Brig¬ 
adier-General, U. S. A., and brevetted 
Major-General of volunteers. In 1868- 





Carr 


Carrillo 


1869 be was engaged against the Sioux 
and Cheyenne Indians, and afterward 
took part in other expeditions against 
hostile Indians. He fought in 13 en¬ 
gagements with Indians, was four 
times wounded in action, and received 
a Congressional Medal of Honor and 
the thanks of the Legislatures of Ne¬ 
braska, Colorado, and New Mexico. 
He was retired in 1893. 

Carr, Joseph Bradford, an 
American military officer, born in Al¬ 
bany, N. Y., Aug. 16, 1828. He joined 
the militia in 1849. Was later ap¬ 
pointed colonel of the 28th New 
York Volunteers, and led them at 
the battle of Big Bethel and in 
McClellan’s Peninsular campaign. He 
took part in the battles of Chancellors- 
ville and Gettysburg, and for his brav¬ 
ery throughout the war he was bre- 
vetted a Major-General of volunteers. 
After the war he became prominent in 
Republican politics in New York State 
and was elected Secretary of State in 
1879, 1881, and 1883. In 1885 he 
was an unsuccessful candidate for 
lieutenant-governor. He died in Troy, 
N. Y., Feb. 24, 1895. 

Carr, Lucien, an American arch¬ 
aeologist, born in Missouri in 1829. 

Carr, Sir Robert, a British com¬ 
missioner in New England. In 1664 
he was appointed commissioner by 
Charles II., with Nicolls, Cartwright, 
and Maverick. On Aug. 27, Carr and 
Nicolls captured New Amsterdam and 
named it New York. They took Fort 
Orange Sept. 24, and named it Albany. 
He died June 1, 1667. 

Carrageen, or Carrigeen, called 
also Irish moss, a name applied to sev¬ 
eral species of marine algae found 
abundantly near Waterford, Ireland, 
at a place called Carragheen, from 
which the name is derived. It is some¬ 
times confounded with Iceland moss, 
which is a lichen. 

Carrara, a town of Central Italy, 
in the province of Massa-Carrara. It 
is celebrated for the famous Carrara 
marble, a white saccharine limestone, 
which derives its value from its tex¬ 
ture and purity. The quarries have 
been wrought from the age of Augus¬ 
tus, and seem to be now as inexhaus¬ 
tible as ever. 

Carraray, a small island of the 
Philippine archipelago, about 30 miles 


long and 6 miles wide. It has coal 
deposits. The population is sparse 
and wholly uncivilized, subsisting by 
trade with the neighboring islands of 
Samar and Luzon. 

Carreno, Teresa, a Venezuelan 
pianist, born in Caracas, Dec. 22, 
1853. After successful tours in Eng¬ 
land, the United States and Germany, 
she was appointed, in 1893, court 
pianist to the King of Saxony. 

Carriage, a general name for any 
vehicle intended for the conveyance of 
passengers either on roads or rail¬ 
ways. Mounted on wheels* 

Carrier, a person, corporation, or 
vehicle regularly employed in carrying 
goods, messages, or other articles. 

Carrier, Jean Baptiste, an infa¬ 
mous character of the first French 
revolution, born in 1746. Though an 
obscure attorney at the beginning of 
the revolution, he was chosen, in 1792, 
member of the National Convention. 
In October, 17.93, he was sent to Nan¬ 
tes to suppress the civil war, and to 
finally put down the Vendeans. The 
prisons were full; there was dearth of 
provisions, and Carrier determined to 
lessen the “useless mouths” by sum¬ 
mary measures. He first caused 
priests to be conveyed to a boat with 
a perforated bottom, under pretense of 
transporting them, but instead they 
were drowned by night. Carrier also 
caused multitudes of prisoners to be 
shot without any pretense of trial. 
Some months before the fall of Robes- 
ierre, Carrier was recalled. On the 
th Thermidor (July 27), 1794, he 
was apprehended and brought before 
the revolutionary tribunal, which con¬ 
demned him to the guillotine. 

Carriere, Eugene, a French genre 
painter, born in 1849; was awarded 
several medals, and enrolled in the Le¬ 
gion of Honor, 1889. Died April, 1906. 

Carriere, Moriz, a German phi¬ 
losopher, born in Griedel, Hesse, 
March 5, 1817; died in Munich, Jan. 
19, 1895. 

Carrier Pigeon, a variety of the 
common domestic pigeon used for the 
purpose of carrying messages. 

Carrillo, Branlio, a statesman of 
Costa Rica, born in Cartago in 1800. 
He was twice president of the repub¬ 
lic (1835-1837 and 1838-1842), and 
greatly promoted its material prosper- 




Carrington 


Cart 


ity. Carrillo’s government was over¬ 
turned by Morazan in 1842. He was 
assassinated in Salvador in 1845. 

Carrington, Edward, an Ameri¬ 
can military officer, born in Virginia, 
Feb. 11, 1749; was lieutenant-colonel 
of General Harrison’s artillery regi¬ 
ment, quartermaster-general under 
General Greene, a delegate to the Con¬ 
tinental Congress, and foreman of the 
jury in Aaron Burr’s trial for trea¬ 
son. He died Oct. 28, 1810. 

Carrington, Henry Beebe, an 
American military officer, born in 
Wallingford, Conn., March 2, 1824. 
He began the practice of law in Co¬ 
lumbus, O., in 1848, and took an ac¬ 
tive part in the anti-slavery movement. 
In the convention which met in 1854 
to organize the Republican Party, 
Carrington was on the committee ap¬ 
pointed to correspond with the dif¬ 
ferent States and make the movement 
National. In 1861 he was appointed 
colonel of the 18th United States in¬ 
fantry, served through the war, and 
afterward was in service on the plains 
till 1869; was retired in 1870; Profes¬ 
sor of Military Science and Tactics in 
Wabash College, Ind., till 1873. 

Carrington, Paul, an American 
statesman, born in Charlotte county, 
Va., Feb. 24, 1733; was graduated at 
William and Mary College. He was 
a member of various conventions dur¬ 
ing the Revolution, and became a mem¬ 
ber of the Court of Appeals, and in 
the Virginia convention voted for the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution. 
He died June 22, 1818. 

Carrington, Richard Christo¬ 
pher, an English astronomer, born in 
Chelsea, May 26, 1826. Died in Sur¬ 
rey, Nov. 26, 1876. 

Carrion Crow, a name given to 
a small species of vulture called the 
Black Vulture. 

Carroll, Charles, the last surviv¬ 
ing signer of the Declaration of Amer¬ 
ican Independence, born in Annapolis, 
Md., Sept. 20, 1737. He studied at 
Paris, became a member of the Inner 
Temple at London, returned to his 
native country in 1764, was elected to 
Congress in 1775, and, along with the 
other members, signed the Declaration 
on Aug. 2 of the following year. In 
1804, he withdrew to private life at 
Carrollton, his patrimonial estate. He 


survived bv six years all the other 
signers of the Declaration, and died in 
Baltimore, Nov. 14, 1832. 

Carroll, Henry King, an Amer¬ 
ican religious editor, born in Dennis- 
ville, N. J., Nov. 15, 1848. He super¬ 
vised the compilation of religious sta¬ 
tistics for the Eleventh Census, and in 
1898 was chosen by President McKin¬ 
ley to prepare a report on the internal 
conditions of Puerto Rico. 

Carroll, John, cousin of Charles 
Carroll, and first Roman Catholic 
bishop in the United States; born in 
Upper Marlboro, Md., Jan. 8, 1735. 
In 1775 he engaged in the duties of 
a parish priest, and in 1786 he was 
appointed vicar-general, and settled at 
Baltimore. In 1790 he was conse¬ 
crated, in England, Catholic bishop 
of the United States, and returned 
with the title of Bishop of Baltimore. 
A few years before his death he was 
created archbishop. He died in 
Georgetown, D. C., Dec. 3, 1815. 

Carrot, a biennial umbelliferous 
plant, cultivated for the table and as a 
food for cattle. 

Carson, Christopher, commonly 
called Kit, an American trapper and 
scout, born in Kentucky, Dec. 4, 1809. 
He served under General Fremont in 
his Rocky Mountain expeditions, and 
fought in the Mexican and Civil 
Wars, attaining the rank of brevet 
Brigadier-General. He died at Fort 
Lynn, Col., May 23, 1868. 

Carson, Hampton Lawrence, an 
American publicist, born in Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., Feb. 21, 1852. He was 
graduated at the University of Penn¬ 
sylvania (1871), and is now a Lec¬ 
turer on Law at that University. 

Carson and Newman College, a 
co-educational institution in Mossy 
Creek, Tenn., organized in 1850 under 
the auspices of the Baptist Church. 

Carson City, the capital of the 
State of Nevada. The city is located 
in a mining district and is the seat 
of a United States mint. 

Carstens, Asmus Jakob, a Dan¬ 
ish artist, born near Sleswick, May 10, 
1754. He died in the deepest poverty 
in Rome, May 25, 1798. 

Cart, a species of carriage. It has 
but two wheels, in which respect it 
differs from the ordinary wagon. 






Cartagena 


Carthage 


Cartagena, capital of the State of 
Bolivar, Republic of Colombia. The 
streets are narrow, with high houses, 
but the place is well built, and possess¬ 
es a university, a handsome cathedral, 
and several churches. Pop. about 20,- 
000 . 

Cartagena, or Carthagena, a 

fortified town and seaport of Spain, 
with a harbor which is one of the lar¬ 
gest and safest in the Mediterranean. 
Pop. 84,171. 

Cartago, (1) a river and almost 
landlocked bay or lagoon, communi¬ 
cating with the Caribbean Sea, near 
the N. extremity of the Mosquito 
Coast. (2) A town of Costa Rica, 
12 miles E. of the present capital, San 
Jose, on a plain to the S. of the con¬ 
stantly smoking volcano of Irazu 
(11,500 feet). Founded in 1522, the 
place had 23,000 inhabitants in 1823, 
and was capital of the State till 1841, 
when it was all but destroyed by an 
earthquake. (3) A town of Cauca, 
in Colombia, founded in 1540, on the 
Rio Viejo, three miles above its junc¬ 
tion with the Cauca, and producing 
cocoa, tobacco, and coffee. 

Carte-blanche, a blank sheet of 
paper to be filled up with such con¬ 
ditions as the person to whom it is 
given may think proper; hence abso¬ 
lute freedom of action. 

Carte-de-visite, a small likeness 
affixed to a card, so called from photo¬ 
graphs of very small size having been 
originally used as visiting cards. 

Cartel, an agreement for the deliv¬ 
ery of prisoners or deserters; also, a 
written challenge to a duel. Cartel- 
ship, a ship commissioned in time of 
war to exchange prisoners. 

Carter, Franklin, an American 
educator, born in Waterbury, Conn., 
Sept. 30, 1837. Became president of 
Williams College in 1882. 

Carter, Samuel Powhatan, an 
American naval and military officer, 
born in Elizabethtown, Tenn., Aug. 
6, 1819. He fought in the Mexican 
War in coast attack, and in 1866 took 
part in the capture of the Barrier 
forts, Canton, China. All through the 
Civil War he was of great service to 
the government, and for his gallantry 
was brevetted Major-General of volun¬ 
teers. In 1882 he was promoted to 
Rear-Admiral on the retired list. He 


died in Washington, D. C., May 26, 
1891. 

Carter, Sir Frederic Bowker 
Terrington, a Canadian jurist, born 
in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Feb. 12, 
1819. He served in the Newfoundland 
Assembly from 1855 to 1878, and two 
years later became Chief Justice of 
Newfoundland. He was knighted in 
1878. He died in St John’s, Feb. 
28, 1900. 

Carter, Thomas Henry, an 

American politician, born in Scioto 
county, Ohio, Oct. 30, 1854.He re¬ 
moved to Montana in 1882, was Mon¬ 
tana’s first representative in Congress 
(1891), became United States Senator 
from that State in 1892, and was 
chairman of the National Republican 
Committee in 1892-1896. 

Carteret, Sir George, one of the 
proprietors of New Jersey, born on 
the island of Jersey in 1599. He early 
manifested an interest in coloniza¬ 
tion, and became, with Sir John Ber¬ 
keley, one of the proprietors of New 
Jersey. He died Jan. 14, 1679. 

Carteret, Philip, an English nav¬ 
igator. As commander of the “Swal¬ 
low,” he joined an exploring expe¬ 
dition to the Southern seas, discover¬ 
ing Pitcairn, Osnaburg, Queen Char¬ 
lotte, Sandwich and Solomon Islands, 
besides correcting several errors of 
former surveys. He retired from the 
navy in 1794, with the honorary rank 
of Rear-Admiral, and died in South¬ 
ampton, July 21, 1796. 

Carthage, the most famous city of 
Africa in antiquity, capital of a rich 
and powerful commercial republic, sit¬ 
uated in the territory now belonging to 
Tunis. The policy of Rome in en¬ 
couraging the African enemies of 
Cartnage occasioned the third Punic 
war, in which Rome was the aggres¬ 
sor. This war, begun b. c. 150, ended 
B. c. 146, in the total destruction of 
Carthage. After the destruction of 
Carthage her territory became the 
Roman province of Africa. Twenty- 
four years after her fall an unsuccess¬ 
ful attempt was made to rebuild Carth¬ 
age by Caius Gracchus. This was 
finally accomplished by Augustus, and 
Roman Carthage became one of the 
most important cities of the empire. 
It was ta^en and destroyed by the 
Arabs in 638. 




Carthusian 


Carver 


Carthusian, of or pertaining to a 
religious order founded in a. d. 1086, 
in France. They were remarkable for 
the austerity of their rule, which binds 
them to perpetual solitude, total ab¬ 
stinence from flesh — even at the risk 
of their lives — and absolute silence, 
except at certain stated times. 

Cartier, Sir George Etienne, a 
Canadian statesman, born in St. An¬ 
toine, Quebec, Sept. 6, 1814. He was 
active in bringing about the establish¬ 
ment of the Dominion of Canada in 
1867, and held a post in the first Do¬ 
minion cabinet. The following year 
he received a baronetcy. He died in 
England, May 20, 1873. 

Cartier, Jacques, a French navi¬ 
gator, born in St. Malo, Dec. 31, 1494. 
He commanded an expedition to North 
America in 1534, entered the Straits 
of Belle Isle, and took possession of 
the mainland of Canada in the name 
of Francis I. He subsequently went 
to found a settlement in Canada, and 
built a fort near the site of Quebec. 
He died about 1554. 

Cartilage, a texture or substance 
possessed of elasticity, flexibility, and 
considerable cohesive power. Tem¬ 
porary cartilage is present in place of 
bone in very early life, and as develop¬ 
ment goes on ossifies. Permanent car¬ 
tilage, on the contrary, retains its 
character to the last, never ossifying. 

Cartilaginous Fishes, a general 
designation for those fishes . whose 
skeleton consists of cartilage instead 
of bone, and which comprise the sharks 
and skates or rays. 

Cartoon, in painting, a drawing 
intended to be used as a model for a 
large picture in fresco. In modern 
times the term is also applied to a pic¬ 
torial sketch relating to some notable 
character or events of the day. 

Cartoons have become a leading fea¬ 
ture of American journalism and of 
political campaigns, and some “ car¬ 
toonists ” receive large salaries. 

Cartouch, a tablet intended to re¬ 
ceive an inscription which resembles 
a scroll of paper rolled up at the ends. 
It is also applied to the modillion that 
supports the corona of a cornice used 
in. interior decoration. 

In military language it is a canvas 
or leather cartridge-box; a case for 
holding musket-balls and powder; a 

E. 30. 


wooden bomb; a ticket of leave, or 
dismissal, given to a soldier. 

Cartridge, a case of paper, parch¬ 
ment, metal, or flannel suited to the 
bore of firearms, and holding the exact 
charge, including, in the case of small 
arms, both powder and bullet. 

Cartwright, Edmund, an English 
inventor, born in Marnham, April 24, 
1743. In 1785 he brought his inven¬ 
tion, the first power-loom, into action. 
He died in Hastings, Oct. 30, 1823. 

Cartwright, Peter, an American 
clergyman, born in Virginia, Sept. 1, 
1785; ordained in Kentucky in 1806, 
and in 1823 removed to Illinois, where 
he labored for nearly a century. He 
also sat in the State Legislature there, 
and in 1846 was defeated by Abraham 
Lincoln in an election for Congress¬ 
man. He died near Pleasant Plains, 
Ill., Sept. 25, 1872. 

Cartwright, Sir Richard John, 
a Canadian statesman, born in King¬ 
ston, Ont., Dec. 4, 1835. He was 
Minister of Finance from 1873 until 
1878. He is an able speaker and an 
authority on finance. In 1897 he was 
a member of a Canadian commercial 
commission to the United States. 

Carupano, a growing port of the 
Venezuelan State of Bermudez, on the 
N. coast of the peninsula of Paria, 
with a lighthouse and good roadstead. 
Pop. 12,389. 

Carus, Marcus Aurelius, a Ro¬ 
man emperor, born in 222, succeeded 
to the throne in 282 A. D., after the as¬ 
sassination of Probus. He was a good 
and able ruler and conquered the Sar- 
matians, wrested Mesopotamia, Seleu- 
cia, and Ctesiphon from the Persians, 
and was about to make an invasion be¬ 
yond the Tigris when he was killed in 
283. 

Carver, John, a “Pilgrim 
Father,” the first governor of the Ply¬ 
mouth colony, born in England about 
1575. He joined the Leyden colony of 
English exiles about 1608, and assisted 
in securing a charter from the Virginia 
Company and in selecting and equip¬ 
ping the “Mayflower.” He was elected 
governor after the “Mayflower” 
reached Provincetown, and established 
by a treaty with the Indians peaceful 
relations. He was re-elected in March, 
1621, but died a few days afterward. 




Cary 


Case 


His chair and sword are still preserved 
as Pilgrim relics. 

Cary, Alice, an American poetess, 
bom near Cincinnati, O., April 26, 
1820. In 1852 she, with her sister, 
Phoebe, removed to New York City, 
where they lived during the rest of 
their lives. She died in New York 
City, Feb. 21, 1871. 

Cary, Annie Louise, an Ameri¬ 
can singer; born in Wayne, Me., Oct. 
22, 1842; studied in Milan, made her 
operatic debut in Copenhagen in 1868, 
and returned in 1870 to the United 
States, where she remained until 1882, 
when she married Charles M. Ray¬ 
mond, and retired from the stage while 
her voice was still unimpaired. 

Cary, Edward, an American jour¬ 
nalist; born in Albany, N. Y., June 
5, 1840. He has long been connected 
with the “New York Times.” 

Cary, George Lowell, an Amer¬ 
ican theologian; born in Medway, 
Mass., May 10, 1830. He was grad¬ 
uated at Harvard College in 1852; and 
since 1862 has been Professor of New 
Testament Literature in Meadville 
Theological Seminary, of which he is 
also president. 

Cary, Phoebe, an American poetess 
and prose-writer, sister of Alice; born 
in Cincinnati, O., Sept. 4, 1824. She 
died in Newport, R. I., July 31, 1871. 

Cary, Samuel Fenton, an Ameri¬ 
can politician; born in Cincinnati, O., 
Feb. 18, 1814; represented Ohio in 
Congress in 1867-1869; was the only 
Republican representative to vote 
against the impeachment of President 
Johnson ; and was an unsuccessful can¬ 
didate for vice-president in 1876, on 
the “Greenback” ticket, headed by 
Peter Cooper. 

Caryatides, or Caryates, a term 

used to signify the figures which are 
sometimes introduced to support a 
cornice instead of columns. 

Caryocar, large trees, natives of 
the hottest parts of South America, 
much esteemed for their timber. The 
separated portions of the fruit consti¬ 
tute the Souari or Suwarrow nuts of 
commerce, the kernels of which are de¬ 
licious. 

Caryophyllus, the Clove-tree, a 
native of the Moluccas. The cloves of 
commerce are the unexpanded flower- 


buds dried. They form a well-known 
spice. 

Carysfort Reef, a coral reef near 
the S. extremity of Florida. 

Casablanca, Louis, a French 
naval officer, born in Bastia about 
1755, and in 1798 was captain of the 
flagship “L’Orient” in the expedition 
to Egypt. He was mortally wounded 
at the battle of the Nile, Aug. 1, 1798; 
the ship caught fire; his 10-year-old 
son would not leave him, and both 
were floating on the wreck of the 
ship’s mast when the final explosion 
took place. 

Casanare, a river of the Republic 
of Colombia, which flows through a re¬ 
gion called by the same name, and 
after an easterly course of 180 miles 
empties into the Meta. 

Casareep, or Cassiripe, a sauce 
or condiment made from the juice of 
the Bitter Cassava or Manioc root, 
which also furnishes tapioca. 

Casas Grandes, an old Indian 
town of Mexico, in the State of Chi¬ 
huahua, 125 miles S. W. of El Paso. 

Casati, Gaetano, an Italian ex¬ 
plorer, born in Monza, in 1838. He 
explored Bahr-el-Ghazel, and, after 
long captivity among African tribes¬ 
men, was rescued by Stanley. He died 
in Rome, Italy, March 7, 1902. 

Casca, Publius Servilius, a Ro¬ 
man conspirator, assisting in the as¬ 
sassination of Julius Caesar, 44 b. c. 

Cascade Range, a chain of mount¬ 
ains in the States of Oregon and 
Washington. It takes its name from 
the cascades formed by the Columbia 
river breaking through the mountains. 

Casco Bay, a bay on the S. W. 
coast of Maine; is about 20 miles wide 
and so deep as to constitute one of the 
best harbors of the world. 

Case, in grammar, a modification 
or inflection of a noun, pronoun, or 
adjective, by which a different shade 
of meaning is communicated to the 
word. 

Case, Augustus Ludlow, an 

American naval officer, born in New- 
burg, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1813; entered the 
navy as a midshipman in 1828, served 
in the Mexican war. He was a light¬ 
house inspector in 1867; chief of bu¬ 
reau of ordnance, 1869 ; and command¬ 
er of the European squadron in 1873. 




Case-hardening 


Cassel 


Ee was retired in 1875, and died in 
Washington, D. C., Feb. 17, 1893. 

Case-hardening, the process of 
converting the surface of malleable- 
iron goods into steel, thereby making 
them harder, less liable to rust, and 
capable of taking on a better polish. 

Casein, or Caseine, an albuminoid 
substance found in milk, soluble in 
alkali. 

Casey, Silas, an American officer, 
born in East Greenwich, R. I., July 
12, 1807; was graduated at the United 
States Military Academy in 1826; 
served in the Mexican and Civil Wars. 
Was given charge of organizing the 
volunteers near Washington; brevetted 
Major-General U. S. A., 1865; and 
retired in 1868. He died in Brooklyn, 
N. Y., Jan. 22, 1882. 

Casey, Thomas Lincoln, an 
American military engineer, born in 
Madison Barracks, Sackett’s Harbor, 
N. Y., May 10, 1831; the oldest son 
of Gen. Silas Casey. He graduated 
from West Point in 1852, and entered 
the Engineer Corps of the army. Was 
placed in charge of the construction 
of various National buildings; was 
president of the Board of Engineers 
for fortifications at New York. He 
died in Washington, D. C., March 25, 
1896. 

Casgrain, Abbe Henry Ray¬ 
mond, a Canadian historical writer; 
born in Riviere Quelle, Quebec, Dec. 
16, 1831. Was ordained a priest; 
was professor at St. Anne’s College 
till 1859, and afterward vicar at Que¬ 
bec Cathedral. 

Cashel, a town in Tipperary 
county, Ireland, about 49 miles N. E. 
of Cork; containing the most interest¬ 
ing ruins in Ireland. These consist of 
a cathedral, founded in 1169; a stone- 
roofed chapel, built in 1127; Hore 
Abbey, founded in 1260; the palace of 
the Munster Kings; and a round tower 
90 feet in height and 56 feet in cir¬ 
cumference. 

Casiguran Bay, a considerable in¬ 
let on the E. coast of Luzon, Philip¬ 
pine Islands, reached through Casig¬ 
uran Sound. 

Casimir-Perier, Jean Paul Pierre, 
a President of the French Republic, 
born in Paris, Nov. 8, 1847; was 
chosen successor of President Carnot 
on the first ballot (June, 1894). He 


resigned the office of President, Jan. 
16, 1895, and was succeeded by Felix 
Faure. He died March 11, 1907. 

Caspian Gates, a name given to 
the Russian fortress Dariel, situated in 
a narrow defile of the Caucasus, on the 
Terek, 80 miles N. of Tiflis. 

Caspian Sea, a great salt lake of 
Western Asia, wholly enclosed, hav¬ 
ing no outlet whatever to the ocean, 
and surrounded by Tartary, Persia, 
the Caucasian countries, and the Rus¬ 
sian governments of Orenburg and 
Astrakhan. Its greatest length from 
N. to S. is 760 miles; average breadth, 
200; area, about 120,000 square miles. 

Cass, Lewis, an American states¬ 
man, diplomatist, and soldier, born in 
Exeter, N. H., Oct. 9, 1782; served in 
the War of 1812; was governor of 
Michigan Territory (1813-1831) ; Sec¬ 
retary of War (1831-1836) ; minister 
to France (1836-1842) ; United States 
Senator (1845-1848) ; Presidential 
candidate (1848) ; United States Sen¬ 
ator (1849-1857) ; Secretary of State 
(1857-1860). He died in Detroit, 
Mich., June 17, 1866. 

Cassation, Court of, a French 
institution which gives the national 
jurisdiction coherency and uniformity 
without endangering the independence 
of the courts. 

Cassatt, Alexander Johnston, 

railroad president; b. Pittsburg, Dec. 
8, 1839. He was educated at Heidel¬ 
berg Univ. and the Rensselaer Poly¬ 
technic Institute; became a railroad 
rodman in 1861, and rose through suc¬ 
cessive positions to president of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Co. in 1899. 
He died Dec. 28, 1906. 

Cassatt, Mary, an American figure- 
painter, born in Pittsburg, Pa.; stud¬ 
ied art in Europe; and lived some 
time in Spain and France. As an 
etcher she ranks among the best. Her 
studio is at Paris. 

Cassava, a South American shrub, 
about 8 feet in height, with broad, 
shining, and somewhat hand-shaped 
leaves, and beautiful white and rose- 
colored flowers. From Cassava the 
tapioca of commerce is prepared. 

Cassel, or Kassel, formerly the 
residence of the Elector of Hesse-Cas- 
sel, is now the chief town in the prov¬ 
ince of Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, on the 
Fulda, 91 miles N. N. E. of Frank- 




Cassia 


Castilla 


fort-on-the-Main. There are many 
fine walks and public gardens in the 
vicnity; among the latter are the 
gardens of Wilhelmshohe, in which is 
situated the ex-elector’s summer pal¬ 
ace, the residence of the late Emper¬ 
or Napoleon III., after his being taken 
prisoner at Sedan, from Sept. 5, 1870, 
to March 19, 1871. Pop. (1900), 
105,055. 

Cassia, a genus of plants. Be¬ 
tween 200 and 300 species are known. 
They are trees, shrubs, or herbs. They 
are found in India, Africa and the 
warmer parts of this country. Sev¬ 
eral furnish Senna. 

Cassianus, Joannes Eremita, or 
Joannes Massiliensis, an early 
monk and theologian, born about 360. 
He died about 448, and was afterward 
canonized. 

Cassicus, an American genus of 
insessorial birds, the Cassicans. The 
crested oriole, a South American bird, 
constructs a pouch-shaped nest of the 
length of 30 inches. 

Cassini, Count, a Russian diplo¬ 
matist, born in St. Petersburg. He 
was the first Russian ambassador to 
the United States. 

Cassiquiari, or Cassiquiare, a 
large river of South America, in Ven¬ 
ezuela, which branches off from the 
Orinoco and joins the Rio Negro, a 
tributary of the Amazon. 

Cassius, full name, Caius Cassius 
Longinus, one of the assassins of 
Julius Caesar; killed himself 42 B. C. 

Cassock, a close garment resem¬ 
bling a long frock coat, worn by 
clergymen under the surplice or gown. 
In the Church of Rome they vary in 
color with the dignity of the wearer; 
those of priests being black, bishops 
purple, cardinals scarlet, and Popes 
white. 

Cassowary, a family of birds. The 
shortness of their wings totally unfits 
them for flying, and it would seem 
impossible for nature to have furnished 
muscular power sufficient to move 
wings large enough to sustain their 
great weight in the air. The wings 
of the ostrich are of some assistance 
to it in running, but those of the cas¬ 
sowary are too short even to be of 
service in this way. Its whole plum¬ 
age is so poorly supplied with feathers 


as to resemble, at a little distance, a 
coat of coarse or hanging hair. The 
cassowaries have three toes, all pro¬ 
vided with nails. 

Cast, in the fine arts, an impres¬ 
sion taken by means of wax or plaster 
of Paris from a statue, bust, bas-relief 
or any other model, animate or inani¬ 
mate. 

Castanet, a small, slightly concave, 
spoon-shaped instrument of ivory or 
hard wood, of which a pair are fas¬ 
tened to the thumb and beaten to¬ 
gether with the middle finger. 

Caste, an hereditary class of society 
in India, the members of which are 
theoretically equal in rank, and, as a 
rule, follow the same profession or 
occupation. Through the long ages 
during which Indian caste has existed, 
the original four castes have split into 
an immense multitude. Different 
castes refuse to eat together or inter¬ 
marry. 

Castellon, Francisco, a Nicara¬ 
guan revolutionist, born about 1815. 
He was the leader in a revolt at Leon 
in 1853, which was unsuccessful, and 
fled to Honduras, whence he returned 
in June of the next year. It was by 
his invitation that the filibustering ex¬ 
pedition under William Walker went 
from the United States in 1854. He 
died Sept. 2, 1855. 

Castile, Spain an ancient kingdom 
comprising Old Castile and New Cas¬ 
tile, the former extending from the 
Bay of Biscay southward to New Cas¬ 
tile, and now divided into 8 provinces; 
area 25,405 square miles; pop. 1,764,- 
440. New Castile occupied the centre 
of the peninsula, and is now divided 
into 5 provinces; area, 28,010 square 
miles; pop. 1,853,314. The Kingdom 
of Castile was united to that of Leon 
in 1230. 

Castilla, Ramon, a Peruvian 

statesman; born in Tarapaca, Aug. 
30, 1796. Early in life he served in 
the Spanish army, but in 1821 he 
joined the insurrectionists in Peru and 
distinguished himself in the successful 
struggle of that country for independ¬ 
ence. In 1845 he was elected Presi¬ 
dent of Peru. On the expiration of 
his term he retired to private life; 
but as the new President proved tyran¬ 
nical, Castilla led a revolt against him, 
drove him into exile, and in 1855 was 




Castillon 


Castle Garden 


himself re-elected President. He 
served till 1862. He died in Tarapaca, 
May 30, 1867. 

Castillon, a town in the French 
department of Gironde, on the right 
bank of the Dordogne, 33 miles E. of 
Bordeaux by rail. Beneath its walls, 
on June 13, 1453, the English met 
with a signal defeat, their leader, Earl 
Talbot of Shrewsbury, and his son, 
being slain. Part of the battle is de¬ 
scribed in the fourth act of Shake¬ 
speare’s “ King Henry VI.,” Part I. 

Casting, the running of melted 
metal into a mold prepared for the 


them in being designed for military 
purposes only, and not as places of 
permanent residence. 

Castlebar, the capital town of 
County Mayo, Ireland. It is on the 
Castlebar river, 10 miles N. E. of 
Westport. In 1641 occurred here the 
massacre of the English Parliamentary 
army in the Irish rebellion; in 1789 
Castlebar was held for a fortnight by 
the French general, Humbert; and in 
1846-1847 it suffered greatly from 
famine. 

Castle Garden, the former immi- 
grant*tlepot in New York, at the point 



A FEUDAL CASTLE AT ROUEN, FRANCE. 


purpose, so as to produce an article 
of a certain shape. 

Cast-iron, the name given to the 
iron obtained from the blast-furnace 
by running the fused metal into molds 
prepared for the purpose. 

Castle, a building constructed for 
the purpose of repelling attack. The 
castella left by the Romans were con¬ 
structed on the general model of their 
stationary encampments, and though 
they may have suggested the castles 
of the Middle Ages, they differed from 


of Manhattan Island, in Battery Park. 
In the early days of the city the place 
was a small, fortified island a few feet 
from the main-land; later it became a 
public hall for assemblies and con¬ 
certs. Here Jenny Lind made her 
American debut. Many years ago the 
island was incorporated with the gen¬ 
eral area of the Battery by filling the 
intervening space with earth and rock; 
new buildings were erected, and the 
place was devoted to the purpose of 
landing steerage immigrants. In 1890 
it ceased to be used as an immigrant 














Castletown 


Cat 


depot, and was turned over to the 
Park Commissioners of the city of 
New York, and is now an aquarium. 

Castletown, a seaport and former 
capital of the Isle of Man, on Castle¬ 
town Bay, 11 miles S. W. of Douglas. 
Castle Rushen, now a prison, occupies 
the site of a Danish fortress of the 
10th century, which was almost wholly 
demolished by Robert Bruce in 1313. 
The grounds of Rushen Abbey (11th 
century), near the station, are now 
market gardens. Near by is the small 
building where the House of Keys as¬ 
sembled for about 170 years. 

Castor and Pollux, two demi¬ 
gods known by the ancients under the 
joint name of Dioscuri, that is, sons 
of Zeus or Jupiter. Mythology makes 
Jupiter reward their affection by 
translating the two brothers into con¬ 
stellations, under the name of Gemini 
— stars which never appear together, 
but when one rises the other sets, and 
so on alternately. 

Castor Oil, a fixed oil obtained 
from the seeds of the castor oil plant. 
Given in doses or one or two teaspoon¬ 
fuls, with a little peppermint water, it 
forms a gentle laxative for habits eas¬ 
ily acted on by medicine; while a dose 
of a tablespoonful, or a little more, 
will almost always succeed. 

Castro, Inez de, a lady of noble 
birth, secretly married to Pedro, son 
of Alphonso IV., King of Portugal, 
after the death of his wife Constantia 
(1345). The old King Alphonso, 
fearful that this marriage would in¬ 
jure the interests of his grandson 
Ferdinand, resolved to put Inez to 
death. Three noblemen, Diego Lopez 
Pacheco, Pedro Coelho, and Alvarez 
Gonsalvez, were his counsellors, and 
carried it out themselves by stabbing 
Inez within the convent where she 
lived. Two years after King Alphon¬ 
so died, and Pedro, inducing the King 
of Castile to give up to him two of 
the murderers, who had taken refuge 
there (the third, Diego Lopez, man¬ 
aged to escape), put them to death 
with cruel tortures. The king then 
made public declaration of the mar¬ 
riage that had taken place between 
him and the deceased Inez; and had 
her corpse disinterred and placed on 
a throne, adorned with the diadem and 
royal robes, to receive the homage of 


the nobility. The body was then buried 
with honors. The story of Inez is one 
of the finest episodes in Camoens’s 
“ Lusiad.” 

Castro, Cipriano, President of 
Venezuela, b. 1858 near Capacho, of 
peasant parents. He received a good 
education, became a coffee grower and 
politician, and in 1899 revolting 
against unfair taxation took Caracas 
with a few troops and was elected 
President. The financial debt of the 
country kept him embroiled with Eu¬ 
ropean nations. In 1901 he suppressed 
an uprising by Gen. Matos. 

Castro, Jose Maria, a Costa 
Rican statesman, born in San Jose, 
Sept. 1, 1818; educated at the Uni¬ 
versity of Leon, Nicaragua, and held 
positions under the government of 
Costa Rica. In 1846 he was Vice- 
President : in 1847 elected President. 
After Costa Rica withdrew from the 
Central American States, he resigned 
the presidency, but held diplomatic po¬ 
sitions. From 1866 to the rise of the 
Jimenez government (1868), he was 
again President. 

Casuistry, that branch of ethical 
science which professes to deal with 
cases of. conscience. It lays down 
rules or canons directing us how to 
act in all matters of moral doubt. 

Caswell, Ricliard, an American 
lawyer, bom in Maryland, Aug. 3, 
1729; removed to North Carolina in 
1746; was president of the Provincial 
Congress which framed the State Con¬ 
stitution (1776), and first governor 
of the State, three times re-elected; 
was also a delegate to the convention 
which framed the Federal Constitu¬ 
tion in 1787. He died in Fayette¬ 
ville, N. C., Nov. 20, 1789. 

Cat. The cat is originally from 
the European forests. In its wild 
state it differs from the domestic ani¬ 
mal in having a shorter tail, a flatter 
and larger head, and stronger limbs. 
At what period cats became inmates 
of human habitations, it is scarcely 
possible to determine, but there is 
good reason to believe that they were 
at first domesticated in Egypt. The 
varieties of this animal in a domestic 
state are very numerous. Of all the 
varieties the Persian, the Angora, and 
the new, tall and gray Malta variety 
are the most remarkable. 




Catacombs 


Catamarca 


Catacombs, caverns, grottoes, sub¬ 
terraneous caves, destined for the se¬ 
pulture of the dead. The name of 
catacombs, according to Gregory, was 
at first applied to designate exclusively 
the cave in which the bodies of St. 
Peter and St. Paul were buried, and 



A CATACOMB GRAVE. 

it was only at a later period that it 
came to be given to all the subterran¬ 
eous passages which were used as pub¬ 
lic burying-places. It is now regarded 
as certain that in times of persecution 
the early Christians frequently took 
refuge in the catacombs; but it is not 
less certain that the catacombs served 
also as places of burial to the early 
Christians, and that in spite of the 
contrary opinion which prevailed for 
two centuries, the catacombs were not 
for the most part abandoned quarries, 
but were excavated by the Christians 
themselves. 

The catacombs of Paris, situated on 
the left bank of the Seine river, are 
almost equally celebrated. By the 
light of wax tapers, a person may de¬ 
scend about 70 feet to a world of si¬ 
lence, over which the Parisian police 
keeps watch as strictly as over the 
world of noise and confusion above. 
He will then enter a gallery where 
only two can go abreast. A black 
streak on the stones of the walls points 
out the way, which, from the great 
number of by-passages, it would be dif¬ 
ficult for the visitor to retrace with¬ 
out this aid or without guides. 

Catafalque, a temporary and or¬ 
namental structure, placed over the 
coffin of a distinguished person or over 
a grave. 

Catalan, a blast furnace for re¬ 
ducing ores, extensively used in the N. 
of Spain, particularly in the province 
of Catalonia. 

Catalan!, Angelica, an Italian 
singer, born in Sinigaglia, near An¬ 
cona, in October, 1779; in her seventh 


year she displayed such wonderful vo¬ 
cal powers that strangers flocked from 
all quarters to hear her. She made 
her dfcbut at Venice in 1797 and ex¬ 
perienced a succession of triumphs in 
every country in Europe for upwards 
of 30 years. The Italian Opera in 
Paris was twice under her direction; 
but her husband’s interference and ex¬ 
travagance brought her into much 
trouble. She died in Paris, June 13, 
1849. 

Catalepsy, a form of mental disor¬ 
der, akin to hysteria, which is charac¬ 
terized by the person affected falling 
down suddenly in a state of real or 
apparent unconsciousness, and, save 
for some occasional muscular twitch- 
ings of the falce and body, remaining 
rigid and statue-like for a period of 
time which varies from one minute to 
some hours or even days, and then all 
at once recovering consciousness as if 
aroused from sleep. 

Catalonia, an old province of 
Spain, bounded N. by France, E. and 
S. E. by the Mediterranean, S. by Va¬ 
lencia, and W. by Arragon. The 
country is mountainous, but intersect¬ 
ed with fertile valleys, while the 
mountains themselves are covered with 
valuable woods and fruit-trees. Wheat, 
wine, oil, flax, hemp, vegetables, and 
almost every kind of fruit are abund¬ 
ant. There are mines of lead, iron* 
alum, etc. Catalonia, though less fer¬ 
tile than most of Spain, stands pre¬ 
eminent for the industry of its inhab¬ 
itants, who speak the Catalan dialect; 
area. 12,483 square miles. Population, 
1,942,245. 

Catalpa, (from the native Indian 
name in Carolina, where it was dis¬ 
covered by Catesby in 1726), a genus 
comprising four or five species of trees, 
natives of North America, the West 
Indies, Japan, and China. 

Catamaran, a kind of boat used 
by the Hindoos of Madras, the island 
of Ceylon, and the parts adjacent. It 
is formed of three logs of timber, se¬ 
cured together by means of three 
spreaders and cross lashings through 
small holes. 

Catamarca, a W. province of the 
Argentine Republic, sinking S. E. 
from the Andes to the Salt Marshes, 
which separate it from Cordoba. Area, 
42,018 square miles; population, 








Catamount 


Cataract 


130,000. Catamarca, the capital, lies 
82 miles N. E. of Rioja. 

Catamount, the North American 
tiger. 

Catanduanes, a small island in 
the Phi’ippine archipelago, E. of Lu¬ 
zon, about 90 miles long and 50 miles 
wide. It is mountainous and said to 
have rich gold deposits. Population, 
3o,633. \ 

Catania, a city on the E. coast of 
Sicily, in the province of Catania, at 
the foot of Mount Etna. It has been 
repeatedly visited by tremendous 
earthquakes, one of the worst of which 
was in 1093, when 18,000 people were 
destroyed. Population, 129,651. 

Catapult, a machine of the an¬ 
cients for projecting missiles, chiefly 
arrows. They may be described as a 
kind of gigantic cross-bows. 

Cataract, in medicine, an opacity 
of the crystalline lens of the eye, or of 
its capsule, or both. In cataract the 
lens becomes opaque, loses its trans¬ 
parency, and is no longer capable of 
transmitting the light. The causes of 
cataract are numerous. The treat¬ 
ment of cataract is by a surgical oper¬ 
ation on the eye, and different opera¬ 
tions have been tried and recommend¬ 
ed. They all consist in removing the 
diseased lens from its situation oppo¬ 
site the transparent cornea. 

Cataract, in geography, a water¬ 
fall, called in America briefly “ falls.” 
Many cataracts are remarkable for 
their sublimity, the grandest be ; ng the 
Falls of Niagara, on the Niagara 
river, between Lakes Erie and On¬ 
tario. The river, more than a mile 
above the falls, is divided by Grand 
and Navy islands, and has a gradual 
descent of 57 feet from this place. 
The banks preserve the level of the 
country, and in some parts rise 100 
feet from the water. At the falls the 
river is % of a mile broad, and the 
precipice which breaks its course 
curves irregularly so as to form nearly 
a semicircle on the Canadian side, but 
is straighter on the American side. An 
island, called Goat island, divides the 
cataract into two principal portions — 
the American fall on the E. and the 
Horseshoe on the W., or Canada side. 
The American fall descends almost 
perpendicularly from a height of 162 
feet, and is about 1,000 feet in width. 


The Horseshoe fall is 4 feet less in 
height, but is wider and surpasses the 
other much in grandeur. The water 
rushes over the precipice with such 
force that it forms a curled sheet, 
which strikes the river below 50 feet 
from the base of the precipice, and vis¬ 
itors can pass behind the falling sheet 
of water. 

The Montmorency river, which joins 
the St. Lawrence a few miles below 
Quebec, forms a magnificent cataract, 
250 feet in height. The Missouri, in 
the upper part of its course, descends 
357 feet in 1 6 % miles. There are four 
cataracts, one of 87, one of 19, one of 
47, and one of 26 feet in height. The 
Yosemite river, in California, forms a 
series of magnificent falls, with a total 
descent of 2,600 feet. The first of 
them is a plunge of 1,500 feet, and is 
followed, after a series of beautiful 
cascades, by a final plunge of about 
400 feet. Fully 200 miles from the 
mouth of the Hamilton river in Lab¬ 
rador there is a magnificent series of 
cataracts known as the Grand Falls, 
the largest cataract having a height of 
over 300 feet. In the republic of Co¬ 
lombia, South America, a magnificent 
cataract, called that of Tequendama, 
is formed by the Bogota river. The 
river precipitates itself through a nar¬ 
row chasm, about 36 feet broad, to 
the depth of over 600 feet. On the 
Potaro river in British Guiana, is a 
grand fall known as the Kaieteur Fall, 
740 feet high, and about 370 broad, a 
second fall of 88 feet occurring imme¬ 
diately below the principal one. 

The most remarkable waterfall of 
Africa is a cataract on the Zambesi 
called Victoria Falls. The stream, 
about 1,860 yards broad, flowing over 
a bed of basaltic rock, is suddenly pre¬ 
cipitated into a tremendous fissure to 
the depth of about 370 feet. The 
breadth of this fissure or crack is only 
from 80 to 90 yards, and the pent-up 
waters are then hurried through a 
prolongation of the chasm to the left 
with furious violence. The so-called 
Cataracts of the Nile are not, properly 
speaking, cataracts. A more correct 
designation for them would be “ rap¬ 
ids.” The Stanley Falls on the Kon¬ 
go comprise seven cataracts. On the 
Tugela river, in Natal, there are the 
Tugela Falls. On the Umgeni river, 
in the same country, are the falls of 






Catarrh 


Catharine 


the Great Umgeni (364 feet) and the 
Kar Kloof Falls (350). There seem 
to be no waterfalls of more note in 
Asia than those of the Cavery river 
of India. 

One of the grandest falls in Europe 
is that of the Ruikanfoss (“ smoking 
fall”), on the Maan river, in Nor¬ 
way. The height of the cataract is 805 
feet. In Sweden, on the Gotha river, 
a few miles below its outlet from 
Lake Wener, are the celebrated falls 
of Trollhatta, which have a height of 
over 100 feet. The cascade of Gavar- 
nie, in the Pyrenees, is reputed the 
loftiest in Europe, being over 1,300 
feet in height. Its volume of water, 
however, is so small that it is con¬ 
verted into spray before reaching the 
bottom of the fall. Another water 
fall in the Pyrenees is that of Secu- 
lejo, in the neighborhood of Bagneres- 
de-Luchon. It ascends from the Lac 
d’Espingo, into the Lac de Seculejo, 
or d’Oo, a singularly romantic moun¬ 
tain reservoir, from a height of 820 
feet, and is the most copious of the 
Pyrenean waterfalls. The Swiss Alps 
likewise contain some falls of great 
sublimity. 

Catarrh, a running or discharge 
which takes ^place from the various 
outlets of the body. 

Cat Bird, a species of American 
thrush, which during the summer is 
found throughout the Middle and New 
England States, frequenting thickets 
and shrubberies. Its note is striking¬ 
ly similar to the plaint of a kitten in 
distress. The plumage is a deep slate- 
color above and lighter below, and it 
is about 9 inches in length. During 
the winter it inhabits the extreme S. 
of the United States. The cat bird 
frequently attacks the common black 
snake, which, in the absence of the 
bird, rifles its nest. 

Catechism, any compendious sys¬ 
tem of teaching drawn up in the form 
of question and answer. The first 
Christian catechisms are said to have 
been composed in the 8th or 9th cen¬ 
tury. Luther published a short cate¬ 
chism in 1520, and his larger and 
smaller ones in 1529. The Geneva 
Catechism was sent forth in 1536. The 
Church of England Catechism was first 
published in 1549 or 1551, but in a 
shorter form than now. The cate¬ 
chism of the “ orthodox ” Greek 


Church was published in 1542. In 
1566 the Council of Trent produced a 
catechism; the Rakovian Catechism, 
which is Socinian, was put forth in 
1574, and the shorter and larger cate¬ 
chisms of the Westminster Assembly 
of Divines appeared, the former in 
1647, and the latter in 1648. Cate¬ 
chisms of other sects have been pub¬ 
lished. 

Catechu, a gum, is soluble in 
water; on exposure to the air the so¬ 
lution turns red. Catechu has been 
used to prevent the formation of boiler 
incrustations. 

Catechumen, he who learns the 
elements of any science; one who is 
undergoing a course of religious in¬ 
struction with a view to his admission 
into the Church. 

Caterpillar, the larvae of butter¬ 
flies, moths, and hawk-moths. 

Cat-fish, the sea-wolf, a native of 
the West Indian seas, so called from 
its round head and large, glaring eyes; 
also a fresh-water fish of different spe¬ 
cies, the common cat-fish, called also 
horned pout, and bull-head. 

Cat-gut, the name given to the 
material of which the strings of many 
musical instruments are formed. It is 
made from the intestines of the sheep, 
and sometimes from those of the horse, 
but never from those of the cat. 

Cathari, a name akin to “ Puri¬ 
tans,” applied at different times to 
various sects of Christians. It be¬ 
came a common appellation of several 
sects which first appeared in the 11th 
century in Lombardy and other coun¬ 
tries, and which were violently perse¬ 
cuted for their tenets and usages. 
They had many other local names. 
The Cathari proper held a community 
of goods, abstained from war, mar¬ 
riage, and the killing of animals, and 
rejected water baptism. 

Catharine I., Empress of Russia. 
The early history of this remarkable 
woman is uncertain. According to 
some accounts she was the daughter 
of a Swedish officer named Rabe, who 
died shortly after she was born; ac¬ 
cording to others her father was a 
Catholic peasant in Lithuania, by 
name Samuel. It is said that she was 
born in 1686, named Martha, and 
placed by her parents in the service 
of a Lutheran clergyman. She re- 





Catharine 


Catharine 


moved to Marienburg, and entered the 
service of a clergyman named Gluck, 
who caused her to be instructed in the 
Lutheran religion. Here she was mar¬ 
ried to a Swedish dragoon. But a few 
days after he was obliged to repair to 
the field, and the Russians, within a 
short period, took Marienburg in 1702. 
Martha fell into the hands of General 
Tcheremetieff, who relinquished her to 
Prince Menzikoff. While in his pos¬ 
session she was seen by Peter the 
Great, who made her his mistress. She 
became a proselyte to the Greek 
Church, and assumed the name of 
Catharine Alexiewna. In 1712 the em¬ 
peror publicly acknowledged Catharine 
as his wife. Upon the death of Peter 
she was proclaimed empress and auto¬ 
crat of all the Russias. Catharine died 
suddenly on May 17, 1727, in the 42d 
year of her age. 

Catharine II., Empress of Russia; 
born in Stettin, May 2, 1729, where 
her father, Christian Augustus, Prince 
of Anhalt-Zerbst, and Prussian field- 
marshal, was governor. The empress 
Elizabeth of Russia, daughter of Peter 
the Great, and Catharine I., selected 
her for wife of Peter, her nephew 
and heir, and the marriage took 
place, September 1, 1745. It was 
not a happy one. Among the friends 
of her husband Count Soltikoff was 
distinguished for talent and the graces 
of his person. He attracted the atten¬ 
tion of Catharine, and an intimate con¬ 
nection between them was the conse¬ 
quence. When Soltikoff grew indiffer¬ 
ent a young Pole, Stanislaus Augustus 
Poniatowski, celebrated both for his 
good and ill fortune, gained the affec¬ 
tions of the grand princess. Their in¬ 
timacy was known to the empress, but 
did not appear to displease her; and it 
was at her recommendation that Au¬ 
gustus III. appointed Poniatowski his 
ambassador at the court of St. Peters¬ 
burg. This connection created alarm 
at Paris. In January, 1762, Elizabeth 
died, and Peter III. ascended the 
throne. The emperor now became still 
more alienated from his wife. Peter 
lived in the greatest dissipation, and 
on such intimate terms with a lady of 
the court, named Elizabeth Woronzoff, 
that it was generally thought that he 
would,repudiate Catharine and marry 
his mistress. Peter was imprisoned 
and murdered by the Orloffs, and Cath¬ 


arine became empress. A fit of apo¬ 
plexy ended her life on Nov. 17, 1796. 
Apart from her debauchery she was 
an enlightened and progressive ruler, 
and deserves to be remembered grate¬ 
fully by Americans for having refused 
to sell her subjects to George III. to 
fight in the Revolution. 

Catharine de’ Medici, wife of 
Henry II., King of France; born in 
Florence in 1519, the only daughter of 
Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, 
and the niece of Pope Clement VII. 
Francis I. consented that his son 
Henry should marry her only because 
he did not believe she ever would 
ascend the throne, and because he was 
in great want of money, with which 
Lorenzo could furnish him. The mar¬ 
riage was celebrated at Marseilles in 
1533. The massacre of St. Bartholo¬ 
mew was her work. She had two 
daughters, Elizabeth, married to Philip 
II. of Spain in 1559, and Margaret of 
Valois, married to Henry of Navarre, 
afterward Henry IV. She died in 
1589. 

Catliarine of Arragon, Queen of 
England, the youngest daughter of 
Ferdinand of Arragon and Isabella of 
Castile; born in 1483 or 1485. In 
1501 she was married to Arthur, 
Prince of Wales. Her husband dying 
about five months after, the king 
caused her to be contracted to his re¬ 
maining son, Henry, and a dispensa¬ 
tion was procured from the Pope for 
that purpose. In his 15th year the 
prince made a public protest against 
the marriage; but yielding to the rep¬ 
resentations of his council, he con¬ 
sented to ratify the contract, and on 
his accession to the throne in 1509 
was crowned with her. The want of 
male issue proved a source of disquie¬ 
tude to him, and scruples, real or pre¬ 
tended, at length arose in his mind 
concerning the legality of their union, 
which were enforced by a growing pas¬ 
sion for Anne Boleyn, one of the 
queen’s maids of honor. He made ap¬ 
plication to Rome for a divorce from 
Catharine. An encouraging answer 
was returned, and a dispensation 
promised. Overawed, however, by the 
power of the Emperor Charles V., 
Catharine’s nephew, the conduct of the 
pontiff became embarrassed and hesi¬ 
tating. Catharine could not be in¬ 
duced to consent to an act which 





Catharine 


Cathedral 


would render her daughter illegiti¬ 
mate. Being cited before the papal 
legates, Cardinals Wolsey and Cam- 
peggio, she declared that she would 
not submit her cause to their judg¬ 
ment, but appealed to the court of 
Rome. The subterfuges of the Pope 
induced the king to decide the affair 
for himself; and the resentment ex- 
i pressed on this occasion by the court 
of Rome provoked him to throw off his 
submission to it, and declare himself 
head of the English Church — an act 
of royal caprice more important than 
most in history. In 1532 he married 


married Charles II., but her hus¬ 
band’s infidelities and neglect, and her 
childlessness were a source of mortifi¬ 
cation to her. In 1693 she returned to 
Portugal, where, in 1704, she was 
made regent, and in the conduct of 
affairs during the war with Spain 
showed marked ability. She died in 
1705. 

Cathartic, having the property or 
power of cleasing the bowels by pro¬ 
moting the evacuations of excrements, 
etc., purgative. 

Cathedral. The principal church 
of a diocese, and the Cathedral city is 



CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE 
Anne Boleyn; upon which Catharine 
retired to Ampthill. Cranmer, now 
raised to the primacy, pronounced the 
sentence of divorce. She died in 
January, 1536. Shortly before her 
death she wrote a letter to the king, 
recommending their daughter (after¬ 
ward Queen Mary) to his protection, 
praying for the salvation of his soul, 
and assuring him of her forgiveness 
and unabated affection. 

Catharine of Braganza, wife of 
Charles II., King of England, and 
daughter of John IV., King of Portu¬ 
gal, was born in 1638. In 1662 she 


DIVINE, NEW TORY CITY, 
the seat of the bishop of the diocese, 
and his throne is placed in the Cathe¬ 
dral church, which is the parish 
church of the whole diocese. The dis¬ 
tinction between Cathedral and colle¬ 
giate churches consists principally in 
the see of the bishop being at the for¬ 
mer. The governing body of a Cathe¬ 
dral is called the dean and chapter. 
St. Peter’s, at Rome, is unequaled in 
magnitude and splendor by any other 
Christian fane in the world. St. 
Peter’s was begun in 1503, and was 
consecrated in 1626. Milan Cathedral 
was commenced in 1387, but is still 




























Cathedral Peak 


Catorce 


unfinished. The Duomo, Florence, was 
begun in 1298, and was finished in 
1414. The Cathedral at Cologne was 
begun in the middle of the 13th cen¬ 
tury, and only partly finished in 1509, 
after which work was not resumed on 
it till 1830. In 1863 the interior was 
thrown open to the public. In 1880 
it was finished. The Cathedral at 
Strasburg was completed in 1601, and 
is one of the grandest Gothic struc¬ 
tures in Europe. Notre Dame, Paris, 
was begun about 1163. St. Paul’s, 
London (the present edifice, the first 
having been destroyed in the great fire 
of 1666), was begun in 1675, and was 
finished in 1710. It is built in the 
form of a Latin cross. The Cathedral 
of Mexico was begun in 1573, and was 
finished in 1667. The Cathedral of 
St. John the Divine (P. E.), in New 
York, will, when completed, be the 
most splendid structure of the kind on 
this continent. 

Cathedral Peak, a peak of the 
Sierra Nevada Range, situated in 
Mariposa county, Cal. Height, 11,000 
feet. 

Catherine Harbor, a Russian 
port in the far N. on the Murman 
coast of the Kola peninsula. It was 
formally opened in 1900, the city hav¬ 
ing been built by imperial command. 

Catheter, a term applied in sur¬ 
gery to a tube, usually of silver or in¬ 
dia-rubber, which is introduced into 
the bladder through the urethra, for 
the purpose of drawing off the urine 
when it cannot be discharged in the 
natural way. 

Catholic Benevolent Union, an 

organization of Roman Catholics in 
the United States, founded in 1881 as 
a fraternal and protective order. 

Catholic Church, the universal 
Church, the whole body of true be¬ 
lievers in Christ; but the term is often 
used as equivalent to the Roman or 
Papal Church. 

Catholic Epistles, the epistles in 
the New Testament addressed not to 
individual men or to individual 
churches, but to the general body of 
Christians. They are James, I and II 
Peter, I John and Jude. 

Catholic Knights of America, 
an organization of Roman Catholics 
in the United States, founded in 1887 
as a fraternal and protective order. 


Catholic University of Amer¬ 
ica, an institution in Washington, D. 
C., founded in 1889, under the auspi¬ 
ces of the Roman Catholic Church, for 
postgraduate study exclusively. 

Catiline (Luciiis Sergius Cati- 
lina), a Roman conspirator; born 
about 108 b. c. Disappointed in his 
ambition he plotted a massacre of his 
political antagonists, and the destruc¬ 
tion of the Roman Republic. Cicero 
exposed the conspiracy, and executed 
the leading conspirators, except Cati¬ 
line, who fell in battle, January 5, 62 
b. c., together with his whole army. 

Cat Island, or Guanahani, an 
island of the Bahama group for cen¬ 
turies supposed to be identical with 
the San Salvador of Columbus, a sur¬ 
mise now disproved. Length, 36 
miles; breadth, 3 to 7 miles; popula¬ 
tion, 2,378. 

Catlin, George, an American au¬ 
thor and painter, bom in Wilkes- 
barre, Pa., June 26, 1796. From 1832 
till 1839 he traveled and lived among 
the Indians of America, of whom he 
painted hundreds of portraits. He died 
in Jersey City, N. J., Dec. 23, 1872. 

Cato, Marcus Porcius, a great 
Roman statesman, called (to distin¬ 
guish him from the censor, his great 
grandfather) Cato of Utica, the place 
of his death; born 95 b. c. He op¬ 
posed Caesar, and upon the triumph 
of the latter, he killed himself at 
Utica, Africa, 46 B. c. 

Cato, Marcus Porcius, tke Cen¬ 
sor, surnamed Priscus; born in Tus- 
culum, 234 b. c. He served his first 
campaign, at the age of 17, under 
Fabius Maximus, when he beseiged 
Capua. Five years after he fought 
under the same commander at the 
siege of Tarentum. After the capture 
of this city he became acquainted with 
the Pythagorean Nearchus, who iniv 
tiated him into the sublime doctrines 
of his philosophy, with which, in prac¬ 
tice, he was already conversant. After 
tie war was ended Cato returned to 
his farm. Cato was poor and un¬ 
known ; but his eloquence and the in¬ 
tegrity and strength of his character, 
soon drew the public attention to him, 
and he was chosen to the highest of¬ 
fices. He died in 149 B. c. 

Catorce, a mining town of San 
Luis Potosi, Mexico, which received its 













































































































































JERSEY 


SHOff 


HOLSTEIN 


Guernsey 


z*m-. 


brown bw 


WEST HIGHLY 




. ■ 


DUTCH BEL TED 


Copyright MDCCCXCIX, by F. E. Wright 


STANDARD CATTLE 







Catskill Mountains 


Caucus 


name, signifying 14, from a gang of 
robbers, formerly a constant menace 
to its inhabitants. When the French 
invaded Mexico, a mint was started 
here, and worked until 1867. The 
amount coined was about $52,000,000. 
The population is variable, ranging 
from 8,000 to 15,000, according to the 
state of mining. 

Catskill Mountains, a chain of 
the Appalachian system, beginning in 
Greene county, N. Y., on the W. side 
of the Hudson river. The scenery of 
these mountains is remarkably pic¬ 
turesque and beautiful, while from the 
higher points may be seen extensive 
and interesting views, taking in a rad¬ 
ius from the Green Mountains of Ver¬ 
mont to the West Point Highlands. 

Cattegat, or Kattegat, the bay 
or arm of the sea between the E. coast 
of J utland and tne W. coast of 
Sweden, to the N. of the Danish is¬ 
lands. It is connected with the Baltic 
Sea by the Great and Little Belt, and 
by the Sound, and the Skager Rack 
connects it with the North Sea. The 
length of the Cattegat is about 150 
miles, and its greatest breadth 85 
miles. Its greatest depth is 36 
fathoms. 

Cattell, James McKeen, an 

American psychologist, born in Easton, 
Pa., May 25, 1860, graduated at La¬ 
fayette College and studied at Leipsic, 
Paris, Geneva, and Gottingen, and be¬ 
came Professor of Experimental Psy¬ 
chology in Columbia University, 1891. 

Cattle, a collective term, denoting 
all animals of the bovine or ox kind. 

Cattle-plague. The name is given 
in the United States specifically to the 
disease known as “Texas fever.” Al¬ 
though this pest has from time to time 
broken out there has never been any 
general epidemic. The appellation 
“cattle plague” is also loosely given to 
another disease among cattle which is 
known as the “lumpy-jaw,”. a most 
virulent and incurable affection. Ex¬ 
periments have been time and again 
ineffectually tried to find a cure for 
this disease. 

Catty, in China and the Malayan 
Archipelago, a weight of 1 1-3 pounds. 

Catubig, a small town in the island 
of Samar, Philippine Islands. The 
place is garrisoned by United States 
troops, who, in June, 1900, withstood 


an attack by 600 insurgents. Popu¬ 
lation, 9,565. 

Catullus, Valerius (whose prse- 
nomen is stated by some to be Caius, 
by others Quintus), a famous Roman 
poet; born 86 b. c. The common opin¬ 
ion is that he died 57 b. c., in the 30th 
year of his age, but this is no doubt 
erroneous, as there are allusions in his 
own works which prove him to have 
been alive in the consulship of Vatin- 
ius as late as 47 b. c. 

Catulus, Quintus Lutatius, a 
Roman general, historian, and poet, 
born about 152 b. c.; died 8 . b. c. 

Cauca, a river of Colombia, in 
South America, which, after a N. 
course of 600 miles, falls into the Mag¬ 
dalena. Its valley is one of the richest 
and most populous districts of the con¬ 
tinent, and it gives name to the largest 
of the Colombian States; area, 257,- 
462 square miles; population, (est.), 
700,000. It possesses the most pro¬ 
ductive platinum mine in America. 
Capital, Popayan. 

Caucasia, a province of the Rus¬ 
sian Empire, between the Black and 
Caspian Seas, and extending from the 
frontier of Persia on the S. to the 
Kuma-Manych depression on the N. 
The Caucasus Mountains divide the 
territory into Cis-caucasia and Trans¬ 
caucasia. The total area of Caucasia, 
the two parts being nearly equal, is 
180,843 square miles, and the popula¬ 
tion, in 1897, Trans-caucasia being the 
most thickly settled, 9,248,695. 

Caucasian Race, the white man, 
one of the three more remarkable va¬ 
rieties of the species Man, the two 
others being the Yellow, or Mongolian, 
and the Black, or Ethiopian. The 
Caucasian Race occupies all Europe 
and Western Asia as far as the Gan¬ 
ges, likewise Northern Africa and the 
greater part of America. 

Caucasus, a chain of mountains be¬ 
tween Europe and Asia, extending 
from S. E. to N. W., and occupying 
the isthmus between the Black and 
Caspian seas. The length is computed 
at 700 miles, the breadth is various; 
from Mosdok to Tiflis it may be esti¬ 
mated at 184 miles. 

Caucus, in the political momencla- 
ture of the United States, a gathering 
preliminary to a public meeting of 





Caudex 


Cavaignac 


citizens for election or for other pur¬ 
poses, generally political. 

Caudex, in botany, the stem of a 
tree, more especially the scaly trunk 
of palms and tree-ferns. 

Caudiue Forks, a pass of South¬ 
ern Italy, in the form of two lofty 
fork-shaped defiles, in the Apennines 
(now called the valley of Arpaia), 
into which a Roman army was enticed 
by the Samnites, 321 b. c., and being 
hemmed in was forced to surrender. 

Caul, a popular name for a mem¬ 
brane investing the viscera, such as the 
peritoneum or part of it, or the peri¬ 
cardium ; also a portion of the amnion 
or membrane enveloping the fetus, 
sometimes encompassing the head of a 
child when born. 

Cauliflower, an esculent vegetable 
for w’hich a very rich, light, warm soil 
is required. The Cauliflower is light, 
easily digested, and nutritious. 

Caulking, of a ship, driving a 
quantity of oakum into the seams of 
the planks in the ships’ decks or sides 
in order to prevent the entrance of 
water. After the oakum is driven 
very hard into these seams *it is cov¬ 
ered with hot melted pitch to keep the 
water from rotting it. 

Caura, a river of Venezuela, rises 
among the sierras of the frontier, and 
flows N. N. W. to the Orinoco. On 
both sides stretches the territory. of 
Caura (22,485 square miles), with im¬ 
mense forests of tonka beans. 

Caus, Caulx, or Cauls, Salomon 
de, a French engineer, born in Dieppe 
in 1576. At Frankfort, in 1615, ap¬ 
peared his “Causes of Kinetic En¬ 
ergy,” which contains a description, of 
a machine for forcing water to a high 
level by steam, being the forerunner of 
the modem steam engine. He died in 
Paris, June 6, 1626. 

Cause, that which produces an 
effect. In law, suit or action. 

Caustic, a name given to substances 
which have the property of burning, 
corroding, or disintegrating animal 
matter; or of combining with the 
principles of organized substances and 
destroying their texture. 

Cautin, a river in Chile; flows W. 
through a province named after it, 
and empties into the Pacific Ocean. 
Its length is about 200 miles. The 


province of Cautin has an area of 
3,127 square miles; pop. 78,221; capi¬ 
tal, Temuco; pop. 7,078. 

Cautionary Towns, four towns 
in Holland (the Briel, Flushing, Ram- 
mekins, and Walcheren), so named be¬ 
cause they were given to Queen Eliza¬ 
beth in 1585 as security for their re¬ 
paying her for assistance in their 
struggle with Spain. They were re¬ 
stored to Holland by James I. 

Cavaignac, Jacques Marie Eu¬ 
gene Godefroy, a French politician, 
son of Louis Eugene Cavaignac, born 
May 22, 1853. In August, 1898, he 
added to the excitement over the Drey¬ 
fus prosecution by forcing Lieutenant- 
Colonel Henry to confess to a forgery 
of certain letters bearing on the case, 
that officer committing suicide shortly 
after. C. died Sept. 25, 1905. 

Cavaignac, Louis Eugene, a 
French general who became famous in 
connection with the events of 1848; 
born in Paris, Oct. 15, 1802. Cavaig¬ 
nac was in Africa when the revolution 
of February, 1848, took place. He 
was offered the portfolio of the minis¬ 
ter of war, and accepted it. The meas¬ 
ures which he adopted to guard against 
the crisis which was evidently ap¬ 
proaching were prompt and decisive. 
In a few days an army of nearly 30,- 
000 men was assembled in and around 
Paris. On June 23 the terrible Com¬ 
munist insurrection burst forth, and 
for three days Paris presented the 
most dreadful scene of tumult and 
bloodshed which had been witnessed 
there since the massacre of St. Bar¬ 
tholomew. About 15,000 persons per¬ 
ished, and property was destroyed to 
the value of upward of $1,000,000. By 
the energy of General Cavaignac, aided 
by the loyalty of the army and the na¬ 
tional guard, the insurrection was sup¬ 
pressed on June 26. On that day the 
National Assembly delegated the en¬ 
tire executive power to Cavaignac as 
dictator, who resigned it again into 
its hands on the 29th, and received it 
anew on the same day. He was de¬ 
feated in the elections for the presi- 
dencv in the month of December fol¬ 
lowing, and Louis Napoleon was pre¬ 
ferred to the office. On Dec. 20 he re¬ 
signed his dictatorship. The last years 
of his life were spent at his country- 
seat, where he expired suddenly of 
heart disease on Oct. 28, 1857. 






Cavaille-Coll 


Cavendish. 


Cavaille-Coll, Aristide, a French 
organ builder, born in Montpelier, Feb. 
2, 1811. He invented the pressure 
method for sounding tones of different 
depths and heights. He died in Paris, 
Oct. 13, 1899. 

Cavalier, a horse-soldier; an armed 
horseman; a knight; the name given 
to the supporters of King Charles I., 
during the Great Civil War in Eng¬ 
land. 

Cavalier, Jean, a leader of the 
Camisards, or Protestants of Cevennes, 
when forced into rebellion against 
Louis XIV., by the persecutions of the 
Catholics, born in Cevennes, 1679. He 
defeated the best generals that came 
against him, and compelled Marshal de 
Villars to make a treaty with him. He 
died in 1740. 

Cavalotti, Felice, an Italian 
statesman, bom in Milan, Nov. 6, 
1842. He fought under Garibaldi and 
gained celebrity; was a political jour¬ 
nalist. He fought 32 duels, in the last 
of which he was killed in Rome, 
March 6, 1898. 

Cavalry, one of the three great 
classes of troops. The use of cavalry 
is probably nearly as ancient as war 
itself; but some nations used chariots 
in war before they became accustomed 
to fight on horseback. The Egyptians 
are said to have had cavalry before the 
time of Moses. The Israelites often 
had to encounter cavalry, but had none 
themselves till the time of Solomon. 
Cavalry are usually armed with 
straight swords or sabers, pistols, and 
carbines. In the United States army 
a cavalry regiment consists of six 
squadrons of two troops or companies, 
containing 63 men each. 

Cave, or Cavern, an opening pro¬ 
duced by nature in the solid crust of 
the earth. Caves are principally met 
with in limestone rocks, in gypsum, 
sometimes in sandstone, and in vol¬ 
canic rocks (basalt, lava, tufa, etc.). 

The most celebrated caverns in the 
United States are Madison’s Cave, in 
Rockingham Co., Va.; Weyer’s Cave, 
in the same county; Luray Cave, in 
Page Co., Va.; and the Mammoth 
Cave, in Edmondson Co., Ky., which 
incloses an extent of about 40 miles of 
subterraneous windings. One of its 
chambers, called the Temple, is said to 
cover a space of nearly 5 acres, aod to 


be surmounted by a dome of solid rock 
120 feet in height. The Cumberland 
mountains, in Tennessee, contain some 
curious caverns, in one of which, at a 
depth of 400 feet, a stream was found 
with a current sufficiently powerful to 
turn a mill. Another cave in the same 
State is named Big Bone Cave, from 
the bones of the mastodon which have 
there been discovered. In the Rac¬ 
coon mountains, near the N. W. ex¬ 
tremity of Georgia, is a cave called 
Nickojack Cave, which has been ex¬ 
plored to the distance of 3 miles. A 
stream of considerable size runs 
through it, which is interrupted by a 
fall. Caves are sometimes found 
which exhale poisonous vapors. The 
most remarkable known is the Grotto 
del Cane, a small cave near Naples. 
In Iceland there are many caves, 
formed by the lava from its volcanoes. 
In the volcanic country near Rome 
there are many natural cavities of 
great extent and coolness, which are 
sometimes resorted to as a refuge from 
the heat. In South America is the 
cavern of Guacharo, which is said to 
extend for leagues. 

Caveat. In the United States this 
name is given to a notice lodged in 
the patent-office by a person who 
wishes to patent an invention, but de¬ 
sires to be protected till he has per¬ 
fected it. It stands good for a year. 

Cave Dwellers, prehistoric men 
dwelling in caves, and cave-dwelling 
animals of corresponding periods; also 
cave-dwelling men of more recent his¬ 
toric times. In America, caves with 
human remains have been investigated 
in a number of States. There are re¬ 
mains that have been deposited within 
the period of authentic history. There 
are still cave-dwelling Indians in 
Northern Mexico. 

Cavendish, Frederick Charles, 
Lord, second son of the Duke of De¬ 
vonshire, an English statesman; born 
in Eastbourne, Nov. 30, 1836. He sat 
in Parliament from 1865 till 1882, 
when he succeeded Mr. Forster as 
chief secretary for Ireland. On May 
6, he and Mr. Burke were stabbed to 
death in the Phoenix Park. Eight 
months later, twenty “Irish Invinci- 
bles” were tried for the murder, and, 
Carey and two others having turned 
Queen’s evidence, five of the rest were 
hanged, three sentenced to penal servi- 





Cavendish 


Caxias 


tude for life, and the remaining nine 
to various terms of imprisonment. 
Carey disappeared; but in July news 
came from the Cape that he had been 
shot dead by an Irishman named 
O’Donnell. O’Donnell was taken back 
to London and hanged. 

^ Cavendish, or Candish, Thomas, 
an English circumnavigator in the 
reign of Elizabeth; born about 1555. 
Having collected three small vessels for 
the purpose of making a predatory 
voyage to the Spanish colonies, he 
sailed from Plymouth in 1586, took 
and destroyed many vessels, ravaged 
the coasts of Chile, Peru, and New 
Spain, and returned by the Cape of 
Good Hope, having circumnavigated 
the globe in 2 years and 49 days, the 
shortest period in which it had then 
been effected. In 1591 he set sail on 
a similar expedition, during which he 
died, in 1592. 

Cave Temple, a cave used as a 
temple, but the name is especially ap¬ 
plied to temples excavated in the solid 
rock. 

Caviare, a prepared article of food 
consisting of the salted roes of several 
kinds of large fish, chiefly of the com¬ 
mon sturgeon. It is prepared chiefly 
in Russia, where it is greatly esteemed 
as food. It is used also in America. 

Cavite, a small seaport of Luzon, 
Philippine Islands; about 11 miles S. 
W. of Manila and fronting directly on 
the bay ; population, 9,484. The town 
dates almost from the first occupa¬ 
tion of the Spaniards and was elab¬ 
orately fortified with docks and arsen¬ 
als in the 18th century. On May 1, 
1898, Admiral Dewey won his great 
victory off Cavit6. The Americans im¬ 
mediately occupied the arsenal, and 
upon the arrival of American troops 
Cavit6 was fortified and made a naval 
and military base. The province of 
the same name has an area of 2,188 
square miles; pop. 132,567. 

Cavcmr, Count Camillo Benso 
di, an Italian statesman, born in 
Turin, Aug. 10, 1810. He became a 
member of the Sardinian Chamber of 
Deputies in 1849. In 1852 he became 
premier, and took an active part in 
cementing an alliance with Great Brit¬ 
ain and France, and making common 
cause with these powers against Rus¬ 
sia during the Crimean War. This 


caused a war with Austria, in which 
Sardinia was aided by France (1859). 
In 1860 Garibaldi’s expedition to 
Sicily took place; but toward this 
Count Cavour was forced to maintain 
an apparent coldness. He lived to see 
the meeting of the first Italian Parlia¬ 
ment, which decreed Victor Emman¬ 
uel king of Italy. He died June 6, 
1861. 

Cavy, a genus of South American 
rodents. It includes the guinea pig. 
All have a short tail, or none at all, 
and bear a slight resemblance to a pig. 

Cawnpur, a town, India, North¬ 
west Provinces, on the right bank of 
the Ganges, which is here about a mile 
wide, 130 miles N. W. from Allahabad, 
628 miles N. W. of Calcutta, and 266 
miles S. E. of Delhi. Pop. about 197,- 
000. In 1857 the native regiments sta¬ 
tioned here mutinied and marched off, 
placing themselves under the command 
of the notorious Nana Sahib. General 
Wheeler, the commander of the Euro¬ 
pean forces, defended his position for 
some days, but was induced to surren¬ 
der to the rebels on condition of his 
party being allowed to quit the place 
uninjured. This w T as agreed to; but 
after the European troops, with the 
women and children, had been em¬ 
barked in boats on the Ganges, they 
were treacherously fired on by the 
rebels; many were killed, and the re¬ 
mainder conveyed back to the city, 
where the men were massacred and the 
women and children placed in confine¬ 
ment. The approach of General Hav¬ 
elock to Cawnpur roused the brutal in¬ 
stincts of the Nana, and he ordered 
his hapless prisoners to be slaughtered, 
and their bodies to be thrown into a 
well. The following day he was 
obliged to retreat to Bithoor. 

Caxamarca, or Cajamarca, a de¬ 
partment and town of Peru; area of 
the department about 14,200 square 
miles; pop. 213,400. The town is sit¬ 
uated about 70 miles from the Pacific 
Ocean, 280 N. of Lima. Pop. 18,400. 
It was the scene of the imprisonment 
and murder of Atahualpa, the last of 
the Incas. 

Caxias, (1), a town of Brazil, in 
the State of Marantiao, on the navi¬ 
gable Itapicuru, 190 miles from its 
mouth, with an active trade an cotton. 
Pop. 10,000. (2) an Italian agricul- 






Caxton 


Cecil 


tural colony in the Brazilian State of 
Rio Grande do Sul, founded in 1875. 
Pop. 13,680. 

Caxton, William, an English 
printer and scholar, born in the Weald 
of Kent, about 1422. His “Recuyell 
(collection) of the Histories of Troy,” 
translated by him from the French, 
appears to have been printed in 1474, 
most probably at Bruges in Belgium. 
It was the first book in English repro¬ 
duced by typography. He set up a 
printing-office in Westminster, 1477; 
and on Nov. 18 of that year issued 
“The Dictes and Sayings of the Philos¬ 
ophers,” folio, a work ever memorable 
as the first book printed in England. 
He printed in all 71 separate works. 
He died in 1491. 

Cayenne, a fortified seaport, capi¬ 
tal of French Guiana, on an island at 
the mouth of a river of the same name. 
Cayenne is chiefly known as a great 
French penal settlement. The climate 
is extremely unwholesome for Euro¬ 
peans, large numbers of the convicts 
having been carried off by various ma¬ 
lignant fevers. The name of the capi¬ 
tal is sometimes used for the whole 
of French Guiana. Pop. 12,700. 

Cayenne Pepper, or Capsicum, 
the name given to the powder formed 
of the dried and ground fruits, and 
more especially the seeds, of various 
species of Capsicum. 

Cayes, or Aux Cayes, a seaport 
of Haiti, on the S. W. coast, 95 miles 
W. S. W. of Port-au-Prince. Pop. 
8 , 000 . 

Cayley, Arthur, an English math¬ 
ematician, bom in Richmond, Surrey 
Co., England, Aug. 16, 1821. In 1882 
he gave a course of mathematical lec¬ 
tures at the Johns Hopkins Univers¬ 
ity, Baltimore. 

Cayman Islands, three islands sit¬ 
uated about 140 miles N. W. of Ja¬ 
maica, of which they are dependencies. 
Grand Cayman, the # largest and the 
only one inhabited, is 20 miles long 
and from 7 to 10 broad, and has two 
towns or villages. Pop. about 2,500. 
The other two islands are Little Cay¬ 
man and Cayman Brae. 

Cayuga Indians, a tribe of In¬ 
dians dwelling in New York State, one 
of those forming the Six Nations. 
They lived around Cayuga Lake, where 
less than 200 of them remain. 

E. 31. 


Cayuga Lake, a lake of Central 
New York, noted for the picturesque 
scenery of its surroundings. 

Cayuse, or Willetpoo, a tribe of 
North American Indians who formerly 
inh bited the region between the Des 
Chutes river and the Blue Mountains, 
Oregon, and also parts of Washington, 
S. of the Yakima river. 

Cazanran, Augustus R., a 
Franco-American author and play¬ 
wright, born in Bordeaux, France, Oct. 
31, 1820. In 1848 he became impli¬ 
cated in an Irish rebellion, fled to the 
United States, and obtained employ¬ 
ment as a reporter. During the Cri¬ 
mean War he acted as war corespon¬ 
dent to a London daily. When Lin¬ 
coln was shot he was at the theater as 
dramatic critic, and wrote the first ac¬ 
count of the assassination. He died 
in New York, Jan. 27, 1889. 

Ceara, a State of Brazil, on the N. 
coast, with an area of 40,253 square 
miles, and 805,687 inhabitants. The 
interior presents a succession of wood¬ 
ed hills and wide plateaus. The capi¬ 
tal, Ceara, had formerly only an open 
roadstead, but extensive harbor im¬ 
provements, with breakwater and via¬ 
duct, have been provided. It is the 
terminus of a railway to Baturite and 
has a large trade. Pop., 40,902. 

Cebu, one of the Philippine Islands, 
between Luzon and Mindanao, 135 
miles long, with an extreme width of 
30 miles. Sugar cultivation and the 
manufacture of abaca are the chief in¬ 
dustries. Pop., 504,076. The town of 
Cebu, on the E. coast of the island, the 
oldest Spanish settlement in the Phil¬ 
ippines, is a place of considerable 
trade. It is about 60 miles from Ma¬ 
nila and has a population of 25,243. 

Cebus, a genus of American 
monkeys, characterized by a round 
head and short muzzle, long thumbs, 
and a long, prehensile tail, entirely 
covered with hair. 

Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, 
an English statesman, second son of 
William Cecil, born about 1563. He 
went to France as assistant to the 
English ambassador. On the death of 
Sir Francis Walsingham he succeeded 
him as principal secretary. Haring 
secretly supported the interests of 
James I. previous to his accession to 
the crown he was continued in office 




Cecropia Moth 


Celebes 


under the new sovereign and raised to 
the peerage. In 1608 he was made 
Lord High-Treasurer, an office which 
he held till his death, in 1612. 

Cecropia Moth, the largest moth 
of the United States. It belongs to the 
silk worm family, and its caterpillar 
spins a large cocoon from which a 
coarse silk may be prepared. 

Cedar, a tree which forms large 
forests on the mountains of Syria and 
Asia Minor. It is an evergreen, grows 
to a great size, and is remarkable for 
its durability. Of the famous cedars 
of Lebanon comparatively few now re¬ 
main, and the tree does not grow in 
any other part of Palestine. Cedar 
timber was formerly much prized, but 
in modern times is not regarded as of 
much value, perhaps from the trees 
not being of sufficient age. The name 
is also applied to many trees which 
have no relation to the true cedar, as 
the Bermuda cedar, used for making 
pencils, the red or Virginian cedar, the 
Honduras cedar, and the red cedar of 
Australia. 

Cedar Bird, a name given to the 
American wax-wing, from its fondness 
for the berries of the red cedar. 

Cedar Creek, scene of a memorable 
battle between Union and Confederate 
armies in the American Civil War, at 
Alacken, Shenandoah Co., Va. On 
Oct. 19, 1864, at daylight, during Gen. 
Sheridan’s absence, his army was sur¬ 
prised by the Confederates under 
Early, who turned the left flank and 
took the camps of the 8th and 19th 
corps, with 20 guns and some prison¬ 
ers. Gen. Wrignt, in command of the 
Federals, retreated and reformed their 
line. Gen. Sheridan arriving 10 A. M., 
after a famous “ride,” celebrated in 
T. B. Read’s poem, repelled an assault, 
routing the Confederates, retaking 
what had been lost, capturing 30 guns 
and 2,000 prisoners. The cavalry pur¬ 
sued next day, and in the night Early 
retreated. 

Cedar Lake, a lake of Canada, in 
the Saskatchewan district, a sort of 
expansion of the Saskatchewan river, 
receiving the waters of this large 
stream to pour them over the Grand 
Rapids into Lake Winnipeg. Between 
Grand Rapids and Cedar lake is an¬ 
other expansion, known as Cross lake. 
Cedar lake is nearly 30 miles long, and 


where widest 25 broad; area about 312 
square miles. 

Cedar Mountain, an elevation in 
Culpepper Co., Va., where, in the 
American Civil War, on Aug. 9, 1862, 
Gen. Banks was defeated by a superior 
Confederate force under General Jack- 
son, and retired for reenforcements 
from General Pope, with a loss of 
1,400 killed and wounded, 400 prison¬ 
ers, and many missing. The Confed¬ 
erates, who held the field two days and 
then fell back to meet Lee at Gordons- 
ville, lost 1,314. 

Cedar Oil, an aromatic oil obtained 
from the red or Virginian cedar. 

Ceiling, a word which seems to 
have been suggested by the use of 
arched coverings for churches, and 
even for rooms, which prevailed in the 
Middle Ages, and was not unknown to 
the Romans. The oldest flat Ceiling in 
existence is believed to be that of 
Peterborough Cathedral, England, and 
one of the most noteworthy flat Ceil¬ 
ings in the United States is that of the 
First Presbyterian Church, Newark, 
N. J. 

Celandine, a name given to two 
plants, the greater celandine and the 
lesser celandine; also called swallow- 
worts, because the plants were be¬ 
lieved to flower when the swallow ar¬ 
rived, and to die when it departed. 

Celaya, a town in the Mexican 
State of Guanajuato, on the Rio Laja, 
about 150 miles N. W. of the City of 
Mexico. The burning of its bull-ring, 
on Easter Sunday, 1888, caused con¬ 
siderable loss of life. Population, 
21,245. 

Celebes, one of the larger islands 
of the Indian Archipelago, between 
Borneo on the W. and the Moluccas on 
the E. It consists mainly of four 
large peninsulas separated by three 
deep gulfs; total area, 71,470 square 
miles. No part of it is more than 70 
miles from the sea. Celebes is moun¬ 
tainous and has several active vol¬ 
canoes. It has also broad grassy 
plains and extensive forests. Gold is 
found in all the valleys of the N. 
peninsula. Copper occurs at various 
points, and tin also. Diamonds and 
other precious stones are found. The 
island is entirely desitute of feline or 
canine animals, insectivora, the ele¬ 
phant, rhinoceros, and tapir, etc. The 




Celery 


Celt 


inhabitants may be classed into two 
groups: the Mohammedan semi-civil¬ 
ized tribes, and the pagans, who are 
more or less savages. The capital is 
Macassar, in the S. W. of the island. 
Pop. estimated at 1,997,860. 

Celery, the common English name 
of a species of parsley. Tne blanched 
leaf-stalk of the cultivated varieties is 
used extensively for salads, etc. 

Celeste, Madame, a French dancer, 
born in Paris, Aug. 6, 1814, early 
showed remarkable talent. She made 
her debut in 1827 at New York, and 
during her residence in the United 
States married a Mr. Elliott. She re¬ 
tired from the stage in 1874, and died 
at Paris, Feb. 12, 1882. 

Celestial Empire, The, a popular 
name for the Chinese Empire, taken 
from the Chinese words “ Tien Chao ” 
(Heavenly Dynasty). Hence the 
name “Celestials,” applied to natives 
of China. 

Celestial Sphere, the background 
of sky on which we see all celestial ob¬ 
jects projected. It is supposed to be 
of indefinite radius with the observer 
at the center. 

Celestine V., (Pope Pietro di Mon- 
rone), a Benedictine monk, who 
founded the order of the Celestines, 
which was suppressed by Pope Pius 
VI., 1776-78. He was elected Pope in 
1294, after an interregnum of six 
years. A few months after, he re¬ 
signed his office and was succeeded by 
Boniface VIII., who confined him in 
the castle of Fumone, where he died. 
Celestine was canonized in the year 
1313 by Clement V. 

Celibacy, the state of being celi¬ 
bate or unmarried; specially applied to 
the voluntary life of abstinence from 
marriage followed by many religious 
devotees and by some orders of clergy, 
as those of the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

Cell, a term of various applications : 
(1) the compartments of a honey¬ 
comb, (2) one of the small structures 
composing the substance of plants, 
generally indistinguishable by the 
naked eye, and each at least, for a 
time, being a whole complete in itself. 
(3) A term often applied to any small 
cavity but properly restricted to a 
microscopical anatomical element with 
a nucleus cell-wall and cell-contents 


when typically formed. (4) The space 
between the two ribs of a vault, or the 
space inclosed within the walls of an 
ancient temple. (5) A structure in a 
wrought-iron beam or girder; a tube 
consisting of four wrought-iron plates 
riveted to angle-iron at the corners. 
(6) In electricity, a single jar, con¬ 
taining a couple of plates, generally 
copper and zinc, united to their oppo¬ 
site or to each other usually by a wire. 

Cellini, Benvenuto, Italian 
sculptor, born in Florence, 1500; died 
there 1571. His chief works are: the 
“ Perseus ” at Florence ; the colossal 
“ Mars ” at Fontainebleau; and a 
“ Christus ” in the Escurial Palace. 

Cellular Tissue, a kind of tissue 
made of a number of separate cells of 
minute bags adherent together. It is 
found filling interstices between the 
various organs in man and the verte- 
brated animals. 

Celluloid, an ivory-like compound, 
which can be molded, turned, or other¬ 
wise manufactured for various pur¬ 
poses for which, before its introduc¬ 
tion, ivory and bone were emnloyed. 

Cellulose, a substance of general 
occurrence, and constituting the basis 
of vegetable tissues. Corn pith cellu¬ 
lose is an American preparation used 
as a packing in warships to protect 
them from sinking when pierced by 
shot or shell. This packing is placed 
like a belt three feet in thickness, in-, 
side the steel hull along the water line. 

Celsius, the name of a Swedish 
family, several members of which at¬ 
tained celebrity in science and liter¬ 
ature. The best known is Anders Cel¬ 
sius, born in 1701, died in 1744. After 
being appointed Professor of Astron¬ 
omy at the University of Upsal he 
traveled in Germany, England, France, 
and Italy, and in 1736 he took part in 
the expedition of Maupertuis and 
others for the purpose of measuring a 
degree of the meridian in Lapland. He 
is best known as the constructor of the 
Centigrade thermometer. 

Celt, the longitudinal and grooved 
instrument of mixed metal often found 
in Scotland, also a stone instrument of 
a wedgelike form found in barrows and 
other repositories of Celtic antiquar¬ 
ian remains. Though the primary ap¬ 
plication of the word celt was to the 
metallic implement, yet the stone celt 





Celtiberi 


Censor 


is believed by archaeologists and geolo¬ 
gists to be the older of the two. 

Celtiberi, a people of ancient 
Spain supposed to have arisen from a 
union of the aborigines, the Iberians, 
and their Celtic invaders. Various 
limits have been assigned to their 
country, which included probably all 
the N. of Spain as far. S. as the 
sources of the Guadalquivir. After 
72 b. c. they do not appear in history. 

Celts, the earliest Aryan settlers in 
Europe according to common theory. 
They appear to have been driven west¬ 
ward by succeeding waves of Teutons, 
Slavonians, and others. Herodotus 
mentions them as mixing with the 
Iberians who dwelt round tne river 
Ebro in Spain. At the beginning of 
the historic period they were the pre¬ 
dominant race in Great Britain, Ire¬ 
land, France, and elsewhere. The 
Romans called them generally Galli. 
They appear to have reached the zenith 
of their power in the 2d and 3d cen¬ 
turies b. c. Some tribes of them set¬ 
tled in a part of Asia Minor to which 
the name of Galatia was given. They 
finally went down before the power of 
Rome. At an early date the Celts di¬ 
vided into two great branches, speak¬ 
ing dialects widely differing from each 
other, but belonging to the same stock. 
One of these branches is the Gadhelic 
or Gaelic, represented by the High¬ 
landers of Scotland, the Celtic, Irish, 
and the Manx; the other is the Cym¬ 
ric, represented by the Welsh, the in¬ 
habitants of Cornwall, and those of 
Brittany. The sun seems to have been 
the principal object of worship among 
the Celts, and groves of oak and the 
remarkable circles of stone commonly 
called “Druidical Circles,” their tem¬ 
ples of worship. 

Cements, substances capable of 
uniting bodies closely. They are va¬ 
riously composed according to the na¬ 
ture of the surfaces to unite, and their 
exposure to heat or moisture. Build¬ 
ing cement is a strong mortar con¬ 
sisting of hydraulic limes which con¬ 
tain silica, and set quickly. 

Cenci, Beatrice, called the beau¬ 
tiful parricide, the daughter of Fran¬ 
cesco Cenci, a noble Roman, who, after 
his second marriage, behaved toward 
the children of his first marriage in the 
most shocking manner, procured the 


assassination of two of his sons, on 
their return from Spain, and abused 
his youngest daughter Beatrice. She 
planned and executed the murder of 
her father and was beheaded in 1599. 
She is the alleged subject of a painting 
by Guido, and is the heroine of one of 
Shelley’s most powerful plays. Recent 
researches have deprived the story of 
its romantic elements, and have shown 
Beatrice to be a very commonplace 
criminal. Her stepmother and brother, 
who were equally guilty with her, were 
also executed. 

Cenis, a mountain belonging to the 
Graian Alps, between Savoy and Pied¬ 
mont, 11,755 feet high. It is famous 
for the winding road constructed by 
Napoleon I., which leads over it from 
France to Italy, and for an immense 
railway tunnel, which, after nearly 
fourteen years’ labor, was finished in 
1871. The Mount Genis Pass is 6,765 
feet above the level of the sea, where¬ 
as the elevation of the entrance to the 
tunnel on the side of Savoy is only 
3,801 feet, and that on the side of 
Piedmont 4,246 feet. The total length 
of the tunnel is nearly 8 miles. The 
total cost amounted to about $12,000,- 
000 . 

Cenotaph, an empty monument, 
that is, one raised to a person buried 
elsewhere. 

Censer, a vase or pan in which in¬ 
cense is burned, or a bottle with a per¬ 
forated cap, used’for sprinkling odors. 
Censers were much used in the 
Hebrew service, but their form is not 
accurately ascertained. Josephus tells 
us that King Solomon made 20,000 
gold censers for the temple of Jeru¬ 
salem to offer perfumes in, and 50,000 
others to carry fire in. The censer 
used in the Roman Catholic Church 
at mass, vespers, and other offices, is 
suspended by chains, which are held in 
the hand, and is tossed in the air, so as 
to throw the smoke of the incense in 
all directions. 

Censor, the title of two Roman 
magistrates originally appointed for 
the purpose of taking the census. But 
their powers were much increased 
when they had the inspection of pub¬ 
lic morals, and authority to remove 
citizens from their tribes, depriving 
them of all their privileges except lib¬ 
erty. The Censors had also the power 
of making contracts for public build- 































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Census 


Centipede 


ings, and the supply of victims for sac¬ 
rifices. There is in some countries a 
censor whose duty it is to inspect and 
examine books, plays, etc., before they 
are published, to insure that they shall 
contain nothing to offend against pub¬ 
lic morality or decency. In Russia 
the office is one of unlimited authority 
over all publications. An official ap¬ 
pointed in time of war, at military 
headquarters, to supervise and endorse 
all press dispatches. 

In China there is a Board of Cen¬ 
sors whose members are theoretically 
superior to the central administration, 
and have a right to present any remon¬ 
strance to the sovereign. It is under¬ 
stood that experience with the present 
empress dowager has made them 
cautious. 

Census, a periodical enumeration 
of the people of any State or country, 
with information regarding sex, age, 
family, occupation, possessions, relig¬ 
ious beliefs, and other details. The 
United States Census of 1900 had at 
its head William R. Merriam, who en¬ 
listed more than 58,000 employes. The 
local enumerators, on June 1, began to 
gather the required information by 
going through the country from house 
to house, and all the information was 
tabulated at Washington by more 
than 3,000 clerks. A building was 
especially constructed for the use of 
the Census clerks. The statistics as 
sent in and the combination and tabu¬ 
lation of the figures were performed 
entirely by means of ingenious auto¬ 
matic electrical machinery. In the 
enumeration of 1900 the territory of 
Hawaii and that of Porto Rico were 
included. It was required that the 
four principal reports, those on popu¬ 
lation, mortality, manufactures, and 
agriculture, should be published by 
July, 1902. The salaries of the 3,000 
clerks amounted to nearly $3,000,000 a 
year, and the pay of the enumerators 
was more than $5,000,000, so that the 
total expenses of the Census of 1900 
amounted to nearly $15,000,000. 

Cent, or Centime, the name of a 
small coin in various countries, so 
called as being equal to a 100th part 
of some other coin. In the United 
States and in Canada the cent is the 
100th part of a dollar. In France the 
centime is the 100th part of a franc. 


Similar coins are the centavo of Chili, 
and the centesimo of Italy, Peru, etc. 

Centaur, a mythical creature, half 
man, half horse, said to have sprung 
from the union of Ixion and a Cloud; 
the most celebrated was Chiron. They 
inhabited Thessaly, and were also 
called Hippocentaurs. The myth prob¬ 
ably arose from some herdsman on 
horseback, who, being seen by indi¬ 
viduals unacquainted with the uses of 
the horse, was supposed to form, to¬ 
gether with his steed, one integral 
body. It is also the name of a con¬ 
stellation in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Centennial Exhibition, an inter¬ 
national exposition held in Philadel¬ 
phia from May 10 to Nov. 10, 1876, 
to celebrate the 100th anniversary of 
the Declaration of Independence. The 
various contributions of money amount¬ 
ed to $6,800,000. The total attend¬ 
ance was 9,910,966, of which 8,004,- 
274 were paid. The largest attendance 
was on Pennsylvania Day (Sept. 28,), 
when 274,919 persons were on the 
grounds. 

Centennial State, Colorado; it 
was admitted to the Union in 1876, 
the 100th year of American indepen¬ 
dence. 

Center-Board, a contrivance used 
in yachts or shallow keelless vessels to 
counteract the tendency to drift to lee¬ 
ward, caused by the absence of a keel. 
It is lowered through a prepared slit, 
in the bottom of the craft. 

Center of Population, the center 
of gravity of the population of a coun¬ 
try, each individual being assumed to 
have the same weight. The center of 
population in the United States has 
clung to the parellel of 39° lat. and 
has moved in a westward direction 
during the last 110 years. 

Centigrade Thermometer, a 
thermometer scaled to represent the 
interval between the freezing and the 
boiling point of water, divided into 
100 equal parts, the freezing-point 
being taken as zero. 

Centipede, a worm having a long 
slender, depressed body, protected by 
coriaceous plates, 21 pairs of legs, dis¬ 
tinct eyes, 4 on each side, and antennae 
with 17 joints. The name is, how¬ 
ever, popularly extended to species of 
nearly allied genera. Centipedes run 





Central America 


Central America 


nimbly, feed on insects, and pursue 
them into their lurking-places. 



GIANT CENTIPEDE. 

Central America, the narrow tor¬ 
tuous strip of land which unites the 
continents of North and South Amer¬ 
ica, extending from about lat. 7° to 
18° N. The limits assigned to it in¬ 
clude the six republics of Panama, 
Guatemala, Honduras, San Salva¬ 
dor, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, with 
British Honduras. It thus has Mex¬ 
ico on the N. W., Colombia or New 
Granada on the S. E., and the Pacific 
Ocean and Caribbean Sea on either 
side. Its entire length is about 800 
miles, with a breadth varying from be¬ 
tween 20 and 30 miles to 350 miles. 
The area is estimated at about 200,000 
square miles; the pop. at 3,200,000. 

Guatemala is remarkable for con¬ 
taining, with exception of the island 
of Java, the greatest number of active 
volcanoes known to exist within simi¬ 
lar limits. The highest in Central 
America, is Agua, which is said to 
attain an elevation of 15,000 
feet. This volcano has obtained 
its name from its emitting tor¬ 
rents of water and stone instead of 
fire. The mountains of Central Amer¬ 
ica do not generally attain an eleva¬ 
tion equal to those of the two adjoin¬ 
ing continents, with exception of the 
volcanoes. The coast lands are gen¬ 
erally narrow, and in some places the 
mountains and high lands come close 
down to the water’s edge. The rivers 
of this territory are small, and have 
short courses, the longest not exceed¬ 
ing from 200 to 300 miles, while many 
of them are not more than 50. The 
principal lake is that of Nicaragua, 
which is upward of 100 miles in 


length, and about 50 miles in breadth. 
The other considerable lakes are those 
of Managua or Leon, Golfo Dolce, 
Golfete, Peten, Atitlan, Amatitlan, 
Guija, and Cojutepeque. 

The climate is exceedingly various, 
owing to the inequality of the surface. 
The low grounds on the coast of the 
Caribbean Sea are exposed to violent 
tropical heats, and are generally un¬ 
healthy ; but on the table-lands any 
temperature, according to altitude, 
may be obtained all the year round, 
with a salubrious climate. The dry 
season lasts from about October to 
May; the rest of the year is called the 
wet season, although the rain falls 
during the night only, the days being 
fair and cloudless, and the air pure 
and refreshing. The vegetable produc¬ 
tions are as various as the climate. 
Various creepers and parasitic plants, 
and among them beautiful orchids, 
adorn the forests. The zoology of 
Central America differs little from 
that of other parts of tropical Amer¬ 
ica. Serpents are numerous, some of 
them dangerous. Alligators infest 
some of the streams and lakes, and 
often attack domestic animals. The 
rivers, lakes, and seas abound with 
fish. Of the geology little is known 
with accuracy. Gold, silver, iron, 
lead, and mercury are found; but 
none are worked to any great extent. 
Jasper and marble are worked in 
Honduras; and sulphur is collected 
near the volcano of Quezaltenango. 
There are also many salt springs; and 
salt is procured in large quantities on 
the shores of the Pacific. 

The population consists of three 
classes — whites ; mestizoes, or the off¬ 
spring of whites and Indians; and 
pure-blooded Indians or aboriginal na¬ 
tives. The proportions of this popula¬ 
tion have been estimated at one- 
twelfth whites, four-twelfths mixed 
races, and seven-twelfths Indians. The 
Roman Catholic religion is professed 
by all. The chief occupation of the 
people is agriculture. The chief ex¬ 
port is coffee; others include cocoa, 
fruits, hides, indigo, sugar. 

The Spaniards in 1524 laid the 
foundations of the city of Guatemala. 
After the subjugation of the Quiches, 
the remaining tribes were subdued 
with comparative facility, and the 'do¬ 
minion of the conquerors was perma- 








Central College 


Century 


nently established. The government of 
this country, as constituted by Spain, 
was subject to the Mexican; but the 
dependence was far from being close. 
It was denominated the kingdom of 
Guatemala, and governed by a cap¬ 
tain-general. Its inhabitants re¬ 
mained true to Spain till 1821 when 
they declared their independence; and 
although for a time a large part of the 
country was joined to Mexico under 
the rule of Iturbide, yet on his down¬ 
fall they recurred to their original 
purpose of forming a separate repub¬ 
lic. A constituent congress was con¬ 
voked, which on July 1, 1823, pub¬ 
lished a decree declaring the five States 
already mentioned a republic under the 
title of the United States of Central 
America. Civil dissensions were not 
long in making themselves felt, how¬ 
ever, and in 1839 the union between 
the States was formally dissolved. 
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and 
San Salvador again formed a union in 
1842, but this lasted only till 1845. 
Since that time several atempts (one 
in 1898) have been made to unite the 
States, but without permanent suc¬ 
cess. 

Central America contains antiqui¬ 
ties of a very interesting nature, which 
indicate that the aboriginal inhabi¬ 
tants of the country had even attained 
a very respectable proficiency in the 
knowledge of the arts of life. Ruins 
of large cities exist in various places, 
with remains of temples, altars, and 
ornamental stones, statues of deities, 
and other works of sculpture. 

Central College, a co-educational 
institution in Fayette, Mo., organized 
in 1857, under the auspices of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. 

Central India, the official term for 
a group of feudatory States in India, 
which fall into nine political agencies, 
but are all under the supervision of 
the governor-general’s agent. The re¬ 
gion in which these States lie is to the 
N. of the British “Central Provinces ” 
of India. The total area is about 75,- 
000 square miles; pop. (1901), 8,501,- 
883. 

Centralization, a term in a 
specific sense applied to a system of 
government where the tendency is to 
administer by the central government 
matters which had been previously, or 


might very well be, under the man¬ 
agement of local authorities. 

Central Park, the most noted park 
in New York City, and contains 840 
acres. It was laid out under the di¬ 
rection and management of Hon. An- 
'drew H. Green, who for thirteen years 
had absolute control of the work, and 
who is known as “ The Father of New 
York.” It contains among other ob¬ 
jects of interest, the Mall, the Croton 
Reservoirs, Cleopatra’s Needle, the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Mu¬ 
seum of Natural History, and several 
lakes. 

Central Provinces, an extensive 
British territory in India. They be¬ 
came a separate administration in 
1861, and are under the authority of a 
chief commissioner. Their total area 
is 115,936 square miles, of which 86,- 
501 square miles are British territory, 
and 29,435 the territory of native pro¬ 
tected states, 15 in number. Pop. 
(1901), 9,845,318. 

Central Tennessee College, a 
co-educational institution in Nashville, 
Tenn., organized in 1866 under the 
auspices of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Central University, a co-educa*- 
tional institution in Pella, la., organ¬ 
ized in 1853, under the auspices of 
the Baptist Church. 

Central University, an educa¬ 
tional institution in Richmond, Ky., 
organized in 1873, under the auspices 
of the Presbyterian Church. 

Central Wesleyan College, a co¬ 
educational institution in Warrenton, 
Mo., organized in 1864, under the 
auspices of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Centre College, an educational in¬ 
stitution in Danville, Ky., organized 
in 1819, under the auspices of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

Centumviri, judges of ancient 
Rome, three from each tribe, who de¬ 
termined ordinary causes. The extent 
of their jurisdiction is uncertain. 

Centurion, a Roman military of¬ 
ficer commanding a company of in¬ 
fantry, consisting of 100 men. 

Century, an aggregate number of 
100 of things; a period of 100 
years. This is the uniformly accepted 
sense of the word now. Modern chro- 




Century-plant 


Cerebro-spinal 


nology among Christian nations cen¬ 
ters at the birth of Christ, and the cen¬ 
turies are numbered according to their 
order either before or after that era. 
The word is also applied to a division 
of the Roman tribes for the election 
of magistrates, the passing of laws, 
etc., on which the voting was by cen¬ 
turies ; to a sub-division in the Roman 
army. 

Century-plant, a popular name 
of the American aloe. 

Cepbalonia, an island of Greece, 
W. of the Morea, at the entrance of 
the Gulf of Patras, about 31 miles in 
length, and from 5 to 12 in breadth; 
area, 348 square miles; pop. 80,543. 
Earthquakes are not infrequent. One 
of the most destructive was that of 
the year 1867. 

Cephalopoda, a class of mollusks, 
the highest in organization of that di¬ 
vision of the animal kingdom. To this 
class belong the 
Nautili, Squids, 
Cuttle-fish, etc. 
The Cephalopo¬ 
da receive their 
name from hav¬ 
ing organs of 
prehension and 
and locomotion 
attached to the 
head, an ar¬ 
rangement to¬ 
ward which a 
g r a d u al ap¬ 
proach may be 
traced in the 
highest gastero- 
pod mollusks. 

Cephas, a 
surname given 
by Christ to Si¬ 
mon. In the 
Greek it is Pet¬ 
ros (“a rock”), 
in Latin, Pe¬ 
trus, and in English Peter. 

Cepheus, a king or Ethiopia and 
husband of Cassiopeia; his name was 
given to a constellation of stars in 
the N. hemisphere surrounded by Cas¬ 
siopeia, Ursa Major, Draco, and 
Cygnus. 

Ceram, an island in the Moluccas, 
W. of New Guinea; area, about 7,000 
square miles; pop., estimated at 200,- 
000. It is about 200 miles long with 


an average width of 35 miles. Its in¬ 
terior is t’*a versed by mountain ranges 
from 6,000 to 8.000 feet high. The 
vegetation is luxuriant. The inhabi¬ 
tants of the coast are of Malay origin, 
the interior being peopled by Alfoo- 
ries. It is under the Dutch. 

Ceramic Art, that department of 
plastic art which comprises all objects 
made of baked clay, and including all 
the varieties of earthenware and 
porcelain which can be regarded as 
works of art. 

Cerastes, a genus of African vipers 
remarkable for their fatal venom, and 
for two little horns formed by the 
scales above the eyes. Hence they 
have received the name of horned vi¬ 
pers. The tail is very distinct from 
the body. 

Cerate, the name of an external 
medicament, more or less liquid, hav¬ 
ing for its basis wax and oil. Simple 
cerate consists of 8 ounces of lard and 
4 of white wax melted together and 
stirred till cold. 

Cerberus, the three-headed dog 
which guards the entrance of the king¬ 
dom of Hades and Persephone. Or¬ 
pheus, when he descended into the in¬ 
fernal regions in search of Eurydice, 
lulled him to sleep with his lyre; and 
Hercules dragged him from the gate of 
Hades, when he went after Alceste. 

Cercis, a handsome Asiatic tree. 
It has received the name of the Judas- 
tree, from the tradition that it was 
upon a specimen of it, near Jerusa¬ 
lem, that the traitor Judas hanged 
himself. 

Cerdic, a king of the West Saxons, 
who invaded England about the end of 
the 5th century, and established the 
kingdom of Wessex about 516. He died 
in 534. 

Cere, the naked skin that covers 
the base of the bill in some birds, and 
which is supposed to exercise a tactile 
sense. 

Cereals, a term derived from Ceres, 
the goddess of corn, and confined to 
wheat, barley, rye, oats, and other 
grasses, cultivated for the sake of their 
seed as food. 

Cerebration, exertion or action of 
the brain, conscious or unconscious. 

Cerebro-spinal, pertaining to the 
brain and spinal cord together, looked 
on as forming one nerve mass. 






Ceres 


Cervidae 


Ceres, an asteroid, the first found. 
It was discovered by Piazzi on Jan. 1, 
1801. Having observed it at Palermo, 
in Sicily, he called it Ceres, after the 
old tutelary divinity of that island. 

Cereus, the Torch-thistle. The 
Suwarrow or Saguaro of the Mexi¬ 
cans, is the largest and most striking 
of the genus. It rises to the height 
of 50 or 60 feet, and looks more like a 
candelabra than a tree of the normal 
type. The genus are generally useful 
as cardiac agents and anti-pyretics. 

Cerigo (ancient Cythera), a Greek 
island in the Mediterranean, S. of the 
Morea, from which it is separated by 
a narrow strait; area about 100 
square miles. 

Cerinthus, a heretic who lived at 
the close of the apostolic age, but of 
whom we have nothing better than un¬ 
certain and confuted accounts. 

Cerium (named by the discoverers 
after Ceres), a metal found with two 
other metals, lanthanum and didymi- 
um, in cerite. 

Ceroxylon, a genus of South 
American palms; the wax palm. 

Cerro Blanco, the highest moun¬ 
tain in New Mexico; summit 14,269 
feet. 

Cerro de Pasco, the capital of the 
Peruvian department of Junin, stands 
at an elevation of 14,276 feet, 138 
miles N. E. of Lima. Near it are 
some of the richest silver mines on the 
continent. The climate is cheerless 
and inclement. Pop. 7,000. 

Cerro Gordo, a mountain-pass in 
Mexico, through which passes the Na¬ 
tional road from Vera Cruz to Jalapa 
and Mexico. It is celebrated as the 
scene of a victory by General Scott 
with 9,000 United States troops over 
an army of 13.000 Mexicans under 
Santa Ana, April 17-18, 1847. This 
victory enabled Scott to take the town 
of Jalapa the following day. 

Cerro Gordo de Potosi, a moun¬ 
tain in the Andes of Bolivia; St W. of 
Potosi; 16,150 feet in height; remark¬ 
able for its deposits of silver. 

Cerro Largo, a department in the 
N. E. of Uruguay, well watered, with 
large savannahs and forests. A^ea, 
5,753 square miles; pop. 29,909, 
chiefly engaged in cattle-raising. Cap¬ 
ital, Cerro Largo or Melo; pop. 5,000. 


Cerros, or Cedros Island, an is¬ 
land belonging to Mexico, in the Pa¬ 
cific Ocean, off the W. coast of Lower 
California. 

Certaldo, a town of Central Italy, 
19 miles S. W. of Florence. It is 
noteworthy as the residence of Boccac¬ 
cio, who was born and died here. His 
house is still standing, much as it was 
in the poet’s time. 

Certiorari, in law, a writ issuing 
out of a superior court to call up the 
records of an inferior court or remove 
a cause there depending, that it may 
be tried in the superior court. 

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 
author of “Don Quixote,” and one of 
the greatest writers of modern times; 
born in Alcala de Henares, Oct. 9, 
1547. He died April 23, 1616 (on the 
.same day as Shakespeare), in Madrid, 
where he had resided during the last 
years of his life. He was buried with¬ 
out any ceremony, and no tombstone 
marks the spot where he rests. 

Cervera y Topete, Pascual, a 
Spanish naval officer; born in the 
province of Jerez, in 1833. Graduated 
at the Naval Academy of San Fernan¬ 
do ; entered on active service in 1851; 
and was made first lieutenant in 1859; 
captain in 1868; and admiral subse¬ 
quently. He was a prominent factor 
in the 10-years’ war in Cuba, when he 
succeeded in blockading the ports; was 
sent to London, as a representative of 
Spain, to take part with other nations 
in a conference bearing on naval ques¬ 
tions of international importance; and 
commanded the fleet sent against the 
American squadron operating in Cu¬ 
ban waters after the declaration of 
war in 1898. He took refuge in the 
inner harbor of Santiago de Cuba, and 
when, on July 3, he attempted to es¬ 
cape, under imperative orders from his 
superiors, his entire fleet was destroyed 
by the squadron under the official com¬ 
mand of Rear-Admiral Sampson and 
the actual command (in the temporary 
absence of that officer) of Rear-Ad¬ 
miral Schley. Admiral Cervera and his 
surviving officers were sent to Anna¬ 
polis, Md., as prisoners of war, and 
soon afterward were released and al¬ 
lowed to return to Spain. 

Cervidae, a family of mammals. 
The males of all the species and also 
the female of the reindeer have ant- 




Cervus 


Ceuta 


lers, which are deciduous, this last 
character completely distinguishing 
them from the Oxen. The antlers also 
are solid. The species are widely dis¬ 
tributed and well known. None are 
found in Africa S. of the Sahara or in 
Australia. 

Cervus, the genus of animals to 
which the stag belongs, forming the 
type of the deer family. 

Cesnola, Luiga Palma di, an 
American archaeologist, born in Pied¬ 
mont, Italy, June 29, 1832. He served 
in the Italian war with Austria and 
came to the United States in 1860, 
serving in the Civil War. He was 
United States Consul at Cyprus, where 
he made extensive archaeological dis¬ 
coveries. Until his death, Nov. 21, 
1904, he was director of the Metropol¬ 
itan Museum of Art in New York city. 

Cespedes y Borges, Carlos Man¬ 
uel de, a noted Cuban patriot, born 
in Bayamo, April 18, 1819. Impli¬ 
cated in Prim’s conspiracy while in 
Spain, he was banished from there 
and returned to Cuba. As leader of 
the revolt of 1868 he was chosen by 
the insurgents President of the newly 
proclaimed republic. He was killed 
in a skirmish with Spaniards, March 
22, 1872. 

Cestoid Worms, the Cestoda, or 
intestinal worms, consisting of tape 
worms and other creatures which re¬ 
semble them in structure and habits. 
The number of different kinds is great. 
Their natural history is important in 
reference to the health of human be¬ 
ings and of the most valuable of do¬ 
mesticated animals. 

Cetacea, aquatic mammals which 
depart in many important anatomical 
points from the other members of the 
class, their structure being so modified 
as to render them unfit for terrestrial 
life. The whales, the porpoise, nar¬ 
whal, etc., represent the leading divis¬ 
ions of the group. The body is fish¬ 
like in form, the head passing grad¬ 
ually into the trunu, which tapers pos¬ 
teriorly and ends in a bil bate caudal 
fin which is placed horizontally, not as 
in the fishes, vertically. The posterior 
limbs are wanting, and the anterior 
are converted into broad paddles, with¬ 
in which are present representatives of 
all the bones usually found in the fore 
limb of mammals. The fish-like aspect 


is further increased by the presence of 
a dorsal fin, as in the dolphin and fin- 
ner whale. 

The arrangement of the respiratory 
and circulatory systems, which enable 
the Cetacea to remain for some time 
under water, are interesting. The nos¬ 
trils open directly upward on the top 
of the head, and are closed by valvu¬ 
lar folds of integument which are un¬ 
der the control of the animal. When the 
animal comes to the surface to breathe 
it expels the air violently, and the 
vapor it contains becomes condensed 
into a cloud. The blood-vessels, es¬ 
pecially those of the thorax and spinal 
canal, break up into extensive plexuses 
or networks, in which a large amount 
of oxygenated blood is delayed, and 
thus the animal is enabled to remain 
under water. 

Cetewayo, a Kaffir chief, son of 
Panda, King of the Zulus. The Natal 
government secured the recognition of 
Cetewayo as king in 1873. A dispute 
which had arisen regarding lands on 
the frontier was settled in favor of the 
Zulus; but on the refusal of Cetewayo 
to comply with the conditions war was 
declared against him by the British, 
and the king made prisoner in 1879. 
In 1882 he was conditionally restored 
to part of his dominions. In the fol¬ 
lowing year he was driven from power 
by the chief Usibepu, and remained un¬ 
der the protection of the British until 
his death in 1884. 

Cetus (“the Whale”), a large 
constellation lying on both sides of the 
equator, but mostly S. of it, one of 
Ptolemy’s original 48. 

Cettinje, the capital of the Prin¬ 
cipality of Montenegro; situated in a 
lofty mountain valley, 19 miles E. of 
Cattaro, with which it is connected by 
a steep road. Turkish invaders sacked 
and burnt the town in 1683, 1714, and 
1785, but it was each time rebuilt. 
Pop. about 1,500. 

Ceuta, a fortified port belonging to 
Spain, on the coast of Morocco, oppo¬ 
site Gibraltar. The mixed population 
number about 9,700. It has resisted 
several sieges by the Moors, and is 
still the most important of the four 
African Presidios. An attempt to 
strengthen the fortifications was aban¬ 
doned (1899) upon representations 
from the British government to the 






Cevennes 


Cliadwick 


cabinet at Madrid. Many Cuban 
patriots were prisoners there before 
Spain gave up its hold on Cuba. 

Cevennes, the chief mountain 
range in the S. of France. With its 
continuations and offsets, it forms the 
watershed between the river-systems 
of the Rhone and the Loire and Ga¬ 
ronne. 

Ceylon, (native Singhala, ancient 
Taprobane), an island belonging to 
Great Britain in the Indian Ocean, 
about 60 miles S. E. of the S. ex¬ 
tremity of Hindustan, from which it 
is separated by the Gulf of Manaar 
and Palk’s Strait. Length, about 270 
miles N. to S.; average breadth, 100 
mile®; area, 25,364 square miles. 

Where the jungle has been cleared 
away and the land drained and culti¬ 
vated, the country is perfectly healthy; 
where low wooded tracts, and flat 
marshy lands abound, covered with a 
rank, luxuriant vegetation, the cli¬ 
mate is eminently insalubrious. 

Most of the animals found on the 
opposite continent are native to this 
island, excepting the royal tiger, which 
does not exist here. Elephants are 
numerous and are esteemed for their 
superior strength and docility. Bears, 
buffaloes, leopards, jackals, monkeys, 
and wild hogs are numerous. Croco¬ 
diles, serpents, and reptiles of all sorts 
abound. Of the snake tribe, consisting 
of about 26 different species, six only 
are venomous. Among the insects are 
the leaf and stick insects, the ant-lion, 
the white ant, etc. 

In the luxuriance of its vegetable 
productions, Ceylon rivals the islands 
of the Indian Archipelago, and in some 
respects bears a strong resemblance to 
them; its most valuable products are 
tea, rice, coffee, cinnamon, and the 
cocoanut. Tea is being widely culti¬ 
vated. Tobacco is raised principally 
in the N. district, and is of excellent 
quality. Indigo grows wild, but is not 
sought after. . , 

Ceylon is one of the British crown 
colonies, its government being conduct¬ 
ed by a governor and two councils, 
Executive and legislative, of both of 
which the governor is president. Ihe 
first is composed of six members, the 
other of 17 members. The powers of 
the councils are limited, being wholly 
subservient to the governor, who can 
carry into effect any law without 


their concurrence. All laws must be 
approved by the Secretary of State for 
the Colonies before they can take ef¬ 
fect. Any individual properly quali¬ 
fied may be appointed to the most re¬ 
sponsible situation, without reference 
to service, nation or religion, and na¬ 
tive Singhalese have occupied some of 
the highest posts. Of the population 
(1901) 3,576,990, more than half are 
said to be Buddhists, and about 500,- 
000 are of the Hindu religion. On the 
W. and S. W. coast numbers of the 
Singhalese profess the Roman Catholic 
religion. There are a number of Epis¬ 
copal clergy in the island, subordinate 
to the Bishop of Colombo; various 
other Protestant bodies have places of 
worship, but the Protestants are less 
than half the number of the Roman 
Catholics. 

The Singhalese have a colloquial 
language peculiar to themselves, but 
their classic and sacred writings are 
either in Pali or Sanskrit. The Mala- 
bars use the Tamil. English is be¬ 
coming more and more common. 

The principal towns of the island 
are Colombo, Trincomalee, Kandy, 
Galle, Gaffna, and Kornegalle. 

Cliacornac, Jean, a French as¬ 
tronomer, born in Lyons, June 21, 
1823. He is principally known for his 
discoveries of asteroids, six in number, 
and most of his work was done at the 
Paris Observatory under Leverrier. 
He died in Paris, Sept. 26, 1873. 

Cliadbourne, Paul Ansel, an 
American educator and writer, born in 
North Berwick, Me., Oct. 21, 1823. He 
was president of the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College at Amherst; of 
the University of Wisconsin; of Will¬ 
iams College. He died in New York, 
Feb. 23, 1883. 

Chaddock College, a co-educa- 
tional institution in Quincy, Ill.; or¬ 
ganized in 1857, under the auspices of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Chadwick, French Ensor, an 
American naval officer, born in Mor¬ 
gantown, W. Va., Feb. 29, 1844. Dur¬ 
ing the war with Spain he commanded 
the armored cruiser “ New York,” the 
flagship of the North Atlantic Squad¬ 
ron. 

Chadwick, John White, an 

American writer and Unitarian clergy¬ 
man, born in Marblehead, Mass., Oct 






Chseronea 


Chalcedony 


19, 1840. He died in Brooklyn, New 
York, Dec. 11, 1904. 

Chaeronea, a city of Bceotia, in 
ancient Greece, near the Cephissus, on 
the borders of Phocis. Philip II., 
King of Macedon, defeated tne united 
Boeotian and Athenian forces near this 
place, b. c. 338; and here, also, Sylla 
defeated the generals of Mithridates 
VI. b. c. 86. Plutarch was born here, 
A. d. 46. 

Chafer, a term loosely applied to 
certain insects of the beetle order, es¬ 
pecially such as themselves or their 
larvae are injurious to plants. 

Chaffee, Adna Romanza, an 
American military officer, born in Or¬ 
well, O., April 14, 1842. He received 
a public school education; entered the 
regular army as a private, July 22, 
1861; became a captain, Oct. 12, 1867; 
and colonel of the 8th U. S. Cavalry, 
May 8, 1899. On May 4, 1898, he was 
commissioned Brigadier-General of 
volunteers for the war with Spain; on 
July 8, following, was promoted to 
Major-General; and on April 13, 1899, 
was honorably discharged under this 
commission. On the last mentioned 
date he was re-appointed a Brigadier- 
General of volunteers, and on July 19, 
1900, the President, having selected 
him to command the American military 
forces in China, commissioned him a 
Major-General of volunteers. He 
reached Taku, China, on July 28, and 
led the American contingent of the al¬ 
lied force which entered Peking on 
Aug. 15, and rescued the foreign lega- 
tioners. General Chaffee made a bril¬ 
liant record in the Apache Indian 
campaigns; commanded the troops 
which captured El Caney, in Cuba; 
and afterward was chief-of-staff to 
both Generals Brooke and Wood, when 
governor-general of Cuba. On June 
19, 1901, General Chaffee was ap¬ 
pointed military governor of the Phil¬ 
ippines. 

Chaffinch, a European bird, so 
called because it delights in chaff, and 
is by some much admired for its song. 

Cliagos Islands, a group of islands 
in the Indian Ocean belonging to 
Great Britain; a S. extension of the 
Maidive Islands. 

Chagres, a town of the United 
States of Colombia, on the N. coast 
the Isthmus of Panama, at the 


mouth of the Chagres river. The river 
of the same name rises about 10 miles 
N. E. of Panama, makes an immense 
bend round to the N. E., and enters 
the Caribbean Sea. Though toward 
its mouth it varies in depth from 16 
to 30 feet, it is yet, by reason at once 
of its rapidity and its falls, but little 
available for navigation. The route 
of the projected Panama canal is by 
the valley of the Chagres for part of 
its course, and the canal would cross 
the river repeatedly. The “ Chagres 
fever ” is named after the river,. 

Chaille-Long, Charles, an Amer¬ 
ican explorer, born of French parent¬ 
age, in Baltimore, Md., 1843. After 
serving in the Confederate army he 
went to Egypt, where he was appoint¬ 
ed lieutenant-colonel by the Khedive 
(1870). Gordon made him chief-of- 
staff and sent him on a mission to 
King Mtesa of Uganda. 

Chain, in surveying, is a measure 
consisting of 100 links, each 7.92 inch¬ 
es in length, and having a total length 
of 4 rods, o»’ 66 feet. 

Chain Armor, coats and other 
pieces of mail, formed of hammered 
iron links, constituting a flexible gar¬ 
ment which fitted to the person. 

Chains, series of links interlocked 
with the adjacent ones, in such a man¬ 
ner as. to form continuous and flexible 
lines. 

Chain Shot, two balls connected 
either by a bar or chain, formerly 
used for cutting and destroying the 
rigging of an enemy’s ship. 

Chair of St. Peter, at Rome, a 
wooden chair overlaid with ivory work 
and gold. 

Chaise, a two-wheeled carriage for 
two persons, with a top, and usually 
drawn by one horse. 

Chalcedon, a Greek city of ancient 
Bithynia, opposite Byzantium (Con¬ 
stantinople), at the entrance of the 
Black Sea, about 2 miles S. of the 
modern Scutari. It was finally de¬ 
stroyed by the Turks, by whom it was 
taken, about 1075. 

Chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline 
variety of quartz, having the luster 
nearly of wax, and either transparent 
or translucent. Color, white, grayish, 
pale brown to dark brown or black; 
tendon-color common; sometimes deli- 




Chalcis 


Chamber 


cate blue. Also of other shades, and 
then having other names. 

Chalcis, a Greek town, anciently 
the chief town of Euboea, separated 
by the narrow strait of Euripus from 
the Boeotian coast, on the mainland of 
Greece, with which it was connected 
by a bridge. Chalcis early became one 
of the greatest of the Ionic cities, car¬ 
rying on an extensive commerce. It 
was subsequently a place of impor¬ 
tance under the Romans. 

Chaldsea, in ancient geography the 
regions of Babylonia, or more gener¬ 
ally Babylonia. The early history of 
Chaldsea is obscure. The Chaldseans 
were conquered by the Assyrians, with 
Babylon, and waged frequent wars 
with the latter power. When the As¬ 
syrian power began to wane, the Chal¬ 
dseans, being a more warlike and pow¬ 
erful people than the Babylonians, be¬ 
came supreme; Chaldsea and Baby¬ 
lonia, by their conquests under Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar, became one kingdom, and 
the names Chaldsea and Babylonia be¬ 
came synonymous terms. 

Chaldee Language, a name often 
given to the Aramean language, one 
of the principal varieties of the an¬ 
cient Semitic. Chaldee literature is 
usually arranged in two divisions: the 
Biblical Chaldee, or those portions of 
the Old Testament which are written 
in Chaldee, namely, Daniel from ii: 
4 to vii: 28; Ezra iv: 8 to vi: 18; 
and vii: 12-26; and Jeremiah x : 11; 
and the Chaldee of the Targums and 
other later Jewish writings. 

Chalet, the French-Swiss name for 
the wooden hut of the Swiss herdsmen 
on the mountains; but also extended 
to Swiss dwelling-houses generally, 
and to picturesque villas built in imi¬ 
tation of them. 

Chaleur Bay, or Bay of Chal- 
eurs, an inlet of the Gulf of St. Law¬ 
rence, between Quebec and New 
Brunswick. 

Chalice, a term generally applied 
to a communion cup for the wine in 
the Eucharist, often of artistic and 
highly ornamental character. 

Chalk, a well-known earthy lime¬ 
stone, of an opaque white color, soft, 
and admitting no polish. It is an im¬ 
pure carbonate of lime, and is used as 
an absorbent and anti-acid, and for 
making marks for various purposes. 


Challenge, to jurors, is an objec¬ 
tion either to the whole panel or ar¬ 
ray, or to the jurors individually, and 
it is either peremptory, or for cause 
assigned. 

Challenger Expedition, a cir¬ 
cumnavigating scientific exploration of 
the open sea sent out by the British 
government in 1872-1876. In 1872 
the “ Challenger,” a corvette of 2,306 
tons, was completely fitted out and 
furnished with every scientific appli¬ 
ance for examining the sea from sur¬ 
face to bottom. The ship was given 
in charge to a naval surveying 
staff, under Captain Nares, and to 
a scientific staff, with Professor 
Wyville Thomson at their head, for 
the purpose of sounding the depths, 
mapping the basins, and determin¬ 
ing the physical and biological con¬ 
ditions of the Atlantic, the South¬ 
ern and the Pacific Oceans. Be¬ 
tween the Admiralty Isles and Japan 
the “ Challenger ” made her deepest 
sounding, on March 23, 1875, 4,575 
fathoms, then the deepest sounding on 
record except two. It is interesting to 
note here that the United States sur¬ 
veying ship “ Nero,” in an expedition 
extending from April 22, 1899, to Feb. 
11, 1900, made the two deepest sound¬ 
ings on record, 5,160 and 5,269 fath¬ 
oms, both in the Pacific Ocean. 

Chalmers, Thomas, a noted Scotch 
divine, born in Fife, in 1780. He may 
be regarded as the founder of the Free 
Church of Scotland.. He died in Morn- 
ingside, May 31, 1847. 

Chalybeate Waters, those which 
contain salts of iron in sufficient quan¬ 
tity to give them a special value in the 
treatment of cases of anaemia, etc. 

Chama, a large shellfish found in 
tropical seas, especially among coral 
reefs. One sometimes weighs 300 
pounds. The byssus by which it ad¬ 
heres to the rock is so tough that a 
hatchet is required to cut it through. 

Chamba, a hill-state of the Punjab 
district, British India, N. of the dis¬ 
tricts of Kangra and Gurdaspur. 

Chamber, a word used in many 
countries to designate a branch of gov¬ 
ernment whose members assemble in a 
common apartment, or applied to bod¬ 
ies of various kinds meeting for va¬ 
rious purposes. The imperial cham¬ 
ber of the old German Empire was a 




Chamberlain 


Chambersburg 


court established at Wetzlar, near the 
Rhine, by Maximilian I. in 1495, to 
adjust the disputes between the dif¬ 
ferent independent members of the 
German Empire. 

Chamberlain, an officer charged 
with the direction and management of 
the private apartments of a monarch 
or nobleman. 

Chamberlain, Joseph, an Eng¬ 
lish statesman, born in London in 
July, 1836. In 1808 he was appoint¬ 
ed a member of the Birmingham town- 
council, was mayor of Birmingham 
from 1873 to 1876, and chairman of 
the Birmingham school-board from 
1874 to 1876. After unsuccessfully 
contesting Sneffield against Mr. Roe¬ 
buck in 1874, he was returned for Bir¬ 
mingham without opposition in June, 
1876. He soon made his mark in Par¬ 
liament, and on the return of the Lib¬ 
erals to power in 1880 he was appoint¬ 
ed President of the Board of Trade, 
with a seat in the cabinet. Meanwhile 
his influence was increasing rapidly 
outside the House; he came to be re¬ 
garded as the leader of the extreme 
Radical party. During the last hours 
of Mr. Gladstone’s government he was 
understood to be opposed to the re¬ 
newal of the Irish Crimes Act; and 
during the general election of 1886 he 
was most severe in his strictures on 
the moderate Liberals, and produced 
an “ unauthorized ” programme which 
included the readjustment of taxation, 
free schools, and the creation of allot¬ 
ments by compulsory purchase. He 
was returned by the western division 
of Birmingham. On Feb. 1, 1886, he 
beame president of the Local Govern¬ 
ment Board, but resigned on March 
26, because of his strong objections to 
Mr. Gladstone’s Home Rule measures 
for Ireland. He became leader of the 
Liberal-Unionists when the Duke of 
Devonshire went to the Upper House. 
Lord Salisbury sent him to Washing¬ 
ton as commissioner on the Canadian 
fishery dispute, and in 1895 he was 
made Colonial minister in the Union¬ 
ist Cabinet. As such he had to face 
the troubles in South Africa, and to 
cherish closer fellow-feeling with the 
Colonies. He carried the Australian 
Federation measure in Parliament 
(1900), and later had to face opposi¬ 
tion from within the Liberal party. 
In 1888 he was married to Mary, 


daughter of William C. Endicott, Sec¬ 
retary of W f ar in President Cleve¬ 
land’s first administration. After the 
Boer war he visited South Africa and 
made himself personally acquainted 
with the situation there. His strong 
advocacy of “ fair trade,” or a modi¬ 
fied protective tariff caused great dis¬ 
turbance in the ministry and its sup¬ 
porters, and in September, 1903, Mr. 
Chamberlain resigned as a member 
of the Cabinet. 

Chamberlain, Joshua Law¬ 
rence, an American army officer and 
educator. He was born in Bangor, 
Me., Sept. 8, 1828; graduated at Bow- 
doin College in 1852, and entered the 
volunteer service of the Union in 1862, 
became a Major-General in 1865, and 
received the colors of Lee’s army on 
its surrender. After the war he re¬ 
turned to the professorship at Bow- 
doin College which he had previously 
held. In 1867-1871 was governor of 
Maine, and in 1871-1883 was presi¬ 
dent of Bowdoin, resigning to engage 
in business in New York city. 

Chambers, Charles Julius, an 
American journalist, born in Belle- 
fontaine, O., Nov. 21, 1850. In 1870 
he traveled through the West Indies, 
Europe, the United States, and Cana¬ 
da, as special correspondent of the 
“ New York Herald.” In 1876 he 
published an account of his few weeks 
of experience in an insane institution, 
entitled, “ A Mad World,” which ex¬ 
cited great interest. 

Chambers, Robert, a Scotch prose- 
writer and publisher, born in Peebles, 
July 10, 1802. He and his brother 
began in poverty as small booksellers; 
issued penny leaflets of useful infor¬ 
mation for the people which became 
very popular, and at last took regular 
periodical form in “ Chambers’ Jour¬ 
nal,” and the great publishing-house 
which bears the name of both devel¬ 
oped gradually. The “ Chambers’ En¬ 
cyclopaedia ” was the outgrowth of the 
“Journal.” He died in St. Andrews, 
March 17, 1871. 

Chambers, William, a Scotch 

prose-writer and editor, brother and 
partner of Robert, born in Peebles, 
April 16, 1800. He died in Edinburgh, 
May 20, 1883. 

Chamhershurg, a borough and 
county-seat of Franklin county, Pa., 





Chambers of Commerce 


Chameleon 


on the Conecocheague and Falling 
Creeks and the Cumberland Valley 
and Western and the Philadelphia and 
Reading railroads, 52 miles W. S. W. 
of Harrisburg. In Early’s raid in the 
Civil War General McCausland en¬ 
tered Chambersburg with Confederate 
cavalry, July 30, 3864, and demanded 
a tribute of $200,000 gold; this not 
being paid the place was set on fire 
and two-thirds of it burned, causing a 
loss of $1,000,000. 

Chambers of Commerce, bodies 

of merchants and traders associated 
for the purpose of promoting the in¬ 
terests of their own members, of the 
city to which the society belongs, and 
of the community. Of the means by 
which these objects are sought to be 
accomplished the following may be 
mentioned as the most prominent: 
(1) by representing and urging on 
the Legislature the views of their 
members in mercantile affairs; (2) by 
aiding in the preparation of legislative 
measures having reference to trade; 
(3) by collecting statistics bearing 
upon the staple trade of the city; (4) 
in some places by acting as a sort of 
court of arbitration in mercantile 
questions; (5) by attaining by com¬ 
bination advantages in trade which 
might be beyond the reach of individ¬ 
ual enterprise. 

The first institution of the kind in 
the United States, the New York 
Chamber of Commerce, was organized 
in 1768 and incorporated by royal 
charter from King George III. in 
1770. There are similar bodies in 
every city and town of consequence in 
the United States. 

Chambly, Fort, a fort at the out¬ 
let of Lake Champlain at the time of 
the Revolutionary War. It was cap¬ 
tured by the Colonists in 1775, and 
the colors of the 7th Regiment of 
British regulars was sent to the Con¬ 
tinental Congress as trophies of the 
victory. 

Chambord, Henri Charles Fer¬ 
dinand Marie Dieudonne, Comte 
de, Duke of Bordeaux, the last repre¬ 
sentative of the elder branch of the 
French Bourbon dynasty, called by his 
partisans Henry V. of France; born 
in Paris, Sept. 29, 1820, seven months 
after the assassination of his father. 
Charles X., after the revolutionary 


outbreak of 1830, abdicated in his 
favor, but the young count was com¬ 
pelled to leave the country. He lived 
successively in Scotland, Austria, 
Italy, and England, keeping a species 
of court, and occasionally issuing man¬ 
ifestos. In 1846 he married the Prin¬ 
cess Maria-Theresa, eldest daughter of 
the Duke of Modena, and in 1851 in¬ 
herited the domain of Frohsdorf, near 
Vienna, where he subsequently resid¬ 
ed. He died in Austria, Aug. 24, 1883. 

Chambre Ardente, the name 
given in France to a court of law, 
instituted by Francis I. It was 
hung with black and lighted with 
torches, for the purpose of trying and 
burning heretics; and also to the ex¬ 
traordinary commissions established 
for the examination of poisoners, and 
under the regent duke of Orleans for 
the punishment of public officers 
charged with offenses against the reve¬ 
nues, as also of those who were guilty 
of fraud in the matter of Law’s bank. 

Chambre des Comptes, a great 
court established in France, prior to 
the Revolution, for the registration of 
edicts, ordinances, etc. 

Chameleon, a genus of reptiles be¬ 
longing to the Saurian or lizard-like 
order, a native of parts of Asia and 
Africa. The very remarkable power 



HEAD OF CHAMELEON. 


which these animals possess of chang¬ 
ing their color, at a very early period 
called the attention of observers to 
their habits. Its skin is composed of 
a sort of small, scaly grains, and un¬ 
der ordinary circumstances is of a 
greenish gray color. The eyes are 
capable of moving independently of 
each other, taking different directions 
at the same moment. Several species 
of chameleon are known, and are na¬ 
tives of Africa, Madagascar, Southern 







Chameleon 


Champion 


Asia, and the Molucca Islands. They 
pass their lives altogether upon trees, 
feeding upon small insects, for which 
their construction shows them to be 
perfectly adapted. 

Chameleon, a Southern constella¬ 
tion containing nine stars, lies within 
the Antarctic Polar Circle. 

Chamois, a well-known species of 
the antelope found only in high, moun¬ 
tainous regions, where they feed in 
small flocks or families, on the highest 



CHAMOIS. 


cliffs affording vegetation. The cham¬ 
ois are exceedingly shy, and have very 
acute senses, so that it is only by 
great patience and skill that the hunt¬ 
er can come sufficiently near to shoot 
them. 

Chamois Leather, a leather made 
from the skin of the Chamois, but the 
skins of sheep, goats, deer, calves, and 
the split hides of other animals, are 
used for making this kind of leather. 

Chamomile or Camomile, a well- 
known plant. It is perennial, and has 
slender, trailing, hairy, and branched 
stems. The flower is white, with a 
yellow center. Both leaves and flow¬ 
ers are bitter and aromatic. The fra¬ 
grance is due to the presence of an es¬ 
sential oil, called oil of chamomile, 
of a light blue color when first ex¬ 
tracted. It is cultivated in gardens 
in the United States, and also found 
wild 

Chwonni, or Chamonix, a cele¬ 
brated valley in France, department 


Haute-Savoie, in the Pennine Alps, 
over 3,000 feet above sea-level. It is 
about 12 miles long, by 1 to 6 miles 
broad, its E. side formed by Mount 
Blanc and other lofty mountains of 
the same range, and it is traversed by 
the Arve. The village of Chamouni 
(pop. 1,500) is much frequented by 
tourists, and is one of the points from 
which they visit Mount Blanc. 

Champagne, an old province in 
the N. E. of France. It is a rolling 
country of calcareous formation, and 
from the vineyards on its hills are 
produced the famous wines of Cham¬ 
pagne. 

Champ de Mars, a large, rectan¬ 
gular public place in Paris, on the left 
bank of the Seine, about 3,300 feet 
long and 1,600 feet wide. At the out¬ 
break of the French Revolution the 
square was constructed by the united 
efforts of all classes of Paris, and on 
July 14, 1790, the first anniversary of 
the taking of the Bastille, was held a 
grand pageant and festival at which 
universal pledges of “ Liberty, Equal¬ 
ity, and Fraternity ” were exchanged. 
This spot was the scene of a bloody 
massacre July 17, 1791. It is now 
used chiefly as a parade-ground. In 
its center is the Eiffel Tower. 

Champerty, the purchase of an in¬ 
terest in a thing in dispute, with the 
object of maintaining and taking part 
in the litigation, or assisting another 
to carry on a suit under an agreement 
to receive part of the sum or thing to 
be recovered. 

Champion, one who combats or 
fights; specifically, in the Middle 
Ages, a person who took up the cause 
and fought in the place of another. 
Single combat was one of the ways 
frequently adopted to decide the right 
of a cause; and women, children, or 
aged persons were allowed to appear 
by a representative. At one time the 
champions were looked upon as dis¬ 
reputable, being ready, for hire, to 
take up any quarrel. At a later per¬ 
iod, however, during the ages of chiv¬ 
alry, the champion was a knight, who 
entered the lists on behalf of an in¬ 
jured lady, a child, or one incapable 
of self-defense. The word is also ap¬ 
plied to one who earns, or claims, the 
preeminence in feats of physical prow¬ 
ess, or skill. 






Champion Hills 


Chancellorsville 


Champion Hills, a place in Hinds 
county, Miss., near Vicksburg, where, 
on May 16, 1863, a battle was fought 
between the Union army under Gen¬ 
eral Grant and the Confederates under 
General Pemberton. The Confederate 
army was defeated. 

Champlain, Lake, a picturesque 
body of water occupying a basin be¬ 
tween the Green and Adirondack 
mountains, on the border of the States 
of Vermont and New York. Its length 
is about 125 miles, and its maximum 
depth is 280 feet. The waters find an 
outlet at the N. end by the Richelieu 
or Sorel river, which empties into the 
St. Lawrence. Since the construction 
of the Champlain canal, which con¬ 
nects it with the Hudson river, the 
lake has become a very important 
medium of commerce between Canada 
and the United States. 

Champlain, Samuel de, a French 
navigator, born at Brouage, Saint- 
onge, about 1570. In 1599 he sailed 
to the West Indies, Mexico, and Pan¬ 
ama. On his return (1601) he pre¬ 
pared a record of this cruise, with 
charts, etc. In March, 1603, he sailed 
for North America, and explored, by 
boat, the St. Lawrence river up to 
the Falls of St. Louis, and down to 
Gaspe. In May, 1604, he sailed with 
De Monts along the shores of Nova 
Scotia, wintered on the island of St. 
Croix, and founded a colony at Port 
Royal. From 1604 to 1606 he made 
careful surveys and charts of the coast 
as far as Cape Cod. He revisited 
France in 1607, but sailed again in 
1608, and founded Quebec. In 1609 
he accompanied an Algonquin and 
Huron expedition against the Iroquois, 
and discovered Lake Champlain. From 
September, 1609, to March, 1610, he 
was engaged in bringing over French 
mechanics for his colony. He became 
lieutenant-governor of New France 
(Oct. 8, 1612) ; fortified Quebec 

(1620) ; but was compelled (1629) to 
surrender to an English fleet, and was 
taken to England. Released in 1632, 
he sailed again for New France. He 
died in Quebec, Dec. 25, 1635. 

Champlin, John Denison, an 
American author, born in Stonington, 
Conn., Jan. 29, 1834. He has writ¬ 
ten many useful and instructive books 
for the young, 1 

E. 32. 


Champney, Elizabeth (Will¬ 
iams), an American novelist, born in 
Springfield, O., in 1850. Many of her 
books are illustrated by her husband, 
J. W. Champney. 

Champney, James Wells, an 

American artist, born in Boston, 
Mass., July 16, 1843. He studied in 
Europe under Edouard Frere. and in 
1882 became a member of the Nation¬ 
al Academy. He died in New York 
in 1903. 

Cliamps-Elysees, (Fr. “ Elysian 
Fields”), a place of public resort in 
Paris, which consists of an avenue 
and the gardens surrounding it. 

Chanca, Dr. (believed to have been 
Diego Alvarez Chanca), a Spanish 
physician, born in Seville, who be¬ 
came a companion of Columbus on his 
second voyage in 1493. 

Chancel, the end of a church, in 
which the altar is placed. It was for¬ 
merly divided from the body of the 
church by a screen and is raised above 
the level. 

Chancellor, in ancient times a 
petty officer stationed at the fence of 
bars or lattice-work in a law-court, to 
introduce such functionaries as were 
entitled to pass inside. The Lord 
Chancellor of England was originally 
the king’s chief secretary, to whom 
petitions were referred. He is now 
the highest judicial functionary in the 
kingdom. Several of the United States 
have chancellors, high judicial officers 
who preside over courts of chancery. 

The Chancellor of the German Em¬ 
pire is an officer, the extent of whose 
power and influence has never been 
exactly defined. In modern Germany 
since the unification of the German 
Empire the office has been made illus¬ 
trious by its association with the 
name of Bismarck, the first to hold 
that position under the new regime. 
In general terms it may be stated that 
the German Chancellor is an executive 
of very great powers, being at once 
the adviser and prime minister of the 
Emperor. 

Chancellorsville, Battle of, one 

of the great battles of the American 
Civil War, fought at Chancellorsville, 
Va., May 2 and 3, 1863. Gen. Jo¬ 
seph Hooker commanded the Federal 
force, and Gen. Robert E. Lee the 
Confederate force. Although Hook- 





Chancery 


Chantry 


er's army was superior in numbers, 
being about 130,000 against 60,000 of 
the Confederates, the advantage at the 
end of the battle lay with the latter. 
During a flank movement the 11th 
corps of the Federal army, under Gen. 
O. O. Howard, was surprised and 
thrown into a panic near nightfall of 
the first day. The flank movement 
extended so far that the bullets of the 
Confederates were turned upon their 
own troops, and by their fire “ Stone¬ 
wall ” Jackson was mortally wound¬ 
ed. The Federal loss was 18,000, the 
Confederate loss 13,000. 

Chancery, in law, a court having 
special defined power. In the United 
States it is a court having equity 
jurisdiction. American courts of equi¬ 
ty are, in some instances, distinct 
from those of law; in others, the same 
tribunals exercise the jurisdiction both 
of courts of law and equity, though 
their forms of proceeding are different 
in their two capacities. 

Chandler, Seth C., an American 
astronomer, born in Boston, Mass., 
Sept. 16, 1845; well known for his in¬ 
vestigations and observations of the 
phenomena of variable stars, the com¬ 
putation of comet orbits, and, in con¬ 
nection with J. Ritchie, Jr., of Bos¬ 
ton, for devising a system of astrono¬ 
mical code-telegrams for the announce¬ 
ment of astronomical discoveries. 

Chandler, William Eaton, an 
American politician, born in Concord, 
N. II., Dec. 28, 1835. He was grad¬ 
uated at Harvard Law School in 1855, 
entered the New Hampshire Legisla¬ 
ture in 1862, became Judge Advocate 
General of the Navy Department in 
1865, and Secretary of the Navy in 
1882, serving three years. In 1887- 
1901 he was a United States Senator 
from New 7 Hampshire. 

Chang-Chow-Foo, or Chang- 
Chau, a city of China, about 36 miles 
S. W. of Amoy, which is its port. It 
lies in a valley in the province of Fu- 
Chien, and is surrounded by hills and 
intersected by a river. It is the center 
of the Fu-Chien silk industry. 

Changeling, a child left or taken 
in the place of another. 

Chang-Sha, a city of China, capi¬ 
tal of the Province of Hu-Nan, on the 
Hang-Kiang, a tributary of the Yang- 
tse-Kiang. 


Chanler, William Astor, an 

American explorer, born in Newport, 
R. I., June 11, 1867. He studied at 
Harvard, but left the university to 
make explorations in Africa. He w T as 
elected to the New York Legislature, 
and to Congress. He served in the 
war with Spain. 

Channel Islands, a group of is¬ 
lands in the English Channel, off the 
W. coast of department La Manche, in 
France. They belong to Great Brit¬ 
ain, and consist of Jersey, Guernsey, 
Alderney, and Sark, with some de¬ 
pendent islets. They are almost ex¬ 
empt from taxation, and their inhab¬ 
itants enjoy besides all the privileges 
of British subjects. Area 112 square 
miles, pop., 88,289. 

Channing, William Ellery, an 
American preacher and writer; born 
in Newport, R. I., April 7, 1780; 
studied at Harvard College. His early 
views are said to have been evangeli¬ 
cal, but he soon became a decided Uni¬ 
tarian, and by his zeal was termed 
the “ Apostle of Unitarianism.” His 
first appointment as a preacher was 
in 1803, when he obtained the charge 
of a congregation in Federal street, 
Boston. He died in Burlington, Vt., 
Oct. 2, 1842. 

Channing, William Ellery, an 

American poet; nephew of William E. 
Channing, the elder; born in Boston, 
Mass., June 10, 1818. 

Channing, William Henry, an 
American Unitarian clergyman and 
biographer; nephew of W. E. Chan¬ 
ning, the elder; born in Boston, May 
25, 1810. Settling in England, he 
succeeded James Martineau as pastor 
at Liverpool. His daughter married 
Sir Edwin Arnold. He died in Lon¬ 
don, Dec. 23, 1884. 

Chantilmn, or Chantabon, an 
important commercial port of Siam, 
near the mouth of the Chantibun river, 
in the Gulf of Siam, occupied by the 
French as security for the fulfillment 
of the treaty of 1893. Pop., 30,000. 

Chantry, a church or chapel en¬ 
dowed for the maintenance of one or 
more priests, for the purpose of sing¬ 
ing daily masses for the souls of the 
endowers, and such others as they 
may appoint. Also the endowment for 
the performance of masses for the soul 
of the donor, or others. 




Charcot 


Chanzy 


Chanzy, Antoine Eugene Al¬ 
fred, a French General, born in Nou- 
art (Ardennes), March 18, 1823; en¬ 
tered the artillery as a private, re¬ 
ceived a commission in the Zouaves. 
He was elected to the National Assem¬ 
bly, and narrowly escaped being shot 
by the Communists in 1871. In 1873- 
1879 he was Governor-General of Al¬ 
geria. Chosen a life Senator in 1875, 
he was put forward for the presidency 
in 1879. He was ambassador at St. 
Petersburg in 1879-1881, and after¬ 
ward commanded the 6th Army Corps 
at Chalons, where he died suddenly, 
Jan. 4, 1883. 

Chao-Chau, a city of China, on 
the Han-Kiang, in the Province of 
Kwang-tung, 195 miles N. E. of Hong- 
Kong. 

Chapala, a lake in Mexico, on the 
high plateau of Jalisco, surrounded by 
steep, bare mountains. 

Chapel, a place of worship, for¬ 
merly distinguished from a church by 
the worship to be performed; churches 
being for general use, and chapels for 
private use. In Roman Catholic 
churches, portions of the main build¬ 
ing, dedicated to particular saints, in 
honor of whom a service is there per¬ 
formed, are called chapels. The word 
is also applied to an association of 
union workmen in a printing-office for 
the purpose of promoting and enforc¬ 
ing order among themselves. 

Chapelle, Placide Louis, an 
American clergyman, born in Mende, 
France, Aug. 28, 1842. He came to 
the United States in 1859, and was 
ordained a Roman Catholic priest. 
For five years he was a missionary, 
and from 1870 to 1891 held pastorates 
in Baltimore and Washington. He 
was made coadjutor archbishop of 
Santa Fe in 1891, archbishop in 1894, 
and archbishop of New Orleans in 
1897; in 1898 he became Apostolic 
Delegate to Cuba, Porto Rico, and the 
Philippines. He died Aug. 9, 1905. 

Chapin, Edwin Huhbell, Amer¬ 
ican Universalist divine (1814-80), 
was the author of valuable moral and 
ethical works for young people. 

Chapin, Jolin R., an American 
illustrator, born in Providence, R. I., 
in 1823. He received a common school 
education and studied law, but took 
up art. He was a pioneer in periodi¬ 


cal illustration in the United States. 
In 1863 he made the designs for the 
new series of bills for the National 
currency. 

Chaplain, literally a person who 
is appointed to a chapel, as a clergy¬ 
man not having a parish or similar 
charge. Chaplains in the United 
States army rank as captains of in¬ 
fantry ; in the navy they have the 
rank of lieutenant, commander and 
captain, according to length of service. 

Cha-Poo, or Cha-Pu, a seaport 
town of China, in the Province of 
Cheh-Chiang (or Che-Kiang), on the 
N. side of Hang-Chau Bay, 35 miles 
from Ning-Po. 

. Chapter, one of the chief divi¬ 
sions of a book. As the rules and 
statutes of ecclesiastical establish¬ 
ments were arranged in chapters, so 
also the assembly of the members of a 
religious order, and of canons, was 
called a chapter. 

Chapter-House, the building at¬ 
tached to a cathedral or religious 
house in which the chapter meets for 
the transaction of business. 

Chapultepec, a rocky elevation 
about 3 miles S. W. of the City of 
Mexico. During the war with the 
United States, Gen. Pillow stormed 
the castle on this hill. Sept. 13, 1847. 
The Emperor Maximilian made Cha¬ 
pultepec his principal palace, and it 
is now occupied by the President, por¬ 
tions used by a school and observa¬ 
tory being still reserved for them. 

Charade, a species of enigma, or 
riddle, the subject of which is a name 
or word that is proposed for solution 
from an enigmatical description of its 
several syllables taken separately as so 
many individual words, and then from 
a similar description of the whole 
name or word. 

Charcoal, an impure variety of 
carbon, prepared from vegetable sub¬ 
stances or bones. Wood charcoal con¬ 
sists of wood burned with but little 
access of air. 

Charcot, Jean Martin, a French 
physician, born in Paris, Nov. 29, 
1825. His specialty was in the treat¬ 
ment of nervous and mental diseases, 
and he performed many curious and 
successful experiments in hypnotism 
and mental suggestion. He died Aug. 
16, 1893. 









Chares 


Charles 


Chares, a Rhodian sculptor, born 
in Lindus, Rhodes; lived about 290- 
280 B. c. He was a pupil of Lysippus 
and the sculptor of the Colossus of 
Rhodes, one of the “ seven wonders of 
the world.” 

Charge d’affaires, a representa¬ 
tive of a country at a less important 
foreign court, inferior to an ambassa¬ 
dor, or a minister, to whom is intrust¬ 
ed all matters of diplomacy. 

Charge of the Light Brigade, 
The, or “ Death charge of the 600 at 
Balaclava,” Oct. 25, 1854, a remark¬ 
able military movement made by the 
13th Light Dragoons, the 17th Lan¬ 
cers, the 11th Hussars, commanded by 
Lord Cardigan, the 8th Hussars, and 
the 4th Light Dragoons. The Rus¬ 
sians were advancing in great strength 
to cut off the Turkish force from the 
British. Lord Raglan sent an order 
to Lord Lucan to advance, and Lord 
Lucan, not understanding what was 
intended, applied to Captain Nolan, 
who brought the message, and Nolan 
replied: “ There, my lord, is your 

enemy.” Lucan then gave orders to 
Lord Cardigan to attack, and the 600 
men rode forward into the jaws of 
death. In 20 minutes 12 officers were 
killed and 11 wounded; 147 men were 
killed and 110 wounded, and 325 hors¬ 
es were slain. 

Charing-Cross, the titular center 
of London, so named from a cross 
which stood until 1647 at the village 
of Charing in memory of Eleanor, wife 
of Edward I. It is now a triangular 
piece of roadway at Trafalgar Square. 

Clxariot, in ancient times a kind of 
carriage used either for pleasure or in 
war. 

Charivari, an imitative word, hav¬ 
ing its origin in slang, describing a 
mock serenade of discordant music 
with such accompaniments as tin ket¬ 
tles, shouting, whistling, groaning, 
hissing, and screaming, and the like. 

Charlemagne, Charles the Great, 
King of the Franks, and subsequently 
Emperor of the West, was born in 
742, probably at Aix-la-Chapelle. His 
father was Pepin the Short, King of 
the Franks. On the decease of his 
father, in 768, he was crowned king, 
and divided the kingdom of the Franks 
with his younger brother Carloman, at 
whose death in 771 Charlemagne made 


himself master of the whole empire, 
which embraced besides France, a 
large part of Germany. He attracted 
by his liberality the most distinguished 
scholars to his court, and established 
an academy in his palace at Aix-la- 
Chapelle where he died and was buried 
Jan., 814. His tomb was opened to 
examine the relics in 1000, 1481, 1483, 
1861, and July 18, 1906. 

Charleroi, a fortified and impor¬ 
tant manufacturing town of Belgium, 
in the province of Hainault, on the 
navigable river Sambre, 33 miles S. of 
Brussels. The town is the center of 
the large coal-basin of Charleroi. 

Charles VII., King of France; 
born in Paris, Feb. 22, 1403, and 
though only the fifth son of Charles 

VI. and Isabella of Bavaria, became, 
by the successive deaths of his elder 
brothers, heir-presumptive to the 
crown. That he should ever succeed 
to it was then extremely problemati¬ 
cal, as Henry V. of England was pur¬ 
suing his career of conquest, and short¬ 
ly afterward, by the treaty of Troyes, 
secured to himself the hand of Charles’ 
sister Catharine, and the succession to 
the French throne after her father’s 
death. On the King of England’s 
death in 1422 his son Henry VI. was 
proclaimed King of France at Paris. 
The war with the national party, rep¬ 
resented by the Orleanist faction, with 
the dauphin at their head, was main¬ 
tained for several years by the Eng¬ 
lish, under the command of the Duke 
of Bedford. So successfully did the 
latter conduct operations that Charles 
was nearly ready to abandon the 
struggle when his fortunes were re¬ 
trieved by one of the most singular in¬ 
cidents recorded in history. This was 
the arrival in his camp of the Maid 
of Orleans, who by the enthusiasm 
which she inspired turned the tide of 
success against the English. Through 
the intervention of the Earl of Suf¬ 
folk a marriage was concluded be¬ 
tween the young King Henry VI. and 
Margaret of Anjou, niece of Charles 

VII. ’s queen. In the treaty entered 
into on this occasion the territory of 
Maine was secretly surrendered to 
France, and subsequently, on hostili¬ 
ties being resumed between the two 
countries, the troops of Charles con¬ 
quered the whole of Guienne, and final¬ 
ly expelled the English from all their 






Charles 


Charles 


possessions in France except Calais. 
The last years of Charles’ reign were 
embittered by domestic broils, in which 
his son and successor Louis XI. took 
a prominent part against his father, 
lie died at the castle of Mehun, near 
Bourges, on July 22, 1461. His share 
in the treacherous murder of the Duke 
of Burgundy, and base abandonment 
to her fate of Joan of Arc, are stains 
on his memory which can never be 
effaced. 

Charles IX., King of France, born 
in 1550, ascended the throne at the 
age of 10 years, after the death of his 
brother Francis II. During his reign 
occurred the Massacre of St. Bartholo¬ 
mew’s Day. Charles died, childless, in 
1574. He was succeeded by his broth¬ 
er Henry III. 

Charles X., Comte d’Artois, 

King of France; born in Versailles 
in 1757; grandson of Louis XV., the 
youngest son of the dauphin, and 
brother of Louis XVI. After the 
downfall of Napoleon he entered 
France with the title of lieutenant- 
general of the kingdom, and issued a 
judicious proclamation, promising the 
reign of law and an entire oblivion 
of the past. In 1824 he succeeded his 
brother, Louis XVIII., under the title 
of Charles X., and gained a momen¬ 
tary popularity by the abolition of the 
censorship of the press. He was ig- 
nominiously driven from the throne in 
1880. After formally abdicating in 
favor of his grandson, the Duke de 
Bordeaux, he revisited England, re¬ 
sumed his residence for a short time 
at Holyrood, and finally settled at Go- 
ritz in Styria, where he died of chol¬ 
era in 1836. 

Charles V., Emperor of Germany 
and King of Spain (in the latter ca¬ 
pacity he is called Charles I.*) ; the 
eldest son of Philip, Archduke of Aus¬ 
tria, and of Joanna, the daughter of 
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; born 
in Ghent, Feb. 24, 1500. Philip was 
the son of the Emperor Maximilian 
and Mary, daughter of Charles the 
BoM, last Duke of Burgundy. Charles 
birth gave him claim to the fairest 
countries of Europe. In 1519 Charles, 
on the death of Maximilian, was elect¬ 
ed emperor. 

The progress of the Reformation in 
Germany demanded the care of the 
new emperor, who held a Diet at 


Worms. Luther, who appeared at this 
Diet with a safe conduct from Charles, 
defended his cause with energy and 
boldness. The emperor kept silent; 
but after Luther’s departure a severe 
edict appeared against him in the 
name of Charles, who thought it his 
interest to declare himself the defend¬ 
er of the Roman Church. 

After the defeat and capture of 
Francis I. of France the power of 
Charles became a source of uneasiness 
to most other princes of Europe. Pope 
Clement VII. placed himself at the 
head of a league of the principal 
States of Italy against the emperor, 
but their ill-directed efforts were pro¬ 
ductive of new misfortunes. Rome 
was taken by storm by the troops of 
the Constable of Bourbon, sacked, and 
the Pope himself made prisoner. 
Charles V. publicly disavowed the 
proceedings of the Constable, went 
into mourning with his court, and car¬ 
ried his hypocrisy so far as to order 
prayers for the deliverance of the 
Pope. On restoring the holy father to 
liberty he demanded a ransom of 400,- 
000 crowns of gold, but was satisfied 
with a quarter of that sum. He also 
released, for 2,000,000, the French 
princes who had been given to him as 
hostages. Henry VIII. of England 
now allied himself with the French 
monarch against Charles, who accused 
Francis of having broken his word. 
The war terminated in 1529 by the 
treaty of Cambray, of which the con¬ 
ditions were favorable to the emperor. 
Charles soon after left Spain, and was 
crowned in Bologna as King of Lom¬ 
bardy and Roman Emperor. In 1530 
he seemed desirous, at the Diet of 
Augsburg, to reconcile the Reformers 
to the Roman Church; but not suc¬ 
ceeding, he issued a decree against the 
Protestants, which they met by the 
Schmalkaldic League. He also pub¬ 
lished, in 1532, a law of criminal pro- 
ceedure. Having compelled Solyman to 
retreat, he undertook, in 1535, an ex¬ 
pedition against Tunis, reinstated the 
dey, and released 20.000 Christian 
slaves. 

Tifhe disturbances caused in Ger¬ 
many by the Reformation induced the 
emperor to accede to the peace of 
Crespy with France in 1545. The pol¬ 
icy of Charles was to reconcile the 
two parties, and with this view he al- 




Charles 


Charles 


ternately threatened and courted the 
^rotestants. After some show of ne¬ 
gotiation the Protestant princes raised 
the standard of war. The emperor 
declared in 1546 the heads of the 
league under the ban of the empire, 
excited divisions among the confed¬ 
erates, collected an army in haste, and 
obtained several advantages over his 
enemies. John Frederick, the Elector 
of Saxony, was taken prisoner in the 
battle of Muhlberg in 1547. Charles 
received him sternly, and gave him 
over to a court-martial consisting of 
Italians and Spaniards, under the 
presidency of Alva, which condemned 
him to death. The elector saved his 
life only by renouncing his electorate 
and his hereditary estates, but he re¬ 
mained a prisoner. Meanwhile the 
emperor appeared somewhat more mod¬ 
erately inclined toward the vanquished 
party. On coming to Wittenberg he 
expressed surprise that the exercise of 
the Lutheran worship had been dis¬ 
continued. The Landgrave of Hesse- 
Cassel, one of the heads of the Prot¬ 
estants, was compelled to sue for 
mercy. Notwithstanding his promise 
Charles deprived him of his freedom. 
After having dissolved the League of 
Schmalkalden the emperor again occu¬ 
pied himself with the plan of uniting 
all religious parties, and for this pur¬ 
pose issued the “ Interim,” which was 
as fruitless as the measures proposed 
by him at the Diet of Augsburg. The 
fortunes of war changed, and the 
Protestants dictated the conditions of 
the treaty of Passau in 1552. 

Charles saw all his plans frustrated 
and the number of his enemies increas¬ 
ing. He abdicated the imperial throne, 
and selected for his residence the mon¬ 
astery of St. Justus, near Plasencia 
in Estremadura, and here he ex¬ 
changed sovereignty, dominion, and 
pomp for the quiet and solitude of a 
cloister. His death took place Sept. 
21, 1558. 

Charles I., King of England and 
Scotland; born in Scotland in 1600; 
was the third son of James VI. and 
Anne of Denmark. Soon after the 
birth of his son James succeeded to 
the crown of England, and on the 
death of Prince Henry in 1612, Rob¬ 
ert, the second son, having died in in¬ 
fancy, Charles became heir-apparent, 
but was not created Prince of Wales 


till 1616. His youth appears to have 
passed respectably, little being record¬ 
ed of him previous to his journey into 
Spain in company with Buckingham, 
in order to pay his court in person to 
the Spanish Infanta. Through the 
arrogance of Buckingham this match 
was prevented, and the prince was 
soon after contracted to Henrietta 
Maria, daughter of Henry IV. of 
France. In 1625 he succeeded to the 
throne on the death of his father. 
Charles began to employ his threat¬ 
ened mode of raising funds by loans, 
benevolences, and similar unpopular 
proceedings; which were wholly op¬ 
posed to the rising notions of civil 
liberty throughout the nation, and to 
the constitutional doctrine which ren¬ 
dered the Commons the guardian and 
dispenser of the public treasure. Civil 
war followed, and Charles was defeat¬ 
ed and captured. He was tried before 
a special tribunal on the charge that 
he had appeared in arms against the 
Parliamentary forces, and sentence of 
death was pronounced against him, 
and only three days were allowed him 
to prepare for his fate. The interpo¬ 
sition of foreign powers was vain. 
After passing the three days in re¬ 
ligious exercises, and in tender inter¬ 
views with his friends and family, he 
was led to the scaffold. His execution 
took place before the Banqueting 
House, Whitehall, on Jan. 30, 1649, 
where the ill-fated king submitted to 
the fatal stroke, in the 49th year of 
his age. 

Charles II., King of England, Ire¬ 
land, and Scotland; son of Charles I. 
and Henrietta Maria of France; born 
in London, May 29, 1630. He was a 
refugee at The Hague on the death of 
his father, on which he immediately 
assumed the royal title. He first in¬ 
tended to proceed to Ireland, but was 
prevented by the progress of Crom¬ 
well. He therefore listened to an in¬ 
vitation from the Scots, who had pro¬ 
claimed him their king on Feb. 5, 
1649, and arrived in the Cromarty 
Firth, June 16, 1650. In 1651 he 
was crowned at Scone; but the ap¬ 
proach of Cromwell with his conquer¬ 
ing army soon rendered his abode in 
Scotland unsafe. Hoping to be joined 
by the English royalists, he took the 
spirited resolution of passing Crom¬ 
well and entering England, Carlisle 





Charles 


Charles 


readily throwing open its gates to re¬ 
ceive him. He was immediately pur¬ 
sued by that active commander, who 
gained the battle of Worcester, and 
Charles, after a variety of imminent 
hazards, being on one occasion shel¬ 
tered for 24 hours in the branches of 
the famous Boscobel oak, reached 
Shoreham, in Sussex, and effected a 
passage to France. 

It is the province of history to state 
the circumstances that produced the 
Restoration, which General Monk so 
conducted that Charles, without a 
struggle, succeeded at once to all those 
dangerous prerogatives which it had 
cost the nation so much blood and 
treasure, first to abridge and then to 
abolish. This unrestrictive return 
was not more injurious to the nation 
than fatal to the family of the Stu¬ 
arts, which, had a more rational pol¬ 
icy prevailed, might have occupied the 
throne at the present time. On May 29, 
1660, Charles entered his capital amid 
universal and almost frantic acclama¬ 
tions ; and the different civil and re¬ 
ligious parties vied with each other in 
loyalty and submission. In 1662 he 
married the Infanta of Portugal, a 
prudent and virtuous princess, but in 
no way calculated to acquire the af¬ 
fection of a man like Charles. The 
indolence of his temper and the ex¬ 
penses of his licentious way of life 
soon involved him in pecuniary diffi¬ 
culties ; and the unpopular sale of 
Dunkirk to the French was one of his 
most early expedients to relieve him¬ 
self. After a troubled reign he died 
from the consequences of an apoplectic 
fit, in February, 1685, in the 55th 
year of his age. 

Charles XII., King of Sweden; 
born in Stockholm, June 27, 1682; 
was instructed in the languages, his¬ 
tory, geography, and mathematics. On 
the death of his father in 1697 when 
he was but 15 years old, he was de¬ 
clared of age by the estates. Fred¬ 
erick IV. of Denmark, Augustus II. of 
Poland, and the Czar Peter I. of Rus¬ 
sia concluded an alliance which re¬ 
sulted in the Northern War. The 
Danish troops first invaded the terri¬ 
tory of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. 
Charles proposed in the Council of 
State the most energetic measures 
against Denmark. After making some 
arrangements respecting the internal 


administration he embarked at Carls- 
crona in May, 1700. Thirty ships of 
the line and a great number of small 
transports, strengthened by an English 
and Dutch squadron, appeared before 
Copenhagen. Arrangements were being 
made for the disembarkation when 
Charles, full of impatience, plunged 
from his boat into the water, and was 
the first who reached land. The Danes 
retired before the superior power of 
the enemy. Copenhagen was on the 
point of being besieged when the 
peace negotiated at Travendal was 
signed (Aug. 8, 1700), by which the 
Duke of Holstein was confirmed in all 
the rights of which it had been at¬ 
tempted to deprive him. Thus ended 
the first enterprise of Charles XII., 
in which he exhibited as much intelli¬ 
gence and courage as disinterested¬ 
ness. 

After thus checking Denmark the 
attacks of Augustus and Peter were 
to be repelled. The former was be¬ 
sieging Riga, the latter menaced Nar¬ 
va and the country situated about the 
Gulf of Finland. Without returning 
to his capital, which he never revisit¬ 
ed, Charles caused 20,000 men to be 
transported to Livonia, and went to 
meet the Russians, whom he found 
80,000 strong in a fortified camp un¬ 
der the walls of Narva. On Nov. 80, 
1700, between 8,000 and 10,000 Swedes 
placed themselves in order of battle, 
under the fire of the Russians, and 
the engagement began. In less than 
a quarter of an hour the Russian 
camp was taken by storm. Thirty 
thousand Russians perished on the 
field or threw themselves into the 
Narva; the rest were taken prisoners 
or dispersed. After this victory Charles 
crossed the Dwina, attacked the in- 
trenchments of the Saxons, and gained 
a decisive victory. Charles might now 
have concluded a peace which would 
have made him the arbiter, of the 
North; but instead of so doing he pur¬ 
sued Augustus to Poland. Augustus 
attempted in vain to enter into nego¬ 
tiations with Charles, who refused to 
negotiate with him. 

The war continued; the Swedes 
gained a brilliant victory at Clissau; 
in 1703 all Poland was in the posses¬ 
sion of the conquerors; the cardinal 
primate declared the throne vacant; 
and by the influence of Charles the 




Charles 


Charles 


new choice fell on Stanislaus Leczin- 
sky. Augustus hoped to be secure in 
Saxony, as Peter had meanwhile oc¬ 
cupied Ingria, and founded St. Peters¬ 
burg, at the mouth of the Neva. But 
the victor of Narva despised an enemy 
on whom he hoped, sooner or later, 
to take an easy revenge, and invaded 
Saxony. At Altranstadt he dictated 
the conditions of peace in 1706. The 
Livonian Patkul, who was the prime 
mover of the alliance against Sweden, 
was delivered up to him on his de¬ 
mand, and was broken on the wheel. 
The King of Sweden, however, before 
he left Germany, required the em¬ 
peror to grant to the Lutherans in Si¬ 
lesia perfect freedom of conscience; 
and the requisition was complied with. 

In September, 1707, the Swedes left 
Saxony. They were 43,000 strong, 
well clothed, well disciplined, and en¬ 
riched by the contributions imposed 
on the conquered. Six thousand men 
remained for the protection of the 
King of Poland; with the rest of the 
army Charles took the shortest route 
to Moscow. But having reached the 
region of Smolensk he altered his plan, 
at the suggestion of the Cossack het¬ 
man Mazeppa, and proceeded to the 
Ukraine, in the hope that the Cossacks 
would join him. But Peter laid waste 
their country, and the proscribed Ma¬ 
zeppa could not procure the promised 
aid. General Lewenhaupt, who was 
to bring reinforcements and provisions 
from Livonia, arrived with only a few 
troops. Pultawa, abundantly fur¬ 
nished with stores, was about to be 
invested when Peter appeared with 
70,000 men. Charles, in reconnoiter- 
ing, was dangerously wounded in the 
thigh; consequently, in the battle of 
July 8, 1709, he was obliged to issue 
his commands from a litter, without 
being able to encourage his soldiers by 
his presence. They were obliged to 
yield to superior force, and the enemy 
obtained a complete victory. Charles 
saw the flower of his army fall into 
the power of those Russians so easily 
vanquished at Narva. He himself, to¬ 
gether with Mazeppa, fled with a small 
guard, and was obliged to go several 
miles on foot. He finally found ref¬ 
uge and an honorable reception at 
Bender, in the Turkish territory. 

After his romantic return from Tur¬ 
key to Sweden Charles continued to 


fight. He was besieging Frederikshall, 
when, on Nov. 30, 1718, as he was in 
the trenches, leaning against the para¬ 
pet and examining the workmen, he 
was struck on the head by a cannon 
ball. He was found dead in the same 
position, his hand on his sword, in his 
pocket the portrait of Gustavus Adol¬ 
phus and a prayer book. A century 
afterwards, Nov. 30, 1818, Charles 
XIV. caused a monument to be erect¬ 
ed on the spot where he fell. 

Charles XIII., King of Sweden; 
born Oct. 7, 1748; second son of King 
Adolphus Frederick, and Louisa Ul¬ 
rica, sister of Frederick the Great of 
Prussia. His education was directed 
chiefly to the learning of naval tactics, 
for which purpose he engaged in sev¬ 
eral cruises in the Cattegat. 'The 
death of Adolphus Frederick recalled 
him to Sweden, where he took an im¬ 
portant part in the revolution of 1772. 
His brother Gustavus III. appointed 
him governor-general of Stockholm, 
and Duke of Sundermannland. In 
1774 he married Hedwig Elizabeth 
Charlotte, princess of Holstein-Got- 
torp. In the war with Russia in 1788 
he received the command of the fleet, 
defeated the Russians in the Gulf of 
Finland, and, in the most dangerous 
season of the year, brought back his 
fleet in safety to the harbor of Carls- 
crona, after which he was appointed 
governor-general of Finland. After 
the murder of Gustavus III. in 1792, 
he was placed at the head of the re¬ 
gency, and happily for Sweden, pre¬ 
served the country at peace with all 
other nations. In 1796 he resigned 
the government to Gustavus Adolphus 
IV., who had become of age, and re¬ 
tired as a private man to his castle 
of Rosersberg. A revolution hurled 
Gustavus Adolphus IV., in 1809, from 
the throne, and placed Charles at the 
head of the State, as administrator of 
the realm, and some months after¬ 
ward, June 20, 1809, as King of Swe¬ 
den, at a very critical period. He had 
already adopted Prince Christian of 
Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg as 
his successor, and after his death. 
Marshal Bernadotte, who was elected 
by the Estates, in August, 1810, to 
take the place of the prince. On him 
he bestowed his entire confidence. May 
27, 1811, he founded the Order of 
Charles XIII., which is conferred 




Charles 


Charles Emanuel 


solely on Freemasons of high degree. 
June 21, 1816, he acceded to the holy 
alliance. His prudent conduct in the 
war between France and Russia in 
1812 procured Sweden an indemnifica¬ 
tion for Finland by the acquisition of 
Norway, Nov. 4, 1814. He died Feb. 
5, 1818. 

Charles, Archduke of Austria; 

third son of the Emperor Leopold II.; 
born in Florence, Sept. 5, 1771. In 
his 20th year‘he distinguished himself 
in the battles of Jemappes and Neer- 
winden, in both of which the French 
republican armies were beaten, and 
was appointed governor-general of 
Belgium in 1793. In the campaign the 
following year victory favored the 
French under Pichegru, and the Neth¬ 
erlands were lost. He was appointed 
in 1796 field-marshal of the empire 
and commander-in-chief of the Aus¬ 
trian army on the Rhine, and after 
notable victories in the winter of 1797 
he captured Kehl, the only position 
the French occupied in Germany. 
Meanwhile Bonaparte had finished his 
conquest of Italy, and was rapidly 
pushing his way into the heart of Aus¬ 
tria. Charles was sent against him; 
but it was too late. He was com¬ 
pelled to conclude the treaty of Leo- 
ben (1797), which was followed by 
the peace of Campo Formio. After 
the fruitless congress at Rastadt he 
again put himself at the head of the 
Rhine army. In the protracted strug¬ 
gle in the heart of Germany Napo¬ 
leon’s genius was on every occasion 
triumphant, once only, at Aspem, did 
Charles snatch a victory from him 
(May 21, 22, 1809), but the bloody 
battle of Wagram (July 5, 6) laid 
Austria at the feet of the French em¬ 
peror. The military career of Charles 
closes here. His literary work is com¬ 
prised in “ Principles of Strategy ” 
(1814). He died April 30, 1847. 

Charles Edward Stuart, called 
The Pretender, grandson of James 
II., King of England, son of James 
Edward and Clementina, daughter of 
Prince Sobieski; born in Rome in 
1720. The last scion of the royal 
house of Stuart, from the very cradle 
he was inspired with an impulse that 
induced him, at the early age of 22, 
to attempt the recovery of the throne 
of his ancestors. Supported by the 
court of Rome, he went to Paris in 


1742, and succeeding in gaining over 
to his views Louis XV., and an army 
was on the point of sailing from 
Dunkirk for England when the Eng¬ 
lish Admiral Norris dispersed the 
whole French fleet before it had 
gained the open sea. He now resolved 
to trust to his own exertions. With 
borrowed money, and seven trusty of¬ 
ficers, he landed, July 28, 1745, at 
Lochnanuadh, Scotland, and found 
many adherents, who went over to his 
party. With this he marched for¬ 
ward, conquered the British troops 
and caused himself to be proclaimed 
Regent of England, Scotland and Ire¬ 
land. His force was now 7,000 
strong. . With this he advanced, and 
laid siege to Carlisle, Nov. 15, which, 
after three days, surrendered, and 
supplied him with arms. 

He now caused his father to be 
proclaimed King, and himself Regent 
of England; removed his headquar¬ 
ters to Manchester, and soon found 
himself within 100 miles of London, 
where many of his friends awaited 
his arrival. He was compelled to re¬ 
tire in the beginning of 1746. As a 
final attempt he risked the battle of 
Culloden, against the Duke of Cum¬ 
berland, April 16, 1746, in which his 
army was defeated and dispersed. 
Five months later, on Sept. 20, 1746, 
after much wandering and hardship, 
he sailed from Scotland, and arrived 
in France destitute of everything. By 
the interest of Madame de Pompadour 
Charles now received an annual pen¬ 
sion of 200.000 livres for life; he had 
also 12,000 doubloons yearly from 
Spain. 

He died Jan. 31, 1788, in the 68th 
year of his life. His body was car¬ 
ried to Frascati, and entombed in a 
style worthy of a king. A scepter, 
crown, and sword, and the escutch¬ 
eons of England and Scotland adorned 
his coffin; and his only brother then 
living, the Cardinal of York, per¬ 
formed the funeral services for “dead 
King Charles.” The Cardinal of York 
received a pension from Great Britain 
after 1799, and died in Frascati, July 
13, 1807. 

Charles Emanuel I., Duke of 

Savoy, surnamed The Great; born at 
castle of Rivoli in 1562. He proved 
his courage in the battles of Mon- 
brun, Vigo, Asti, Chatillon, Ostage, 






Charles Martel 


Charlton 


at the siege of Berne, and on the 
walls of Suza. He died of apoplexy in 
Savillon, in 1630. 

Charles Martel, son of Pepin 
Heristal (mayor of the palace under 
the last kings of the Merovingian 
dynasty). His father had governed un¬ 
der the weak Kings of France with so 
much justice, and so much to the 
satisfaction of the people that he 
was enabled to make his office heredi¬ 
tary in his family. Childeric II., 
King of the Franks, refusing to ac¬ 
knowledge Charles Martel as mayor 
of the palace, the latter deposed him, 
and set Clothaire IV. in his place. 
After the death of Clothaire he re¬ 
stored Childeric, and subsequently 
placed Thierri on the throne, show¬ 
ing how absolute was the control of 
the mayor, and that the royal dig¬ 
nity was a mere phantom. Charles 
Martel rendered his reign famous by 
the great victory which he gained in 
October, 732, over the Saracens, near 
Tours, from which he acquired the 
name Martel, signifying hammer. He 
died in 741. 

Charleston, a city, port of entry, 
and county-seat of Charleston Co., 
S. C.; the first city in population and 
importance in the State, situated at 
the confluence of the Ashley and Coop¬ 
er rivers, 7 miles from the ocean. 
Charleston has one of the safest and 
most commodious harbors in the 
United States. It is defended by Forts 
Sumter and Moultrie. Area, 5% 
square miles. Pop. (1900) 55,807. 

Charleston was founded in 1670, re¬ 
ceiving from France about 1685 a 
large influx of Protestant refugees. 
It was taken by the British in 1780, 
but evacuated in 1782. It was here 
that the first open movement was 
mad? in favor of secession. In 1860 
and 1861 the harbor was the scene of 
several conflicts, and Fort Sumter 
was reduced to ruins. In August, 
1863, the city was bombarded, and in 
February, 1865, after 565 days of 
continuous military operations, dur¬ 
ing which period 2,550 shells reached 
the city, it was occupied by Federal 
troops. On Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 
1886, the city was partially destroyed 
by an earthquake. Earth tremblings 
continued for some months thereafter, 
but with indomitable energy the city 


was soon restored to its former beauty 
and prosperity. 

Charleston, a city,. capital of the 
State of West Virginia. It is an im¬ 
portant commercial and coal mining 
center and has extensive salt springs. 
Pop. (1900) 11,099. 

Charlestown, a former city and 
seaport of Massachusetts, since 1873 
part of the municipality of Boston, 
with which it is conected by bridges 
across Charles River. In the south¬ 
east part there is one of the chief 
navy-yards of the United States with 
an area of from 70 to 80 .acres. 
Bunker Hill, on which was fought the 
most celebrated battles of the Ameri¬ 
can Revolution, is in this town, and 
there is, on the site, a commemorative 
monument 220 feet high, the corner¬ 
stone of which was laid by Lafayette 
in 1821. Charlestown was founded 
in 1629. When incorporated with 
Boston in 1873, its population was 
23,373. 

Cliarlestown,a village and county- 
seat of Jefferson Co., W. Va., noted 
as being the place of the capture, 
trial, and execution (Dec. 2, 1859), 
of John Brown. 


Charlotte, a city and county-seat 
of Mecklenburg Co., N. C.; the center 
of the Southern cotton mill industry, 
having 300 mills within a radius of 
200 miles. The Mecklenburg Declara¬ 
tion pf Independence was adopted 
here in 1775. The city was occupied 
by the British in 1780. Pop. 18,100. 

Charlottenburg, a town of Prus¬ 
sia, about 3 miles from Berlin, with a 
royal palace and park, also a num¬ 
ber of industrial and manufacturing 
establishments. Pop. (1900) 189,290. 

Charlottesville, a city and county- 
seat of Albermarle Co., Va. It is the 
seat of the University of Virginia and 
of Monticello, the home of Thomas 
Jefferson. Pop. 6,500. 

Charlottetown, a city and capital 
of Prince Edward Island, Canada, on 
Hillsborough bay, at the confluence of 
three rivers, and on the Prince Ed¬ 
ward Island railway. Pop. 12,000. 

Charlton, John, an English ar¬ 
tist, born in Bamborough, Northum¬ 
berland, June 28, 1849. Died in 1893. 

Charlton, John, a Canadian 
statesman, born near Caledonia, N. 
Y., Feb. 3, 1829., He removed to 





Charm 


Chase 


Canada in 1849, and entered business 
and political life. He was elected as 
a Liberal to the Canadian House of 
Commons in 1872, and has held his 
seat ever since. He is best known 
as a promoter of moral legislation. 

Charm, anything believed to pos¬ 
sess some occult or supernatural pow¬ 
er, such as an amulet, spell, etc. 

Charnel-house, a chamber or 
building under or near churches where 
the bones of the dead are deposited. 

Charon, the ferryman who conduc¬ 
ted the souls of the departed in a boat 
across the Stygian lake to the infernal 
regions. 

Charpoy, in the East Indies, a 
small, portable bed, consisting of a 
wooden frame resting on four legs, 
with bands across to support the bed¬ 
ding. 

Charqui, jerked beef, the Chilian 
name of which the English term is a 
corruption. 

Chari, a representation of a portion 
of the earth’s surface projected on a 
plane. The term is commonly re¬ 
stricted to those intended for navi¬ 
gator’s use, on which merely outlines 
of coasts, islands, etc., are represented. 
A globular chart is a chart construct¬ 
ed on a globular projection. A Mer¬ 
cator’s chart is a chart on the pro¬ 
jection of Mercator. A plane chart 
is a representation of some part of 
the superficies of the earth, in which 
the spherical form is disregarded, the 
meridians drawn parallel, the parallels 
of latitude at equal distances, and the 
degrees of latitude and longitude 
equal. A selengraphical chart is a 
chart representing the surface of the 
moon; and a topographical chart is a 
chart of a particular place, or of a 
small part of the earth. 

Charter, a written instrument, ex¬ 
ecuted with usual forms, given as evi¬ 
dence of a grant, contract, or other 
important transacation between man 
and man. 

Charter-house a celebrated 
school and charitable foundation in 
London, England. 

Charter Oak, a tree which for¬ 
merly stood in Hartford, Conn., in 
the hollow trunk of which the colonial 
charter is said to have been hidden. 
The story is that when Governor An¬ 


dros went to Hartford in 1687 to de¬ 
mand the surrender of the charter, 
the debate in the Assembly over his 
demand was prolonged until darkness 
set in, when the lights were suddenly 
extinguished, and a patriot, Captain 
Wadsworth, escaped with the docu¬ 
ment and hid it in the oak. The ven¬ 
erable tree was preserved with great 
care until 1856, when it was blown 
down in a storm. 

Charter Party, an agreement in 
writing concerning the hire of a ves¬ 
sel and the freight, containing the 
name and burden of the vessel, the 
names of the owner, master,. and 
freighter, and every other particular 
as to rate of freight, duration of voy¬ 
age, time of loading and unloading, etc. 

Chartist, a name given to a politi¬ 
cal party in England whose views 
were embodied in a document called 
the “People’s Charter.” The chief 
points were, universal suffrage, vote 
by ballot, annual parliaments, pay¬ 
ment of members, equal electoral di¬ 
visions, and the abolition of property 
qualification for members. 

Chartres, Robert Philippe 
Louis Eugene Ferdinand D’Or- 
leans (Due de) grandson of Louis 
Philippe, King of the French, was 
born in Paris, Nov. 9. 1840. When 
only two years old he lost his father, 
and six years later the Revolution 
drove him, along with his family, into 
exile. He joined the Union army in 
the first campaign of the American 
Civil War in 1862. 

Chartreuse, La Grande, a fa¬ 
mous monastery of France, in the de¬ 
partment of Isere, 14 miles N. of 
Grenoble, among lofty mountains, at 
an elevation of 3,281 feet above sea- 
level. The access to it is very diffi¬ 
cult. It was built in 1084, but hav¬ 
ing been several times pillaged and 
burnt down, the present building was 
erected after 1676. 

Charybdis, an eddy or whirlpool 
in the Straits of Messina, celebrated 
in ancient times, and regarded as the 
more dangerous to navigators because 
in endeavoring to escape it they ran 
the risk of being wrecked upon Scy- 
11a, a rock opposite to it. 

Chase, Ann, an American patriot; 
born in Ireland in 1809; came to the 
United States in 1818; settled in New 





Cliase 


Chasseur 


Orleans in 1832; removed to Tampico, 
Mex., in the following year, where 
she met and married Franklin Chase, 
United States consul, in 1836. Dur¬ 
ing the War with Mexico, in the ab¬ 
sence of her husband, she remained 
at the consulate to protect the Amer¬ 
ican records. On one occasion a mob 
attempted to pull down the American 
flag that floated over the consulate, 
but she protected it jvith drawn re¬ 
volver, and declared that the flag 
should not be touched except over her 
dead body. Later through her efforts 
the city of Tampico was taken. She 
died in Brooklyn, N. Y.» Dec. 24, 1874. 

Chase. Salmon Portland, an 
American jurist; born in Cornish, N. 
H., Jan. 13, 1808; educated at Wind¬ 
sor, Vt., in his uncle’s family at Co¬ 
lumbus, O., and in Dartmouth Col¬ 
lege ; taught school in Washington, 
while studying law with William 
Wirt; opened law practice in Cincin¬ 
nati. In 1846 he argued the Fugitive 
Slave Law with William H. Seward, in 
a celebrated case, and his support of 
the anti-slavery cause soon made him 
a leader of the Free Soil and Re¬ 
publican parties. In 1849 he was 
elected to the United States Senate; 
in 1855 Governor of Ohio; in 1860 
was a prominent candidate for the Re¬ 
publican presidential nomination; ap¬ 
pointed Secretary of the Treasury by 
President Lincoln, in 1861, and in 
1864 became Chief-Justice, in which 
office he presided $t the impeachment 
trial of President Johnson. He died 
in New York city. May 7, 1873. 

Chase, Samuel, one of the signers 
of the American Declaration of In¬ 
dependence; born in Somerset Co., 
Md., April 17, 1741. He was admitted 
to the bar at the age of 20. Having 
become a member of the colonial legis¬ 
lature, he distinguished himself by his 
bold opposition to the royal governor. 
He took the lead in denouncing and 
resisting the famous Stamp Act. His 
revolutionary spirit placed him at the 
head of the active adversaries of the 
British government in his State. The 
Maryland Convention of June 22, 
1774, appointed him to attend the 
meeting of the General Congress at 
Philadelphia in September of that 
year. He was also present at the 
session of December following, and in 
the subsequent Congresses during the 


most critical periods of the Revolu¬ 
tionary War. That of 1776 deputed 
him on a mission to Canada along 
with Dr. Franklin, Charles Carroll, 
of Carrollton, and the Rev. John Car- 
roll, afterw r ard Roman Catholic arch¬ 
bishop of Baltimore. He signed the 
Declaration of Independence with 
promptitude. In June, 1783, the 
legislature of Maryland sent him to 
London as a commissioner to recover 
stock of the Bank of England, and 
large sums of money which belonged 
the State. In 1791 he accepted the 
appointment' of chief-justice of the 
General Court of Maryland. Five 
years afterward President Washing¬ 
ton made him an associate judge of 
the Supreme Court of the United 
States. He was impeached by the 
National House of Representatives. 
The trial of the judge before the Sen¬ 
ate is memorable on account of the 
excitement which it produced, the 
ability with which he was defended, 
and the nature of his acquittal. He 
continued to exercise his judicial func¬ 
tions with the highest reputation till 
1811. He died June 19 of that year. 

Chase, William Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican military officer; born in Massa¬ 
chusetts in 1798; was graduated at 
the United States Military Academy. 
At the outbreak of the Civil War he 
entered the Confederate army, and 
was prominent in the seizure of the 
Pensacola navy yard. He died in 
Pensacola, Fla., Feb. 8, 1870. 

Chase, William Merritt, an 
American artist, born in Franklin, 
Ind., Nov. 1, 1849. He studied paint¬ 
ing in oil at the National Academy in 
New York and subsequently in Eu¬ 
rope with Piloty. He has made a spe¬ 
cialty of portraits and figure pieces. 

Chasing, the art of working decor¬ 
ative forms in low-relief in gold, sil¬ 
ver, or other metals. 

Chassaignac, Charles Louis, an 
American physician; born in New 
Orleans, Jan. 5, 1862; was graduated 
at the Medical Department of the 
University of Louisiana; and was 
president and Professor of Genito¬ 
urinary Diseases at the New Orleans 
Polyclinic in 1902. 

Chasseur, a male attendant upon 
persons of distinction, attired in a 
military dress, and wearing a sword. 
It is also the name given by the 




Ghastellux 


Chattanooga 


French to bodies of light infantry 
which act as skirmishers and sharp¬ 
shooters. 

Chastellux, Francois Jean, 
Chevalier de, a French historian; 
born in Paris in 1784; entered the 
army in 1749; distinguished himself 
as colonel in the Seven Years’ War, 
and later served in the American 
Revolution as major-general under 
Rochambeau, and gained the friend¬ 
ship of Washington. He died in 
Paris, Oct. 28, 1788. 

Chasuble, the upper garment worn 
by a Roman Catholic priest during 
the celebration of mass. 

Chat, a genus of small birds in the 
Thrush family. They are lively birds, 
flitting about rapidly and untiringly 
in pursuit of insects, on which they 
chiefly feed. 

Chatard, Francis Silas Mareau, 

an American clergyman; born in Bal¬ 
timore, in 1834. He graduated at Mt. 
St. Mary’s, Emmitsburg, Md., and at 
St. Urban College (Rome), being or¬ 
dained a Roman Catholic priest in 
1863. He became rector of the Amer¬ 
ican College in Rome, and in 1878 
Bishop of Vincennes, Ind. 

Chateaubriand, Francois Au¬ 
guste, Vicomte de, a French au¬ 
thor and politician; born in St. 
Malo, Brittany, Sept. 4, 1768. He 
lived to witness the terrible scenes in 
Paris in June, 1848, and died July 4 
following. He created the descriptive 
school of idealized nature, national in 
aspiration, Christian in spirit. His 
memoirs on which he had been oc¬ 
cupied for many years, appeared post¬ 
humously under the title of Mem- 
oires d’Outre-Tombe.” 

Chatham, a town, naval arsenal, 
and seaport of England, county Kent, 
on the Medway, about 34M> miles by 
rail from London. The royal dock¬ 
yard was founded by Queen Elizabeth 
previous to the sailing of the Armada. 
It has been greatly enlarged in re¬ 
cent years, and has now capacious 
docks, in which the heaviest warships 
can be equipped and sent directly to 
* sea. The town is defended by a strong 
line of fortifications which also serve 
as a flank defense for the metropolis. 
Pop. 40,800. 

Chatham, William Pitt, Earl 

of, one of the most illustrious states¬ 


men of Great Britain; son of Robert 
Pitt, of Boconnoc, in Cornwall; born 
Nov. 15, 1708; educated at Eton and 
Oxford. On quitting the university 
he became a cornet in the Blues, and 
in 1735 represented the borough of 
Old Sarum in the House of Com¬ 
mons, where he attracted universal 
notice. Pitt uniformly supported the 
cause of the people. Foreseeing the 
separation of the American colonies 
from the mother country if the arbi¬ 
trary measures then adopted should 
be continued; he advocated, especially 
in 1766, a conciliatory policy and the 
repeal of the Stamp Act. In the same 
year he was invited to assist in form¬ 
ing a new ministry, in which he took 
the office of privy-seal. In 1768 he 
resigned, as he found himself inade¬ 
quately seconded by his colleagues. In 
the House of Lords he continued to 
recommend the abandonment of the 
coercive measures employed against 
America, particularly in 1774; but his 
warning was rejected, and in 1776 the 
colonies declared themselves indepen¬ 
dent. On April 7, 1778, though la¬ 
boring under a severe illness, he re¬ 
paired to the House, to attack the 
unjust and impolitic proceedings of 
the ministers toward the colonies. At 
the close of his speech he fainted and 
was conveyed out of the House, and 
afterward removed to his country- 
seat at Hayes, in Kent, where he died 
May 11. The Parliament annexed an 
annuity of £4,000 to the earldom of 
Chatham; his debts were paid, and 
he was honored with a public funeral, 
and a magnificent monument in West¬ 
minster Abbey. Another was erected 
in 1782 in Guildhall. 

Chatham Islands, a small group 
in the Pacific, lying 360 miles E. of 
New Zealand, to which they politically 
belong. Pop. 420. 

Chattanooga, city and county-seat 
of Hamilton Co., Tenn. It is sit¬ 
uated on high grounds at the foot of 
Lookout Mountain, and in the midst 
of picturesque scenery. It is the site 
of a National Soldiers’ Cemetery, with 
over 13,000 graves, and the Chatta¬ 
nooga and Chickamauga National 
Military Park. Chattanooga was set¬ 
tled in 1836, and was originally called 
Ross’s landing. It was incorporated 
in 1851, and in 1863 was occupied and 
nearly destroyed by Union forces. It 





Chattels 


Check 


was the scene of three of the greatest 
battles of the Civil War: Chicka- 
mauga, Missionary Ridge, and Look¬ 
out Mountain. Pop. (1899), 29,100; 
(1900), 32,490. 

Chattels, property movable and 
immovable, not being freehold. The 
word chattels is originally the same 
word with cattle, all property being 
reckoned in early periods by the num¬ 
ber of heads of cattle possessed, or 
their equivalent. 

Chatterton, Thomas, an English 

youth whose genius, eccentricity, and 
melancholy fate have gained himjtnuch 
celebrity; born in Bristol in 1752, of 
poor parents. He died of self-ad¬ 
ministered poison in 1770, when not 
yet 18 years old. His works were 
more extensively read as the public 
became acquainted with the history 
of his misfortunes. The most remark¬ 
able are the poems published under 
the name of “Rowley,” which he 
composed at the age of 15 years. 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, “ the father 
of English poetry”; born in London 
probably about 1340. He was the son 
of a vintner named John Chaucer. 
His most celebrated work, “The Can¬ 
terbury Tales,” was written at differ¬ 
ent periods between 1373 and 1400. It 
consists of a series of tales in prose 
supposed to be told by a company of 
pilgrims to the shrine of St. Thomas 
(Becket) at Canterbury in 1386. In 
its pages we get such pictures of Eng¬ 
lish life and English ways of thought 
in the 14th century as are found no¬ 
where else. He died in London, Oct. 
25, 1400, and was buried in Westmin¬ 
ster Abbey. 

Chautauqua, a beautiful lake in 
New York, 18 miles long and 1/3 
broad, 726 feet above Lake Erie, 
from which it is 8 miles distant. On 
its banks is the village of Chautau¬ 
qua, the center of a religious and 
educational movement of large and 
growing interest. This originated In 
1874, when the village was selected 
as a summer place of meeting for all 
interested in Sunday-schools and mis¬ 
sions. Since then the Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle has 
taken origin here, consisting of a 
regular and systematic course of read¬ 
ing, extending over four years and 
entitling the student to a diploma. I 


Chauveau - Lagarde, Claude 
Francois, a French advocate; born 
in Chartres, in 1756. He studied law 
in his native town and began to prac¬ 
tice in Paris shortly before the out¬ 
break of the Revolution. He became 
celebrated for his eloquent defense of 
those on trial in the Reign of Terror. 
He was the advocate of Marie An¬ 
toinette at her trial and also of Char¬ 
lotte Corday. He died in 1841. 

Chauvenet, William, an Ameri¬ 
can astronomer and mathematician; 
born in Milford, Pa., May 24, 1819. 
He was graduated at Yale and became 
professor of mathematics and astron¬ 
omy at the United States Naval 
Academy in 1845, and professor of 
astronomy at Washington University, 
St. Louis, in 1859. In 1862 he be¬ 
came chancellor of the last institu¬ 
tion. He died in St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 
13, 1870. 

Cliauvinism, a French word de¬ 
rived from Nicolas Chauvin, a sol¬ 
dier of the French Republic and of 
the First Empire. His name be¬ 
came a synonym for a passionate ad¬ 
mirer of Napoleon, and the word 
Chauvinism was formed to signify the 
almost idolatrous respect entertained 
by many for the First Emperor; and 
now used for exaggerated devotion. 

Chazars, a people of the Finnic 
stock known in the 7th century on 
the shores of the Caspian; in the 9th 
century their kingdom occupied the 
S. E. of Russia from the Caspian 
and the Volga to the Dnieper. Their 
capital was long at Astrakhan, called 
by them Balandshar. They were sin¬ 
gularly tolerant of all religions, Jew¬ 
ish, Christian, and Moslem; and a 
large part of the nation formally 
adopted the Jewish faith from Jews 
who fled from the persecutions of the 
Emperor Leo. The power of the Cha¬ 
zars was ultimately broken in the 
12th century by the Byzantine em¬ 
perors and the Russians. 

Check, or Cheque, a draft or bill 
on a bank, payable on presentation. 
A check may be drawn payable to the 
bearer, or to the order of some one 
named; the first form is transferable 
without endorsement and payable to 
any one who presents it; the second 
must be endorsed, that is the person 
in whose favor it is drawn must write 
his name on the back of it. 






Cheese 


Chemistry 


Cheese, the curd or caseine of 
milk, with variable quantities of but¬ 
ter and common salt, pressed into 
molds and ripened by keeping. 

Cheetah, the East Indian name for 
two species of feline animals, the 
leopard and the hunting leopard, the 
latter being much used in India fox¬ 
hunting game. 

Chee-foo (properly the name of 
the European colony of the Chinese 
town of Yen-Tai), a treaty port on 
the N. side of the peninsula of Shan¬ 
tung, at the entrance to the Gulf of 
Pechili, in which it is the only port 
that remains open throughout the 
winter. The foreign quarter is in 
some sense a colony of Shanghai, and, 
having the best climate of all the 
treaty ports, it is much resorted to by 
convalescents. The Chinese town, 
built on the sandy shore, with exceed¬ 
ingly dirty streets, has fortifications, 
a signal-station, and about 32,000 in¬ 
habitants. The port was the scene 
of a naval demonstration in 1900, 
when British and American warships 
threatened to bombard the forts if 
their hostile attitude was not aban¬ 
doned. Tnere were 150 missionaries 
in the city, whose rescue from peril 
was thus effected. 

Cheh-Chiang, or Cheh-Kiang, a 

maritime province of China proper, 
of very great commercial importance, 
containing three treaty ports, Ning- 
Po, Wan-Chau (Wen-Chow), and 
Hang-Chau(Hang-Chow), all of which 
are to be connected with Shanghai 
by a projected railway. Cheh-Chiang 
is famed for its native system of edu¬ 
cation. It contains the great relig¬ 
ious and literary center of China, 
Hang-Chow, where thousands of can¬ 
didates yearly resort for the public 
examinations. Hang-Chow is also the 
capital of the province, which is ruled 
by a viceroy. Marco Polo visited the 
province in the 14th century, when it 
contained beautiful temples, now in 
ruins. The Italians in 1900 laid 
claim to part of Cheh-Chiang as a 
sphere of influence, but failed in their 
demands. The area of the province is 
34,700 square miles: pop. 11,843,000. 

Cheironectes, the Frog-fish, a 
genus, comprising some of those fishes 
popularly known under the name of 
anglers. They are most grotesquely 
and hideously shaped, having the pec¬ 


toral fins supported like short feet 
on peduncles, by means of which they 
can creep over mud or sand when 
left dry by the receding tide. 

Cheirotherium, a name given to 
a great unknown animal that formed 
the larger footsteps upon the slabs of 
the Trias, or upper New Red Sand¬ 
stone, and which bears a resemblance 
to the human hand. 

Chel-ab-ku-kil, or Ab-ku-kil- 
ckel, an Indian priest who lived in 
Yucatan and flourished in the 15th 
century. His name is mentioned in 
almost every Yucatanic legend, and 
fragments of history composed by him 
are found in documents of Yucatan 
and Central American missions. 

Chelmsford, Frederic Augustus 
Thesiger, Lord, born May 21, 1827, 
an English soldier; served in the Cri¬ 
mea and through the Indian mutiny. 
As deputy adjutant-general he served 
in the Abyssinian campaign, was 
nominated C.B., made aide-de-camp 
to Her Majesty, and adjutant-general 
to the forces in India (1868-1876), 
and in 1877 was appointed command¬ 
er of the forces and lieutenant-gov¬ 
ernor of Cape Colony. He restored 
Kaffraria to tranquillity, and was 
given the chief command in the Zulu 
war of 1879. After great difficulties 
with the transport, and some disast¬ 
ers, he gained the decisive victory of 
Ulundi, before the arrival of Sir Gar¬ 
net Wolseley, who had been sent to 
supersede him. On his return to Eng¬ 
land he was made G. C. B., and in 
1884 became lieutenant of the Tower. 

Chelsea, a borough of London, Eng¬ 
land, on the Thames, opposite Bat¬ 
tersea, and chiefly distinguished for 
containing a royal military hospital, 
originally commenced by James I. as 
a theological college, but converted by 
Charles II. for the reception of sick, 
maimed, and superannuated soldiers. 

Chelyuskin, Cape, (formerly 
Northeast Cape, and sometimes called 
Cape Severo), the extreme N. point of 
Asia, on a peninsula of the same 
name, which forms the W. arm of the 
E. half of the Taimyr peninsula. It 
is named after a Russian officer who 
led an expedition thus far in 1742, 
and here succumbed, with his wife, 
to the fatigues of the journey. 

Chemistry, the science treating 
of the relations and combinations of 





Chemnitz 


Cherbourg 


atoms, or, that branch of natural 
science which considers the combina¬ 
tion of two or more substances to 
form a third body with properties un¬ 
like either of the components; and 
the separation from a compound sub¬ 
stance of the more simple bodies pres¬ 
ent in it, each possessing distinct 
properties. Considering that the steps 
of the combination and decomposition 
of substances can never be correctly 
understood without an intimate knowl¬ 
edge of the properties of substances, 
it follows that the science of chem¬ 
istry must take into notice likewise 
the description of all the simplest as 
well as of the most complex bodies. 
Chemistry ranks as one of the arts 
as well as one of the sciences, and 
the division of Practical Chemistry 
comprehends the rules and processes 
which must be followed and the me¬ 
chanical means for the prosecution of 
the art. 

Cbemnitz, a town of Saxony, at 
the base of the Erzgebirge, and at the 
confluence of the Chemnitz river, with 
three other streams, 51 miles S. S. E. 
of Leipsic. It is the principal manu¬ 
facturing town of the kingdom, its 
industry consisting in weaving cot¬ 
tons, woolens, and silks, and in print¬ 
ing calicoes, chiefly for German con¬ 
sumption. It supplies the world with 
cheap hosiery, and makes mixed fab¬ 
rics of wool, cotton, and jute for the 
markets of Europe and the United 
States. It has several extensive ma¬ 
chine-factories, producing locomotives 
and other steam-engines, with ma¬ 
chinery for flax and wool spinning, 
weaving, and mining industry. 
Created a free imperial city as early 
as 1125, Chemnitz, suffered much 
during the Thirty Years’ War. Pop. 
(1900) 206,584. 

Cbemnitz, Martin, a German 
Protestant theologian; born in the 
mark of Brandenburg in 1522. Died 
at Brunswick in 1586. 

Chemulpo, Korea, a seaport town 
(since 1883 a treaty-port), on the W. 
coast, 25 miles by rail W. S. W. of 
Seoul, the capital. It was a landing- 
point for the Japanese occupation of 
Korea, during the Russo-Japanese 
Conflict (1904), and witnessed the 
first fight, in the sinking of the Rus¬ 
sian warships, the Variag and Korietz. 
The imports attain a value of $3,- 


500,000 in some years; the exports 
$1,500,000. Pop. 41,000; the bulk of 
the 3,000 foreigners are Japanese. 

Cheney, Charles Edward, an 
American clergyman; born in Can¬ 
andaigua, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1836. He 
was ordained a clergyman of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in 1858. 
Becoming rector of Christ Church, 
Chicago, he incurred censure for het¬ 
erodoxy and was tried on that charge 
and deposed from the priesthood. He 
at once became a leader in the Re¬ 
formed Episcopal movement, and was 
consecrated bishop of the new denomi¬ 
nation in 1873, a post he has since 
held. 

Cheney, Ednah Dow (Little- 

hale), an American writer; born in 
Boston in 1824. She has been president 
of the New England Woman’s Club 
and the Massachusetts Suffrage Asso¬ 
ciation. 

Cheney, John Vance, an Ameri¬ 
can writer, born in Groveland, N. Y., 
Dec. 29, 1848. 

Cheney, Thesens Apoleon, an 

American historian ; born in Leon, N. 
Y., March 16, 1830. He died in 
Starkey, N. Y., Aug. 1878. 

Chenile, a round fabric or trim¬ 
ming made by uniting with two or 
more sets of warps, a fine filling or 
weft. The fabric is then twisted, as¬ 
suming a cylindrical shape with weft 
projecting radially from the central 
line of warps. 

Cheops, the name given by Herodo¬ 
tus to the Egyptian despot whom the 
Egyptians themselves called Khufu. 
He belonged to the rulers who had 
for their capital Memphis; lived about 
2800-2700 B. C., and built the largest 
of the pyramids. According to He¬ 
rodotus he employed 100,000 men on 
this work constantly for 20 years. 

Cherbourg, a strongly fortified 
arsenal and seaport of France, in the 
department of La Manche (The Chan¬ 
nel), 196 miles W. N. W. of Paris. 
It is the works by which it has been 
converted into a great naval fortress 
that give it its special importance. 
These altogether have cost $40,000,- 
000, and were chiefly carried out 
under Napoleon I., Louis Philippe, 
and Napoleon III. A United States 
consul is resident at Cherbourg. Pop. 
36,326. 




Cherbuliez 


Chess 


Cherbuliez, Victor, a French ro- 
mancist; born in Geneva, of a noted 
family of litterateurs, July 19, 1829. 
He died in Paris, July 1, 1899. 

Cherokee Indians, a tribe of the 
Appalachian family of North Amer¬ 
ican aborigines, which occupied for 
centuries the country E. and S. of 
the Alleghanies. After the coloniza¬ 
tion of North America by the whites, 
a series of wars broke out at periods 
ranging from 1759 to 1793; when, by 
a treaty entered into with the United 
States, they ceded their territory in 
the Southeastern States, in consid¬ 
eration of a certain cash payment, 
and an annual subsidy being continued 
to them. In 1805 they made further 
concessions of their lands, and, in 
1812, fought bravely on the American 
side. In 1817-1819 new treaties were 
made, which resulted in the Cherokees 
being forced to a reservation of ter¬ 
ritory afforded them W. of the Missis¬ 
sippi. A remnant of the tribe re¬ 
mained, however, in the original reser¬ 
vation in North Carolina. In the In¬ 
dian Territory they occupy an area 
of 7,861 square miles in the N. E. The 
Cherokees have a chief, an assistant, 
and a legislature, all chosen by vote. 
They live in dwellings, not in wig¬ 
wams. They have an asylum for or¬ 
phans, seminaries, and 100 private 
schools. Their capital is Tahlequah. 
In the original North Carolina reser¬ 
vation the Cherokees number 1,351. 
They occupy an area of 98,211 acres. 

Cherry, a fruit-tree of the prune or 
plum tribe, very ornamental and there¬ 
fore much cultivated in shrubberies. 
The American wild cherry is a fine 
large tree, the timber of which is much 
used by cabinet-makers and others. 
The fruit is somewhat astringent. 

Cherubini, Luigi Zenobio Sal¬ 
vatore, founder of the French Con¬ 
servatory and instructor of hundreds 
of eminent musicians; born in Flor¬ 
ence, Sept. 1, 1760. In the interval 
from 1780 to 1788, he composed eleven 
Italian operas, including “Ifigenia in 
Aulide,” the most successful of the 
series. He died in Paris, March 15, 
1842. 

Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland 
and Virginia, and dividing the former 
State into two parts, is the largest 
inlet on the Atlantic coast of the 
E. 33. 


United States, being 200 miles long, 
and from 4 to 40 broad. Its entrance, 
12 miles wide, has on the N. Cape 
Charles, and on the S. Cape Henry, 
both promontories being in Virginia. 

Chess, the most purely intellec¬ 
tual of all games of skill, the origin 
of which has been much disputed, but 
probably arose in India 5,000 years 
ago, and thence spread through Persia 
and Arabia, to Europe and America. 
The game has undergone many modi¬ 
fications during its diffusion through¬ 
out the world, but retains marked 
traces of its Oriental origin. The 
game is played by two persons on a 
board which consists of 64 squares, 
arranged in 8 rows of 8 squares each, 
alternately black and white. Each 


Pfg 

wm 

S| ft 

if 


mm A*, mm, 

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m 

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fra 

in 

ilfSi 


m 




11 

IIP 


mu 

. 

mm. 

m 


JjjJI 

M 

■ 


Ml 111 


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jpp 

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ifll 


CHESS. 

player has two sets of pieces of op¬ 
posite colors of 16 men each, and of 
various powers, according to their 
rank. These sets of men are arrayed 
opposite each other, and attack, de¬ 
fend, and capture like hostile armies. 
The superior officers occupying the 
first, row on each side are called pieces, 
the inferior men, all alike, standing 
on the row immediately in front of the 
pieces, are called pawns. 

The chessmen being placed, the play¬ 
ers begin the engagement by moving 
alternately; each aiming to gain a nu¬ 
merical superiority by capturing his 
opponent’s men, as well as such ad¬ 
vantages of position as may couduce to 
victory. 































Chest, in man and in the higher 
vertebrates, the cavity formed by the 
breast-bone in front and the ribs and 
backbone at the sides and behind, shut 
off from the abdomen below by the 
diaphragm or midriff. It contains the 
heart, lungs, etc. 

Chester, an ancient and episcopal 
city, the capital of the county of Ches¬ 
hire, England, 16 miles S. E. of Liv¬ 
erpool. The two main streets cross 
each other at right angles, and were 
cut out of the rock by the Romans 4 
to 10 feet below the level of the 
houses. St. John’s Church, now par¬ 
tially in ruins, is supposed to have 
been founded by Ethelred in 698. Pop. 
(1901) 36,281. 

Chesterfield, Philip Dormer 
Stanhope, fourth Earl of, an English 
statesman and litterateur; born in 
London, Sept. 22, 1694. He entered 
public life in 1715, and took an active 
part in the petty intrigues and party 
squabbles which make up the parlia¬ 
mentary and court history of the reign 
of George II. The only writings of 
this accomplished person that are at 
all remembered are his “ Letters ” to 
his son, remarkable for their ease of 
style and their knowledge of society, 
but notoriously reprehensible for the 
principles of conduct which they in¬ 
culcate. He died March 24, 1773 

Chestnut, a genus of plants, allied 
to the beech. The common or Spanish 
chestnut is a stately tree, with large, 
handsome, serrated, dark-green leaves. 
The fruit consists of two or more 
seeds enveloped in a prickly husk. 
Probably a native of Asia Minor, it 
has long been naturalized in Western 
countries. Two American species of 


chestnuts have edible fruits. The 
horse-chestnut is quite a different tree 
from the common chestnut. 

Chetah, the hunting leopard of 
India, a native of Arabia and Asia 
Minor. It has its specific name (ju- 
tata, crested or maned) from a short 
mane-like crest at the back of the head. 
When used for hunting it is hooded 
and placed in a car. When a herd of 
deer is seen, its keeper places its head 
in the proper direction and removes 
its hood. It slips from the car, and, 
approaching its prey in a stealthy man¬ 
ner, springs on it with several bounds. 
It is about the size of a large grey¬ 
hound, has a cat-like head, but a body 
more like a dog’s. A slightly different 
species inhabits Africa. 

Chevalier, Michel, a French 
economist; born in Limoges, Jan. 13, 
1806. He became a councillor of state 
(1838), professor of political economy 
in the College de France (1840), mem¬ 
ber of the chamber of deputies (1846), 
and a member of the Institute (1851). 
He died in Montpellier, Nov. 28, 1879. 

Cheviot, (from the name of a bor¬ 
der mountain range in Scotland—the 
Cheviot hills), (1) a variety of moun¬ 
tain sheep, named from the Cheviot 
hills, where they abound; (2) a kind 
of coarse woolen cloth used principal¬ 
ly for men’s clothing. 

Chevreul, Michel Eugene, a 
French chemist; born in 1786. He 
wrote various works on chemistry, 
dyeing, etc. Died 1889, 103 years old. 

Chevy Chase, the name of a cele¬ 
brated British Border ballad, which 
is probably founded on some actual 
encounter which took place between 
its heroes, Percy and Douglas. 








CATTLE PENS 


KNOCKING PENS—CATTLE KILLING DEPARTMENT 


CATTLE READY FOR HEADING AND SKINNING 



DRESSED BEEF READY FOR GOVERNMENT INSPECTION 



STICKING HOGS 

the packing industry 


CUTTING HAMS 













































Cheyenne - 


Chicago 


Cheyenne, city, capital of the 
State of Wyoming, is situated on a 
plateau 6,075 feet above the sea and 
contains Fort Russell, a United States 
military post, and the main repair 
shops of the Union Pacific railroad. 
Pop. (1900), 14,087. 

Cheyennes, a tribe of American 
Indians, originally of Algonquin or 
Dakota stock, at one time settled in 
Wyoming. To the number of 2,069 
(1899), they were settled in Okla¬ 
homa on a reservation of 529,682 
acres.. They are in a backward state 
of civilization and possess a primitive 
form of tribal government. 

Chiang-hsi, or Kiang-si, one of 
the 18 provinces into which China 
proper is divided. The area is 72,176 
square miles. Pop. (1900, estimated), 
29,000,000, the last official census 
(1879) returning 24,534,118. The 
province contains the treaty port of 
Kin-Kiang or Chin-Chiang, on the 
Yang-tze-Kiang, a town of 53,000 in¬ 
habitants. Here are established fa¬ 
mous manufactories of porcelain. The 
province produces tea and silk, besides 
porcelain. 

Cliiang-Su, or Kiang-Su, an im¬ 
portant maritime province of China 
proper. It has an area of 44,500 
square miles (about that of Pennsyl¬ 
vania), and a population estimated in 
1900 at 28,000,000, the last official 
census in 1882 returning 20,905,171. 
The great commercial importance of 
this province is denoted by its posses¬ 
sion of four treaty ports, Shanghai, 
Nanking, Su-Chow, and Chin-Kiang. 
Half the foreign population of China 
(14,000 in 1900) is established in this 
province. The capital is Nankiang. 
Commercially the province is con¬ 
trolled by the English, who have in¬ 
vested largely in railways, mills and 
government concessions. 

Chiapas, a State of the Republic 
of Mexico, on the Pacific slope, having 
an area of 27,111 square miles and a 
population of 310,599. The capital, 
San Cristobal, is also the principal 
town. The State is in many parts 
mountainous, and is also in many 
parts traversed by noble streams, in¬ 
cluding the Rio Chiapas. It forms 
part of the Central American table¬ 
land, and has a fine climate, although 
the whole region is largely clothed In 
primeval forests. 


Chiaro-oscuro, that branch of 
painting which has for its object the 
combination and arrangement of the 
light and shadow of a picture to the 
best advantage. 

Cliibchas, or Muyscas, a tribe of 
South American Indians who formerly 
lived E. of the Magdalena river, oc¬ 
cupying the region from its head wat¬ 
ers to the Sierra Nevada de Merida. 
They were partially civilized. They 
were ruled by women as well as men 
in the line of succession, and believed 
in a Supreme Being. They were con¬ 
quered in a war with the Spaniards in 
1537 and their descendants constitute 
a large part of the present population 
of Colombia. 

Chibouque, a Turkish pipe with a 
long stem. 

Chica, or Chicha, the name given 
in Brazil to a species of Sterculia, the 
seeds of which are eaten. They are 
about the size of a pigeon’s egg, and 
have an agreeable taste. Also a red 
coloring matter used by some tribes 
of North American Indians to stain 
the skin. The word is also used as a 
name of a dance popular among the 
Spaniards and the South American 
settlers descended from them. 

Chicago, city, port of entry, and 
county-seat of Cook Co., Ill.; the sec¬ 
ond city in population in the United 
States. It is built on the S. W. shore 
of Lake Michigan, about 18 miles N. 
of its S. extremity. It is the center 
of the Western and Lake commerce 
and has a large water front of 30 
miles. A portion of the shore is pro¬ 
tected by a massive wall. The city is 
one of the greatest commercial centers 
in the world, and is connected by 
steamship and railroad lines with all 
parts. The lake shore is protected by 
breakwaters, forming a splendid har¬ 
bor at the mouth of the Chicago river. 
The exterior breakwater is 5,436 feet 
long, and extends in a N. E. and S. 
W. direction about one mile from the 
shore. Piers and breakwaters, built 
as continuations of the shores of Chi¬ 
cago river, form a harbor of about 455 
acres, with an average depth of 16 
feet. At the mouth of the Calumet 
river, in South Chicago, is another 
harbor 300 feet wide between piers. 
The Erie canal, terminating at Buf¬ 
falo, provides a means of commercial 
communication with the Atlantic 







Chicago 


Chicago 


ports. Area 188 square miles; pop¬ 
ulation (1890), 1,099,850; (1900), 

1,698,575. 

The city was built originally on the 
flat prairie, at an elevation too low 
to secure proper drainage. When this 
became apparent the grade of the 
whole city was raised 7 feet and the 
streets and buildings brought to the 
new level. The Chicago river traverses 
the city, and by its peculiar course 
divides it into three sections, known 
as the North, South and West Sides, 
which are connected by many bridges. 

The city owns an extensive water 
works system. It was found that as 
the city grew, the old water supply 
became inadequate, and in order to 
reach a point in the lake where the 
water would be uncontaminated by 
sewage, cribs were built two to four 
miles out, with a tunnel connecting 
them with the shore. In 1900 there 
were five of these cribs, 35 miles of 
tunnel and 1,802 miles of main. On 
Jan. 17, 1900, a drainage canal was 
opened to carry off the city’s sewage. 
It consists of an open drain connect¬ 
ing the Chicago and Des Plaines 
rivers, and extending thence to the 
Illinois and Mississippi rivers. 

Chicago is surrounded by some of 
the largest and finest parks and boule¬ 
vards in the country. The park area 
is 2,232.1 acres, and the boulevards 
extend over 66 miles. There are six 
large parks, Lincoln, Humboldt, Gar¬ 
field, Douglas, Washington, and Jack- 
son, all connected by boulevards trav¬ 
ersing the most beautiful sections of 
the city and forming a drive system 
which cannot be excelled. The Sheri¬ 
dan road, which is an extension of the 
boulevard system, is a superb drive¬ 
way running N. along the lake shore 
to Fort Sheridan, 25 miles distant. 

Chicago is noted for the number, 
size and height of its public and bus¬ 
iness buildings, and for their hand¬ 
some and complete interior finishings. 
Among them are: the Auditorium, ten 
stories high, contains the largest thea¬ 
ter and opera house in the world, cap¬ 
able of seating 7,000 persons, a 
great hotel with 400 guest rooms, and 
also 136 offices and store rooms, cost 
.$2,000,000; the Art Institute, which 
ranks among the first art museums in 
the country; Board of Trade Build¬ 
ing ; Chicago Stock Exchange, 13 
stories high; the Monadnock building. 


16 stories high, containing 1,600 of¬ 
fices and costing $2,500,000; the Ma¬ 
sonic Temple, 21 stories high and 
costing $3,500,000; the Public Library, 
a magnificent structure costing $2,- 
000,000 and containing a library of 
250,000 books; the Woman’s Temple, 
12 stories high, containing 300 offices 
and costing $1,500,000; the City Hall 
and County Court and Criminal Court 
buildings; the Newberry Library, and 
numbers of handsome club buildings, 
stores and theaters, besides many ele¬ 
gant and costly private residences. 

According to the Federal census of 
1900 there were reported 19,202 manu¬ 
facturing establishments, employing 
$534,000,689 capital and 262,621 per¬ 
sons ; paying $131,065,337 for wages 
and $538,401,562 for materials; and 
yielding products of an aggregate value 
of $8887786,311. The principal in¬ 
dustries were wholesale slaughtering 
and meat packing, foundry and ma¬ 
chine shop products, men’s clothing, 
in factories; iron and steel, agricul¬ 
tural implements, railroad cars, print¬ 
ing and publishing, masonry, and malt 
liquors; bakery products, coffee and 
spices, furniture, electrical supplies, 
women’s clothing, soap and candles, 
wholesale slaughtering (without meat 
packing), linseed oil, planing mill 
products and confectionery. Chicago 
is the greatest live stock and grain 
market in the world, as well as the 
greatest railroad center. 

\t the close of the school year 1899- 
1900, the children of school census age 
aggregated 656,516; the enrollment in 
public day schools was 213,134 and 
in private and parochial schools (large¬ 
ly estimated) 86,614, and the average 
daily attendance in public day schools 
was 199,821. For higher education 
there were 15 public high schools, one 
public normal school, one endowed nor¬ 
mal school, 15 private secondary 
schools, St. Ignatius College (R. c!. 
opened 1869), and the University of 
Chicago (1892). The principal pri¬ 
vate secondary schools are Lewis In¬ 
stitute, Chicago Institute, Seminary 
of the Sacred Heart, De La Salle In¬ 
stitute, University School, Harvard 
School, Kirkland School, St. Xavier’s 
Academy, and Kenwood Institute. 
There were 26 training schools for 
nurses, mostly connected with hospitals 
and sanitariums. Chicago has rjparly 
800 churches. There are about 150 





Chicago Drainage Canal 


Chichen 


hospitals and other charitable institu¬ 
tions in the city. Among the largest 
of the former are the Mercy, Cook 
County, Michael Reese, United States 
Marine, and the Hahnemann. The 
benevolent institutions include the 
Old People’s Home, Newsboys’ Home, 
Washington Home for the Reforma¬ 
tion of Inebriates, Foundlings’ Home, 
Home for the Friendless, and the Prot¬ 
estant, St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s 
Orphan Asylums. 

The site of Chicago was first visited 
by Joliet and Marquette, French mis¬ 
sionaries and explorers, in 1673. In 
1685 a fort was built there, com¬ 
manded by an officer in the Canadian 
service, and before the end of the 17th 
century the Jesuits made it a mission 
post. Indian hostilities prevented fur¬ 
ther occupation till the United States 
government established there the fron¬ 
tier post of Fort Dearborn in 1804, 
which was destroyed by Indians in the 
War of 1812, but rebuilt in 1816, 
when a permanent settlement began. 

In 1830 the entire population was 
only 70 persons, but in 1835 a town 
was organized, and in 1837 it was 
incorporated as a city with 4,000 in¬ 
habitants and an area of 10 miles. On 
Oct. 8 and 9, 1871, occurred the mem¬ 
orable fire which reduced a large 
part of the city to ashes, destroyed its 
entire business center, and swept over 
an area of more than three square 
miles, causing a loss of about $190,- 
000,000. Nearly 20,000 buildings were 
consumed, 100,000 people were made 
homeless, and 200 lives were lost. An¬ 
other disastrous fire broke out in 1874 
in the heart of the city, which con¬ 
sumed 18 blocks and over 600 homes, 
with a loss of over $4,000,000. Within 
a very short time after these disasters 
Chicago was rebuilt in a much more 
substantial and elegant manner, and 
it has since continued its steady 
march to prosperity. In May, 1886, 
anarchist riots at the Haymarket re¬ 
sulted in the death of six police offi¬ 
cers, the wounding of several others, 
the conviction of eight rioters, and 
the execution of four. The World’s 
Columbian Exposition was held in 
Chicago from May 1 to Oct. 30, 1893. 
Fully $17,500,000 were expended in 
the construction of the fair and its 
operation, and it was visited by 17,- 
000,000 people. In October, 1903, Chi¬ 


cago celebrated the hundredth anniver¬ 
sary of the beginning of settlement 
there. 

On Dec. 30, 1903, the Iroquois Thea¬ 
tre, a new structure, was destroyed by 
fire and over 600 persons mostly 
women and children perished. 

Judge Ed. F. Dunne was elected 
mayor, April, 1905, and since then the 
municipal ownership of street rail¬ 
roads and other public services has 
been a fruitful source of agitation lead¬ 
ing to active reforms. 

Chicago Drainage Canal, a 
canal intended chiefly for carrying off 
the sewage of Chicago, but which may 
be used for commercial purposes; be¬ 
gun in September, 1892; completed in 
January, 1900. The main channel is 
29 miles long, extending from Chicago 
to Lockport on the Illinois river, into 
which stream it discharges. About 9 
miles of the channel is cut through 
solid rock, with a minimum depth of 
22 feet and a width of 160 feet on the 
bottom in rock, which makes it the 
largest artificial channel in the world. 
The length of the waterway from the 
mouth of the Chicago river to its ter¬ 
minus S. of Joliet is about 42 miles. 
The cost of the canal was estimated 
at about $45,000,000. 

Chicago, University of, a co-edu- 
cational (non-sectarian) institution in 
Chicago, Ill., founded by John D. 
Rockefeller, dating from Sept. 10, 
1890, when the institution was incor¬ 
porated under the laws of Illinois. A 
previous institution known as the Uni¬ 
versity of Chicago had gone out of ex¬ 
istence, owing to financial difficulties, 
in 1886. A number of Baptists de¬ 
sired to have a college in Chicago, and 
succeeded in interesting John D. 
Rockefeller in the plan. He promised 
$600,000 toward the establishment of 
the college if $400,000 more should be 
raised by June, 1890. This amount 
was duly raised, and the plan was 
enlarged in scope so as to include a 
university instead of a mere college. 
Further large gifts were made by Mr. 
Rockefeller and by others, and the 
doors were opened for instruction Oct. 
1, 1892. 

Chichen-Itza, the largest of over 
50 ruined towns in the Mexican prov¬ 
ince of Yucatan, a few miles VV. S. W. 
of Valladolid, with the remains of an 
ancient Indian city. 







Chickadee 


Ckigneoto Bay 


Chickadee, the popular name of 
the black-cap titmouse. 

Chickahominy,a river in Virginia, 
affluent of the James and running 
parallel to it for many miles from its 
source N. W. of Richmond. On and 
near it occurred many of the most 
important events of McClellan’s 
Peninsular campaign in 1862. The 
second battle of Cold Harbor under 
Grant took place in 1864. 

Chickamauga, Battle of, an en¬ 
gagement fought Sept. 19-20, 1863, 
between the Union army under Rose- 
crans and the Confederate under 
Bragg and Longstreet. Out of about 
100,000 troops engaged, some 30,000 
were reported as killed, wounded and 
missing — a very bloody and prac¬ 
tically drawn battle, though claimed 
as a Confederate victory, and causing 
the replacement of Rosecrans by 
Grant. But for the splendid stand 
made by General George H. Thomas 
it would have been a Union defeat. 

Chickasaw, an Indian tribe, occu¬ 
pying a reservation in the S. W. por¬ 
tion of Indian Territory. The tribe 
has a chief and a legislature chosen 
by popular vote. 

Chicken-pox, the common name 
for varicella, a contagious and infec¬ 
tious disease which in some respects 
resembles modified small-pox, and is 
characterized by a specific eruption, 
which breaks out over the whole body, 
and runs a definite course in about 
eight or ten days. 

Chickweed, one of the most com¬ 
mon weeds in cultivated and waste 
ground, flowering throughout the 
year. 

Chicory, the root of the wild suc¬ 
cory or chicory. The plant is culti¬ 
vated in various parts of America 
and Europe. The root roasted has 
been employed as a substitute for cof¬ 
fee for more than a century. It is 
now used extensively as a mixture 
with genuine coffee. 

Chief, in heraldry, the upper part 
of the field cut off by a horizontal line. 
It generally occupied one-third of the 
area of the shield. 

Chief Justice, the title of the chief 
member of the United States Supreme 
Court, also of the judges holding simi¬ 
lar rank in some of the States. In 
Canada it is the title of the leading 


judge of the Dominion and Provincial 
Supreme Courts, and in England the 
presiding judge in the Queen’s Bench 
Division of the High Gourt of Justice 
is called a “ Lord Chief Justice.” 

The following is a list of the per¬ 
sons appointed as Chief-Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States 
from its establishment: 

John Jay, of New York. 

Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut. 

John Marshall, of Virginia. 

Roger Brooke Taney, of Maryland. 

Salmon Portland Chase, of Ohio. 

Morrison R. Waite, of Ohio. 

Melville W. Fuller, of Illinois, the 
present Chief-Justice. 

Chigi, a princely Italian family, 
whose founder was Agostino Chigi 
(died 1512), of Siena, who in Rome 
became banker to the popes, and was 
noted for his pomp and encourage¬ 
ment of art. 



CHICORY. 


Cliignecto Bay, an inlet at the 

head of the Bay of Fundy, in British 
North America. It separates Nova 
Scotia from New Brunswick, is 30 
miles long and 8 broad, and has an 
isthmus of only 14 miles in width be¬ 
tween it and Northumberland Strait, 
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In Oc¬ 
tober, 1888, work was begun on the 






Chignon 


Chile 


construction of a ship railway across 
the neck of land connecting Nova 
Scotia with the main land of Canada. 
The promoters had spent nearly $4,- 
000,000 on the work, when in 1890 
a financial depression in London pre¬ 
vented them from obtaining further 
capital. In March, 1901, the under¬ 
taking was revived. 

Chignon, (1) the back of the neck, 
(2) back hair; the back hair of wo¬ 
men, a protuberance of artificial hair 
on the hinder part of the head, worn 
by women about 1866-1875. 

Cliigo, Chigre, or Jigger, a 
West Indian and South American spe¬ 
cies of apterous insect of the flea kind, 
which penetrates the skin and breeds 
there, unless speedily eradicated. 

Chihuahua, the largest State of 
Mexico; bounded on the N. and N. E. 
by New Mexico and Texas; area, 87,- 
802 square miles; pop. (1895), 262,- 
771. The State is better adapted for 
stock-raising than for agriculture; the 
fertile districts are mainly confined 
to the valleys and river courses. Cot¬ 
ton is grown in the S. The silver 
mines were for centuries among the 
richest in Mexico, and mining is still 
the chief industry. The capital, Chi¬ 
huahua, 225 miles S. of E( Paso, rises 
like an oasis in the desert, among 
roses and orange groves. Pop. about 
20 , 000 . 

Chilblain, a sore on the hands or 
feet produced by cold, especially if 
the parts were previously much heated 

Child, Lydia Maria, an American 
prose-writer; born in Medford, Mass., 
Feb. 11, 1802. She was an ardent 
abolitionist, and published the first 
book written on that subject, entitled 
“ Appeal for that class of Americans 
called African.” Dr. Channing went 
over to Roxbury to thank her for it. 
She died in Wayland, Mass., Oct. 20, 
1880. 

Children, Societies for the Pre¬ 
vention of Cruelty to, organiza¬ 
tions that had their origin in New 
York City, and have since been adopt¬ 
ed in most American and many 
European cities. 

Children’s Crusade, The, a sin¬ 
gular movement in 1212, preached in 
France by Stephen, a peasant boy, 
and in Germany the same year by 
Nicholas, also a peasant boy. Some 


90,000 children left their mothers and 
schoolmasters in the spring “to rescue 
the Holy Land from the infidels.” Part 
perished by shipwreck and the rest 
were sold into slavery. 

Childs, George William, an 
American philanthropist and pub¬ 
lisher; born in Baltimore, Md., May 
22, 1829. He published the Philadel¬ 
phia “ Public Ledger,” 1864-1894. He 
assisted in establishing a home for 
printers at Colorado Springs. He died 
in Philadelphia, Feb. 3, 1894. 

Chile, a Republic of South Amer¬ 
ica, bounded on the N. by Peru, E. 
by Bolivia and the Argentine Repub¬ 
lic, S. and W. by the Pacific Ocean; 
area, 307,620 square miles; pop. (ac¬ 
cording to revised calculation, and 
omitting 50,000 Indians), 2,712,145; 
capital Santiago (pop. 296,695). 

The climate of Chile is temperate. 
The temperature is remarkably even 
and pleasant, and always cool at 
night. The S. wind blows fiercely 
during many days of summer, dry 
and cold; the N. wind brings heat, 
tempest and rain; other winds are 
unknown. Central Chile, between lat. 
32° and 36°, is fertile. In Southern 
Chile generally the land is poor, and 
on account of excessive rain of hardly 
any value for agriculture, which, in¬ 
deed, is carried on in a very primitive 
fashion, but the soil of the valleys, 
where large herds of cattle graze, is 
very fertile. 

Chile was the first South American 
State to construct railways. In 1902 
there were 2,800 English miles of 
lines open to traffic, of which the 
State owned 1,320 miles. The revenue 
of the State railways in 1902 was 
13,259,607 pesos, expenditures, 12,- 
878,248 pesos. The cost of the State 
lines by recent report amounted to 
82,269,660 pesos. A railway system 
crossing the Andes has 18 miles in 
Chile and 88 in. the Argentine Repub¬ 
lic, connecting the Atlantic and Pa¬ 
cific Oceans from Buenos Ayres to 
Valparaiso. There were 9,832 miles 
of telegraph lines with 229 offices, 
through which 1,255,806 telegrams 
were sent during the year. 

The government is that of a repub¬ 
lic, the chief magistrate being a 
President, elected for five years, who 
is thereafter ineligible to immediate 
reelection. The President has a cab- 





Chile 


Chi-Ll 


inet consisting of six members and a 
Council of State of 11, six of whom 
are named by Congress. Legislation 
is conducted by a Chamber of Depu¬ 
ties, chosen by popular vote, and who 
serve three years, renewable by thirds 
every three years; and a Senate, mem¬ 
bers of which are chosen for nine 
years. For administrative purposes 
Chile is divided into 23 provinces and 
1 territory, and the provinces in turn 
into departments, sub-delegations and 
districts. Each province is governed 
by an intendant, who also acts as 
governor of the department in which 
the capital of the province is situated. 
The departments are governed by gov¬ 
ernors, the minor divisions by sub¬ 
delegates and inspectors. The estab¬ 
lished religion of Chile is Roman 
Catholic, but the constitution guaran¬ 
tees freedom of worship. Education 
receives much attention, but is not 
compulsory. 

The name of Chile is supposed to 
be derived from an ancient Peruvian 
word signifying “snow.” The N. por¬ 
tion, as far as the river Maule, formed 
part of the dominions of the Incas of 
Peru, and the S. was held by the val¬ 
iant Araucanians. The first European 
to land in Chile was the Portuguese 
discoverer Magellan, at Chiloe, in 
1520. After the conquest of Peru by 
Pizarro, an expedition was made to 
Chile from that country overland, un¬ 
der the leadership of Diego de Alma- 
gro, in 1535. This expedition pene¬ 
trated as far as the Rio Clano, but 
returned unsuccessful. Another was 
sent under command of Pedro Val¬ 
divia in 1540, which succeeded in an¬ 
nexing the territory as far as the river 
Maipu. Santiago, the capital, was 
founded by Valdivia in 1542. Dur¬ 
ing the colonial period the governors 
of Chile were appointed by the King 
of Spain, but were subordinate to the 
viceroys of Peru. In 1810 a revolt 
against the Spanish power broke out, 
in which Don Bernardo O’Higgins, son 
of one of the last viceroys of Peru, 
but a native of Chile, played a con¬ 
spicuous part, and finally became the 
first dictator of the new republic. The 
conflict between the Spanish troops 
and the Republican army continued 
until 1826, when peace was definitely 
settled and Chile left to govern itself. 
The first constitutional president was 
Gen. Blanco Encalada. The govern¬ 


ment was unsettled till 1830. In 
1833 the present constitution was 
adopted. Revolutions broke out in 
1851 and 1859, but since then there 
has been no serious atteinpt to over¬ 
turn the government by force of arms. 
In 1864 Chile gave Peru very valuable 
support in her war with Spain. In 
1879 Chile declared war against Bo¬ 
livia on account of an alleged viola¬ 
tion of treaty rights, and immediately 
after against Peru, with which Bolivia 
was allied. For a time the Peruvian 
fleet kept the Chilians in check, but 
in August, 1879, the Peruvian ironclad 
“ Huascar” was captured by the 
Chilian men-of-war “ Cochrane ” and 
“Blanco Encalada,” both armor- 
plated. After this event the success 
of the Chilians was uninterrupted. 
Peruvian towns were bombarded, and 
their other warships captured. Final¬ 
ly Lima was taken by storm on June 
21, 1881. The Chilians occupied Lima 
and Callao until Oct. 30, 1885, when 
a treaty of peace was signed between 
Chile and Peru. Up to 1900 no treaty 
of peace had been signed by Chile and 
Bolivia; a treaty of indefinite truce 
having been agreed to in 1884. In 
1885 Jose Manuel Balmaceda, repre¬ 
senting the Liberal party, was elected 
President. The hostile factions or¬ 
ganized a rebellion and formed a 
junta, under whose management the 
forces of Balmaceda were repeatedly 
defeated. He committed suicide Sept. 
19, 1891. In a riot in Valparaiso 
some United States marines were set 
upon and wounded. Reparation was 
demanded and refused, and war be¬ 
tween Chile and the United States 
seemed imminent. Two war vessels 
were sent to Chile to enforce the de¬ 
mands of the U. S. and an apology 
and compensation were given. In 1902 
the boundary dispute with Argentina, 
arbitrated by Great Britain, led later 
to a treaty of continuous peace. 

Clii-Li, or Chih-Li, one of the 18 
provinces into which China proper Is 
divided. It has an area of 58,949 
square miles. It is in many respects 
the most important of the Chinese 
provinces, containing as it does the 
imperial capital, Peking, the treaty 
port of Tien-Tsin, and the only com¬ 
pleted line of railway in the Empire. 
The Great Wall runs across the whole 
of the N. part of Chi-Li, while on the 
coast are the forts of Taku, and the 





Chilkat Inlet 


Chinas 


nearest approach to a naval station 
belonging to the Chinese government. 
There are Christian missionaries of 
many denominations throughout the 
province. No census has been taken 
since 1879, when the population was 
returned as 17,937,000. In 1900 the 
population was estimated at 25,000,- 
000, including a large Manchu element. 
Chi-Li has valuable coal mines at 
Kai-Pirig, and other mineral resources. 
The soil is fertile. The provincial 
capital is Pao-Ting-Fu, 80 miles from 
Peking. 

Ckilkat Inlet, the W. arm of 

Lynn Canal, an inlet in Alaska. 

Chilkat, or Dalton, Pass, a route 
in Alaska traversed by miners in 
reaching the gold fields of the Klon¬ 
dike. 

Cliilkoot Inlet, the Eastern arm 
of Lynn Canal, an inlet in Alaska. 

Cliilkoot Pass, a pass over the 
mountains in the Northern part of 
Alaska, traversed by thousands of 
gold-seekers in the Klondike gold fields 
excitement in 1897-1898. By way of 
the Chilkoot Pass is the most direct 
route to Dawson City, the principal 
starting point to the Klondike region. 

Chillicothe, Ohio, capital of Ross 
County, 50 miles S. of Columbus, was 
the capital of Ohio (1800-10). It is 
an agricultural and industrial centre. 
Pop. (1900) 12,976. 

Chillon, Castle, a fortress of 
Switzerland, in the canton Vaud, 6 
miles S. E. of Yevay. It stands on 
an isolated rock at the E. end of the 
Lake of Geneva. It was built in 1238, 
by Amadeus IV. of Savoy, and was 
long used as a State prison. 

Chiloe, the insular province of 
Chile; consists of the island of that 
name on the W. coast, which is 
115 miles long, with a maximum 
breadth of 43 miles, and is separated 
from the mainland by a narrow 
strait on the N., and by a gulf 30 
miles wide on the E.; and of a number 
of neighboring islets, mostly unin¬ 
habited ; total area, 8,590 square 
miles; population, 77,750, almost all 
Indians living on the principal is¬ 
land. 

Chimborazo, a conical peak of the 
Andes, in Ecuador, 20,517 feet above 
the sea, but only about 11,000 above 
the level of the adjacent Quito valley. I 


China, or the Chinese Empire, a 

vast territory in Asia, comprehending 
five great divisions: China Proper or 
the Eighteen Provinces (Shih-pa- 
Shang), and its dependencies, Man¬ 
churia, Mongolia, Jungaria and East 
Turkestan, also Tibet, which, however, 
is practically independent. The whole 
empire has an area estimated at 4,- 
277,170 square miles; pop. 426,050,- 
000. The dependencies are described 
under their respective headings, and 
this article refers to China Proper, 
ancient Cathay or The Middle King¬ 
dom, the centre of power and popula¬ 
tion, with an area estimated at 1,532,- 
420 square miles; pop. 407,253,029. 
It occupies the E. slope of the table¬ 
lands of Central Asia, and is almost 
in the form of a square. Two-thirds 
of the interior are estimated to be 
mountainous ; the central and northern 
hills are off-shoots of the Kuen-lun 
range, while in the southeast extensive 
chains stretch from the Tibetan high¬ 
lands to the eastern seaboard. Be¬ 
tween these mountain-systems, and al¬ 
most parallel flow the two great rivers 
of China, the Hwang-ho, and the Yang¬ 
tze. Besides these rivers and their 
numerous tributaries, the most notable 
are the Se-Kiang in the south, and the 
Pei-ho in the north. The waterways 
are the highways of China; joined by 
a vast network of canals, they form a 
gigantic system of inland communi¬ 
cation, always thronged with craft of 
every description. The coast-line, an 
irregular curve of about 2,500 miles, 
is fringed with islands, the largest of 
which, Formosa, was ceded to Japan 
after the war of 1894-5. The greater 
part of China lies within the temper¬ 
ate zone, but the climate is marked 
by a great range of temperature, from 
tropical heat in the south, to arctic 
conditions in the north, according to 
seasons. The flora, forestry, and 
fauna, are allied to the climatic con¬ 
ditions. China is well supplied with 
minerals, including gold, silver, cop¬ 
per, and iron; there are extensive coal¬ 
fields, inexhaustible beds of kaolin, 
or porcelain earth, and salt is abun¬ 
dant. Covering an iminense area in 
the north, is the loess deposit, a 
brownish-yellow earth of great fertil¬ 
ity, wafted thither by the simoons and 
winds of the ages, from the disin¬ 
tegrating Himalayan plateaux. Agri- 




China 


China 


culture is held in veneration; rice as 
the principal food of the people is 
the staple crop, but other grains also 
are grown. The mulberry tree is ex¬ 
tensively cultivated for silkworms, 
while the opium poppy, and the tea- 
plant, furnish important crops. The 
chief manufactures are silk, paper, 
porcelain and cotton goods; the inven¬ 
tiveness of the Chinese is of ancient 
date, paper-making, printing, gunpow¬ 
der, etc., having been discovered by 
them long before they were known to 
Occidental nations. Besides an enor¬ 
mous domestic trade, a considerable 
and increasing import and export 
trade is carried on; tea, raw and man¬ 
ufactured silk being exported, and cot¬ 
ton goods, metals, metal goods, and 
opium being imported. Thirty-five 
treaty ports are now open to foreign 
commerce. The principal cities are, 
Peking the capital, with about 1,700, 
000 population, Canton, Tientsin, 
Han-kau, Nanking, Shanghai, Ning- 
po, Fu-chau, Amoy, Swatow, and 30 
or 40 more, with a population from 
800,000 to 1,500,000. In 1903 2,800 
miles of railway were open for traffic, 
and 1,300 miles more were projected; 
there were nearly 14,000 miles of tele¬ 
graph lines which are being extended 
throughout the Empire, Peking is in 
direct telegraphic and railway com¬ 
munication with Europe. China is 
being gradually opened up to foreign 
intercourse through missionary and 
political influence, but a great part of 
the country is still unknown to for¬ 
eigners. The modern development of 
the export trade, railways, telegraphs, 
etc., has been due to foreign rivalry 
for China’s trade, and has led to a 
complication of interests whence have 
arisen the political catch-phrases, 
“ The Integrity of the Chinese Em¬ 
pire,” “ The Open Door.” Various 
foreign “ spheres of influence,” and 
“ concessions,” recognized and granted 
by the Chinese Government, are the 
Russian, British, and French “spheres 
of influence,” and the American and 
German “ concessions,” respectively 
centred—the Russian in Manchuria, 
the British at Wei-hai-Wei and in the 
Kau-lung Peninsula opposite their in¬ 
sular possession, Hongkong; the 
French at Pakhoi and the southern 
provinces of Kwang-si, and Yun-nan, 
the American in Han-kau, Wu-chang, 


and Canton; and the German at Kiao- 
chau. 

• Ethnologically the Chinese belong 
to the Mongolian race, with the char¬ 
acteristic conformation of the head 
and face, tawny skin, black and lank 
hair (which as a sign of subjection to 
their Tartar conquerors they wear in 
the form of a queue or “pig-tail”), 
oblique eyes, high-cheek bones, and 
monosyllabic language. They are 
peaceable and domesticated; capable 
of a high degree of organization and 
local self-government, thrifty, sober, 
industrious, literary but unimagina¬ 
tive, and thoroughly imbued with a 
practical, commercial spirit. The prin¬ 
ciple of filial piety, and ancestral wor¬ 
ship form the basis of Chinese society. 
Vacillation, duplicity, and insincerity, 
largely the result of excessive polite¬ 
ness and the desire to please, gam¬ 
bling, and opium smoking, are among 
their vicious traits. Education is 
general, and is largely fostered by the 
Chinese executive system which is 
based on those noteworthy competi¬ 
tive examinations, which are intended 
to sift out from the millions of edu¬ 
cated Chinese, the best and ablest for 
the public service. Many young men 
of the higher classes are sent to the 
United States and Europe for instruc¬ 
tion in English and the sciences. In 
1898 an “ Imperial University of 
China ” was established by imperial 
decree. Dr. William A. P. Martin, 
an American missionary and educator, 
was appointed first president of this 
institution, and three of its professors 
are from the United States. 

The Confucian, the Buddhist, and 
the Taoist, are the chief forms of re¬ 
ligion ; Confucianism and Taoism are 
indigenous, but Buddhism was intro¬ 
duced from India. Confucianism, the 
basis of their social and political 
systems, has been professed by all 
their greatest men, and is still the sole 
belief of the educated classes. 

In the centralized autocratic govern¬ 
ment of China, the Emperor is abso¬ 
lute in the empire; the governor in 
the province; the magistrate in the 
district. At present, the Empress 
Dowager is virtually ruler, the legiti¬ 
mate sovereign being practically a 
prisoner in Peking. The provincial 
governor or imperial delegate, possesses 
the power of life or death, and under 




China 


China Sea 


him are the superintendent of provin¬ 
cial finances, the provincial criminal 
judge, and the provincial educational 
examiner; each communicates through 
the governor with his especial board 
in Peking. China has (on paper) an 
enormous army, each of the 18 prov¬ 
inces being supposed to provide a mil¬ 
itary force or corps of 8,000 to about 
68,000 men, and aggregating from 540,- 
000 to 660,000, known as the Ying 
Ping or National Army, and called 
also the Green Flags and the Five 
Camps—five being the unit of sub-di¬ 
vision. The 61ite of the army is the 
Shen-Che-Yeng (Black Flags),the for- 
eign-drilled Tientsin Army corps, about 
35,000 strong, and the Pa-ki or Eight 
Banners containing about 300,000 
Manchu warrior-descendants. Since 
the Chino-Japanese War (1894-95), 
there is no effective Chinese fleet, al¬ 
though a few swift cruisers have been 
added to the Chen-Hai and the Kang- 
Chi which alone remained of the Pei- 
Yang squadron. The imperial reve¬ 
nue is derived from land and property 
taxes, customs, and excise, and is said 
to amount to $250,000,000, half of 
which is paid in kind. Prior to the 
Boxer troubles (1900-1901), the exter¬ 
nal debt amounted to about $270,000,- 
000; to this was added in Oct. 1901 
the indemnity of $375,000,000 de¬ 
manded by the allies. 

China’s authentic history begins 
with the Chow dynasty founded by 
Woo-wang, which lasted from 1100 
b. c. to 258 b. c. Confucius was born 
under Ling-wang of this dynasty about 
550 b. c. Chow-siang, the founder of 
the Tsin dynasty, from which China 
takes its name, overcame all rivals, 
and died in 251 b. c. Che-Hoang-ti 
his great-grandson was the first to 
assume the title of “Hoang” (em¬ 
peror) ; during his reign, in 214 B. c., 
the great wall was begun as a protec¬ 
tion against marauding Tartars. Bud¬ 
dhism was introduced 65 A. d. 

The Mongols under Genghis Khan 
and his son Ogdai conquered China in 
the 13th century, and in 1259 Kublai 
Khan, a nephew, ascended the throne 
and founded the Mongol dynasty. In 
the 13th century Marco Polo, the 
Venetian traveler visited China, and 
published in Europe the earliest au¬ 
thentic account of the country. In 
1368 the native Ming dynasty in the 


person of Hungwu gained the ascend¬ 
ency, which it retained until replaced 
in 1618 by the present Manchu dynas¬ 
ty, in the person of Tungchi. Al¬ 
though there had been some early com¬ 
mercial intercourse with Portuguese, 
Dutch, and English traders, diplo¬ 
matic connections with Occidental na¬ 
tions did not commence until the Brit¬ 
ish embassy of Lord Macartney ar¬ 
rived at Peking in 1792, and it was 
not until after the war with Great 
Britain in 1840, occasioned by the de¬ 
plorable imposition of the opium traf¬ 
fic on China, that commercial treaties 
opened the country to foreign trade. 
The first treaty with the United States 
was negotiated by Caleb Cushing in 
1844. War with Great Britain again 
occurred in 1856 over the Chinese seiz¬ 
ure of a Hongkong vessel, France 
joining in, to secure better protection 
for missionaries and trade. From 1850 
to 1865 southern China was disturbed 
by the Taiping Rebellion. In 1894-95 
occurred the war with Japan over 
Korea, which resulted in a series of 
brilliant land and naval victories for 
Japan, and the payment of a large in¬ 
demnity by China. In 1898 Russia 
and Germany acquired Chinese con¬ 
cessions of land. In 1900 occurred 
the Boxer troubles, when a belligerent 
section of the natives exasperated by 
the continued encroachments of the 
“ foreign devils ” and “ barbarians,” 
murdered the German ambassador, 
and besieged the foreign legations in 
Peking for two months until relieved 
by the allied forces of Russia, Ger¬ 
many, Gt. Britain, the U. S., and 
Japan. In 1905 there was a boycott 
of American goods as a protest against 
the U. S. Chinese exclusion act. In 
1906 army reform, the extension of 
railways, telegraphs, telephones, etc., 
the adoption of a Romanized system 
of letters, were marked features of 
development. See also the articles on 
Boxers ; Taipings ; Japan ; Korea ; 
Manchuria ; Port Arthur ; Russo- 
Japanese Dispute. 

Charles Leonard-Stuart. 

China Sea, that part of the North 
Pacific Ocean bounded N. by Formosa, 
N. W. by China, W. by Anam and 
the Malay peninsula, S. E. by Borneo, 
and E. by the Philippines. It is called 
also the South Sea. Manila, Hong¬ 
kong, and Singapore, are on its shores. 




Chinchilla 


Chippeways 


Chinchilla, a genus of South Amer¬ 
ican herbivorous rodents very closely 
allied to the rabbit, which they resem¬ 
ble in the general shape of the body, 



CHINCHILLA. 

in the limbs being longer behind than 
before, and by the nature of the fur, 
which is more woolly than silky. One 
species, about 35 inches long, is cov¬ 
ered with a beautiful pearly-gray fur, 
which is highly esteemed as stuff for 
muffs, pelisses, linings, etc. 

Chinchon, a town of Spain, 25 
miles S. E. of Madrid. After a Coun¬ 
tess of Chinchon, wife of the Governor 
of Peru in 1638, Peruvian bark 
was named “ Chinchona,” now habit¬ 
ually misspelled “ Cinchona.” 

Chinese-fire, a pyrotechnic compo¬ 
sition, consisting of gunpowder, 16; 
niter, 8; charcoal, 3; sulphur, 3; cast- 
iron borings (small), 10. 

Chinese Lantern, a lantern made 
of thin paper, usually variously < col¬ 
ored and much used in illuminations. 

Chinese Swallows’ Nests, curi¬ 
ous productions, which sell at a high 
price in China, though they have no 
special points of recommendation be¬ 
yond many other gelatinous ingredients 
in soups. They are formed of a secre¬ 
tion from the mouth of the bird itself. 

Chinese Tartary, an old name of 
Turkestan. 

Ching, a Chinese prince; born in 
Peking about 1840. He is related to 
the Chinese imperial family. He was 
at the head of the Tsung-li-Yamen, but 
was deposed in 3900 for his efforts to 
protect the legations in Peking, during 
which he attacked the Boxers. 

Ching-hai, or Chin-hai, a sea¬ 
port of China, in the province of Cheh- 
Chiang (Cheh-Kiang), 9 miles from 
the treaty port of Ning-Po. 


Chin-Kiang, or Chin-Chiang, a 

city of China in the province of Kiang- 
Su (or Chiang-Su), about 490 miles 
S. of Tien-Tsin. Chin-Kiang was de¬ 
clared a treaty port in 1861. 

Chinon, an antique town in the 
French department of Indre-et-Loire. 
Crowning a lofty rock are the ruins of 
its vast old castle, the “French Wind¬ 
sor” of the Plantagenets, the death- 
place of Henry II.; and later the resi¬ 
dence of several French sovereigns, 
where, in 1429, Joan of Arc revealed 
her mission to the Dauphin. 

Chinooks, a tribe of Indians, now 
nearly extinct, on the Columbia river, 
or in Oregon. 

Chinook Wind, a strong, dry west 
or south wind in Wyoming and Mon¬ 
tana, which descends from the moun¬ 
tains, like the hot winds of Kansas, 
and the Fohn winds of Switzerland. 

Chintz, a cotton cloth gaily printed 
with designs of flowers, etc., in five 
or six different colors. It was a favor¬ 
ite in the time of Queen Anne, long 
before cotton prints became cheap. The 
name has since been applied to goods 
lacking the graceful and artistic char¬ 
acter of the genuine article. 

Chios, (now called by the natives 
Chio, Italianized into Scio), one of the 
most beautiful and fertile islands in 
the iEgean sea, belonging to Turkey, 7 
miles off the coast of Asia Minor, at 
the entrance to the Gulf of Smyrna. 
It has an area of 320 square miles, and 
a population of about 70,000, almost 
all Greeks. Earthquakes are, however, 
not rare, and one in 3881 caused the 
death of 3,558 persons, and the de¬ 
struction of property to the value of 
over $35,000,000. 

Chipmunk, a small animal much 

like a squirrel, known as the striped 
squirrel. 

Chippendale, Thomas, an Eng¬ 
lish cabinet-maker; went to London 
from Worcestershire before 1750. The 
style of furniture named from him was 
less heavy and ‘severe than that of his 
successors, and was rather elaborate, 
delicate and baroque, with classical 
tendencies. 

Chippeways, or Ojibways, a 

tribe of North American Indians in 
the United States and Canada. They 
are distributed in bands round both 
sides of the basin of Lake Superior, 






Chiquimula 


Chlopicki 


where they once owned vast tracts. 
They are of the Algonquin stock, tall, 
active and well formed, subsist chiefly 
by hunting and fishing and number 
about 18,000. 

Chiquimula, a small town in the 

E. of Guatemala, which gives name to 
a province and to the Isthmus of Chi¬ 
quimula. 

Cliiquinquira, the largest town in 
the department of Boyaca, Colombia, 
was an Indian place of pilgrimage be¬ 
fore the conquest, and the Spaniards 
having found here a miraculous image 
of the Virgin, the church where this is 
preserved is now visited by some 
60,000 pilgrims annually. 

Cliiquitos, or Naquinoneis 
(“men”), an Indian tribe of Bolivia, 
dwelling between the Paraguay and 
the Madeira. 

Chiriqui, the westernmost admin¬ 
istrative division of the Republic of 
Panama, adjoining Costa Rica; area, 
6,500 square miles; pop. 43,000. It is 
well wooded, and has rich pasturage, 
especially on the Atlantic coast, where 
the climate is very moist. 

Chiron, a centaur, half man and 
half horse, son of Philyra and Saturn, 
was famous for his knowledge of mu¬ 
sic, medicine and shooting. He taught 
mankind the use of plants and medic¬ 
inal herbs, and he instructed in all the 
polite arts, the greatest heroes of his 
age, Achilles, iEsculapius, Hercules, etc. 

Chisholm, William Wallace, 
Republican politician and Unionist, 
born in Morgan County, Ga., 1830; 
was fatally shot by a mob in 1877. 

Chisleu, the ninth month of the 
Jewish year, commencing with the new 
moon in December or the latter part of 
November. The modern Jews fast on 
the sixth day of this month. 

Chitral, a small mountain State in 
the upper basin of the Kashkar or 
Kunar, a tributary of the Kabul river, 
and bordering on Kashmir and Kafiris- 
tan, is 5,200 feet above sea-level. 
The people are Moslems, but mostly 
speak a language close akin to that 
of their pagan neighbors in Kafiristan. 

Chittenden, Russel Henry, an 
American educator; born in New 
Haven, Conn., Feb. 18, 1856. He be¬ 
came Professor of Physiological Chem¬ 
istry at Yale in 1882, and since 1896 


has been director of the Sheffield Scien¬ 
tific School. 

Chittenden, Thomas, an Ameri¬ 
can colonial and State governor; born 
in East Guilford, Conn., Jan. 6, 1730. 
He was one of the pioneers of Ver¬ 
mont, and acquired a fortune from his 
lands. In 1778 he became governor of 
Vermont, before its formal separation 
from New York was recognized. Dur¬ 
ing the Revolutionary War the British 
and the Continental Congress received 
overtures from him, his terms being 
recognition of Vermont’s statehood. He 
retired from public life in 1796 and 
died in Williston, Vt., Aug. 24, 1797. 

Chittim, or Kittim, in the Old 
Testament, is usually identified with 
Cyprus. 

Chitty, Joseph, an English law¬ 
yer and legal writer; born in 1776. He 
achieved eminence as a barrister in 
London, but his celebrity rests mainly 
upon his legal works. He died in 
London, Feb. 17, 1843. 

Chiusi, a town of Central Italy, 
102 miles N. N. W. of Rome. It is 
in connection with the discovery of 
Etruscan antiquities that the place 
is chiefly heard of. During the 19th 
century immense quantities of these 
remains were found in the neighbor¬ 
hood in the grottoes that served the 
ancient Etruscans as tombs. 

Chivalry, the uses and customs 
pertaining to the order of knighthood. 
Chivalry declined and fell with the feu¬ 
dal system, of which it was a normal 
growth. The institution of the mili¬ 
tary orders, the Knights Templar, the 
Knights of St. John and the Teutonic 
Knights was an interesting develop¬ 
ment of chivalry. 

Chladni, Ernst Florens Freid- 
rich, a German physicist; born in 
Wittenberg, Nov. 30, 1756. Died in 
Breslau, April 4, 1827. 

Chlopicki, Joseph, a Polish gen¬ 
eral ; born in Galicia, March 24, 1772. 
He served under Kosciuszko during the 
first revolt of the Poles (1794), and 
then engaged in Napoleon’s service, un¬ 
der whom he took part in the battles 
of Eylau, Friedland, Smolensk and 
Moskowa. On the outbreak of the 
Polish revolution of 1830 he was elect¬ 
ed Dictator, but soon resigned that 
office, fought at Grochow and Wnvre, 
and after the cessation of hostilities 




Chloral 


Chocolate 


retired into private life. He died in 
Cracow, Sept. 30, 1854. 

Chloral, produced by the action of 
chlorine on alcohol, since the discov¬ 
ery of its anaesthetic effects by Dr. 
O. Liebrich in 1869, is extensively 
employed medicinally in the form of 
chloral hydrate. 

Chlorine, a gas. From its wide 
affinities and great activity in the free 
state, chlorine is one of the most use¬ 
ful and powerful instruments with 
which the chemist deals. By it such 
metals as platinum and gold are at¬ 
tacked and made soluble in water, 
while its power over organic sub¬ 
stances is very great. 

Chlorine is largely consumed in the 
arts. Thus it is used in the manufac¬ 
ture of potassic chlorate for making 
lucifer matches; in the conversion of 
the yellow to the red prussiate of pot¬ 
ash, in the preparation of chloride of 
sulphur for the vulcanizing process, 
and above all as a bleaching and dis¬ 
infecting agent. 

Chloroform, is formed by the ac¬ 
tion of the sun’s rays on a mixture of 
chlorine and marsh gas; also by the 
action of caustic potash on chloral or 
chloracetic acid, or by the action of 
nascent hydrogen on tetrachloride of 
carbon. It is prepared on a large scale 
by distilling water, and alcohol with 
bleaching powder. Chloroform is a 
colorless, mobile, heavy, ethereal liquid. 

The vapor of chloroform, when in¬ 
haled for some time, produces a tem¬ 
porary insensibility to pain. Inhaled 
in small doses it produces pleasurable 
inebriation, followed by drowsiness; in 
larger doses it causes loss of voluntary 
motion, suspension of mental faculties, 
with slight contraction of the muscles 
and rigidity of the limbs; then if the 
inhalation is continued a complete re¬ 
laxation of the voluntary muscles 
takes place, but if carried too far it 
causes dangerous symptoms of apncea 
or of syncope, and the patient must be 
restored by artificial respiration. 

Chlorosis, one of the most formid¬ 
able diseases to which plants are liable, 
and often admitting of no remedy. 
Many forms of the disease exist, of 
which those of clover, onions, cucum¬ 
bers and melons are best known. 

In medical practice an affection in 
which the skin of the body, and es¬ 


pecially that of the face, assumes a 
peculiar greenish cast, and hence is 
popularly known as green-sickness. 

Choate, Joseph Hodges, an Amer¬ 
ican diplomatist; born in Salem, 
Mass., Jan. 24, 1832. He is a descen¬ 
dant of John Choate, who came from 
England in 1640. He was graduated 
at Harvard College in 1852; admitted 
to the bar in Boston in 1855; removed 
in 1856 to New York, where he be¬ 
came a partner in the law firm of 
Evarts, Choate & Beaman. His abil¬ 
ity as a lawyer and public speaker 
soon gave him a reputation which has 
seldom been equaled among the leaders 
of the New York bar. From Jan., 1899, 
until his retirement, May, 1905, he 
was U. S. Ambassador to Gt. Britain. 

Choate, Rufus, an American law¬ 
yer; born in Essex, Mass., Oct. 1, 
1799; was graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1819; taught there for one 
year; was admitted to the bar and 
began practice in Danvers in 1823; 
removed to Salem in 1828; was a 
member of Congress in 1830-1834, re¬ 
signing in the latter year; removed to 
Boston; was successor of Daniel Web¬ 
ster in the United States Senate in 
1841-1845; returned to Boston in the 
latter year and resumed practice. He 
traveled in Europe in 1850; was a 
delegate to the Whig National Con¬ 
vention in Baltimore in 1852. After 
Webster’s death Mr. Choate was ac¬ 
knowledged the leader of the Massa¬ 
chusetts bar. He made many political 
speeches, the most brilliant, while a 
United States Senator, including those 
on the Oregon Boundary, the Tariff, 
the Fiscal Bank Bill, the Smithsonian 
Institution, and the Annexation of 
Texas. He gave much attention to lit¬ 
erary studies. He died in Halifax, 
N. S., Julv 13, 1858. 

Chocolate, a preparation of the 
seeds of Tneobroma Cacao, made by 
grinding the seeds mixed with water 
to a very fine paste. It was intro¬ 
duced from America to Europe by the 
Spaniards. It is highly nutritious, 
containing a large proportion of nitro¬ 
genous flesb-forming material. On this 
account it is used as portable food by 
many mountaineers. In the solid 
form, mixed with much sugar, cream, 
and various confections, Chocolate is 
largely used as a sweetmeat, and is 
introduced in pastry. 




Choctaws 


Chorazin 


Choctaws, an Indian tribe, occu¬ 
pying a reservation in the S. E. por¬ 
tion of Indian Territory; area, 10,450 
square miles. The chief and legisla¬ 
ture are chosen by popular vote. 
Grain, cotton and fruit are raised by 
the tribe, which maintains schools 
and orphan homes. They numbered 
(1890), 18,456. A number of denom¬ 
inations maintain mission schools. The 
tribe’s trust funds aggregated (1900), 
$549,549. There are numerous Choc¬ 
taw physicians, lawyers and clergy¬ 
men, but the tribe is not as civilized 
as some others. 

Choir, an organized body of singers 
in church services. In ecclesiastical 
architecture the choir is the part of 
the building in a cathedral or colle¬ 
giate chapel set apart for the per¬ 
formance of the ordinary daily ser¬ 
vice. 

Choke-cherry, a species of cherry, 
so called from the astringent nature of 
the fruit; it is indigenous to North 
America, the true choke-cherry being 
the Prunus Virginiana; the fruit is 
small and hangs in racemes. 

Choke-damp, the name given by 
miners to the fire-damp resulting from 
an explosion of gas in mines. 

Choking, the effect caused by a 
morsel of food, liquid, or other obstruc¬ 
tion, passing into the larnyx or up¬ 
per opening of the windpipe, instead 
of the gullett. It results generally 
from a breath being suddenly drawn in 
coughing or laughing, while food or 
fluid is in the mouth; and a violent fit 
of coughing follows till the offending 
substance is expelled from the wind¬ 
pipe. Sometimes, however, a larger 
mass is drawn into the opening of the 
windpipe, completely blocking it and 
arresting respiration altogether. This 
condition is one of extreme danger and 
the sufferer, if not at once relieved, 
will certainly and quickly die of suffo¬ 
cation. 

Cholera, a Greek term now univer¬ 
sally employed in medicine as indicat¬ 
ing one of two or three forms of dis¬ 
ease, characterized by vomiting and 
purging, followed by great prostration 
of strength, amounting in severe cases 
to fatal collapse. The milder forms of 
Cholera occur almost every summer 
and autumn, even in temperate lati¬ 
tudes, while the more devastating and 


fatal forms of the disease are general¬ 
ly supposed to originate only in tropi¬ 
cal countries. The very fatal forms of 
the disease are commonly called Asia¬ 
tic, Oriental, or Epidemic Cholera. 

What is called Cholera morbus is a 
bilious disease, long known in most 
countries, and is characterized by co¬ 
pious vomiting and purging, with vio¬ 
lent griping, cramps of the muscles of 
the abdomen and lower extremities, 
and great depression of strength. It 
is the most prevalent at the end of 
summer or the beginning of autumn. 
Cholera infantum (infants’ cholera) 
is the name sometimes given to a se¬ 
vere and dangerous diarrhoea to which 
infants are liable in hot climates or 
in the hot season. 

Cholos, in Peru, the name for those 
who are partly of white, partly of 
Indian parentage, the most numerous 
class of the community. 

Cholula, a decayed town of the 
Mexican State of Puebla. Cortes 
found in it 40,000 houses and 400 
temples, including the great Teocalli. 
Now the place only contains 9,000 in¬ 
habitants. It was a great center of 
the Aztec religion. 

Chonos Archipelago, a group of 
islands lying off the W. coast of Pata¬ 
gonia. Two are large, but they are all 
barren and scantily inhabited. 

Chopin, Frederic Francois, a 
Russian pianist and musical composer, 
of French extraction ; born in Warsaw, 
March 1, 1809; died Oct. 17, 1894 in 
Paris, where the best part of his life 
was spent. His characteristic piano¬ 
forte compositions include Nocturnes, 
Polonaises, Vaises, and Preludes. 

Chop-sticks, the Chinese substi¬ 
tute for a knife, fork, and spoon at 
meals, consisting of two smooth sticks 
of bamboo, wood, or ivory. 

Chorale, or Choral, the psalm or 
hymn tune of the German Protestant 
churches. 

Choral Music, vocal music in 
parts; music written or arranged for 
a choir or chorus, and including ora¬ 
torios, cantatas, masses, anthems, etc. 

Choral Service, a service with in¬ 
toned responses, and the use of music 
throughout wherever it is authorized. 

Chorazin, one of the cities in which 
Christ’s mighty works were done, but 





Chord 


Christ 


named only in his denunciation (Matt, 
xi: 21; Luke x: 13). It was known 
to St. Jerome, who describes it as on 
the shore of the lake, 2 miles from 
Capernaum. 

Chord, in music, the simultaneous 
and harmonious union of different 
sounds, at first intuitively recognized 
by the ear, and afterwards reduced to 
a science by the invention of the laws 
or rules of harmony. 

Chorea, St. Vitus’ dance, a dis¬ 
order of the nervous system character¬ 
ized by a peculiar convulsive and ir¬ 
regular action of the voluntary mus¬ 
cles. The name is derived from St. 
Vitus, who is said to have had the 
power of curing persons afflicted with 
that disease. 

Chorus, originally an ancient Greek 
term for a troop of singers and dan¬ 
cers, intended to heighten the pomp 
and solemnity of festivals. 

Chose, a thing, a chattel, a piece of 
property; the subject-matter of an 
action. 

Chosroes I., or Khosrou the 
Great, King of Persia, succeeded 
Cabades, a. n. 551. He was fierce and 
cruel, but possessed many good quali¬ 
ties, and encouraged the arts and sci¬ 
ences. He concluded a peace with 
the Romans, but afterward invaded 
their territories, but was defeated by 
Tiberius. He died in 579. 

Chouans, the name popularly given 
during the Vendean civil war in 
France, to the peasants of Brittany 
and Lower Maine. 

Chouteau, Auguste, an American 
pioneer; born in New Orleans, La., 
in 1739. He was from his early youth 
a fur trader, and with his brother 
Pierre he founded the city of St. Louis 
in 1764. He died in St. Louis, Feb. 
24, 1829. 

Chouteau, Pierre, an American 

pioneer; born in New Orleans, in 
1749. With his brother Auguste he 
set out in 1763, joining a government 
expedition. He stopped in the heart 
of an unsettled country and founded, 
with his brother, the city of St. Louis. 
He died in St. Louis, July 9, 1849. 

Chouteau, Pierre, Jr., an Ameri¬ 
can capitalist, son of the preceding; 
born in St. Louis, Jan. 19, 1789. He 
worked for his father and began trad¬ 


ing in fur early in life. After estab¬ 
lishing posts for the sale of skins 
throughout the trans-Mississippi re¬ 
gion he purchased the fur-trading in¬ 
terests of John Jacob Astor. He died 
in St. Louis, Sept. 8, 1865. 

Chrism, the name given to the oil 
consecrated on Holy Thursday, in the 
Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, 
and used in baptism, confirmation, or¬ 
dination, and extreme unction. 

Christ, the name given as a title of 
eminence to Jesus our Saviour, whom, 
in the words of St. Peter (Acts x: 
38), “God anointed,” as king, priest, 
and prophet, “ with the Holy Ghost 
and with power.” The two names, 
Jesus Christ, are not analogous to a 
modern Christian name and surname; 
in reality the great Being so desig¬ 
nated had but one personal appella¬ 
tion—Jesus; Christ being added by 
Jesus himself (John 4: 26)-to desig¬ 
nate His office, function, or mission. 

Christ, Disciples of, a denomina¬ 
tion of Christians in the United States 
commonly known as the Christian 
Church, or Church of Christ, and 
sometimes called Campbellites. In 
September, 1809, Thomas Campbell, a 
Scotch minister of the seceders’ branch 
of the Presbyterian Church, then liv¬ 
ing in Western Pennsylvania, issued a 
“ Declaration and Address ” deploring 
the divided state of the Church, and 
urging as the only remedy a complete 
restoration of apostolic Christianity 
and the rejection of all human creeds 
and confessions of faith. The Chris¬ 
tian Association of Washington, Pa., 
was formed for the purpose of pro¬ 
moting the principles set forth in this 
“ declaration.” It was not the inten¬ 
tion of the Campbellites to form a dis¬ 
tinct religious body, but to effect the 
proposed reforms in the churches. The 
Disciples maintained that having ac¬ 
cepted the Bible as their only rule of 
faith and practice, and the only divine 
basis for the union of all Christians, 
they were led to reject infant bap¬ 
tism and adopt believers’ immersion 
only. They observe the Lord’s Sup¬ 
per each first day of the week, and 
heartily and practically accept and 
exalt the doctrine of the divinity of 
Christ. In 1900 the denomination had 
6,528 ministers, 10,528 churches, and 
1,149,982 communicants, besides sev- 




Christadelphians 


Christian Church 


eral universities and colleges of high 
rank, and a number of religious pub¬ 
lications. 

Christadelphians, a religious 
body who believe that God will raise 
all who love Him to an endless life in 
this world (but that those who do not 
shall absolutely perish in death) ; that 
Christ is the Son of God, inheriting 
moral perfection from the Deity, our 
human nature from His mother; and 
that there is no personal devil. In the 
United States they had in 1890, 63 or¬ 
ganizations with 1,277 members, scat T 
tered over 20 States. Their founder 
was Dr. John Thomas, an Englishman, 
who came to the United States in 
1844. 

Christ Church, College of, a 

notable institution in Oxford, England. 

Christian II., King of Denmark, 
Norway, and Sweden; son of Hans 
and grandson of Christian I., King 
of Denmark, etc.; born July 2, 1480. 
Upon rebellion breaking out in 
Sweden, Christian sent an army com¬ 
manded by Otto Krumpen, who defeat¬ 
ed the Swedes in the decisive battle 
of Bogesund (Ulrikehamn), Jan. 19, 
1520, in which Steen Sture the ad¬ 
ministrator was killed. Stockholm, 
under the command of the widow of 
Sture, stood a siege of four months, 
during which period the rest of the 
country was subdued, and on Nov. 4, 
Christian was crowned King of 
Sweden. He was one of the most 
cruel monsters of history, and is 
known as “ The Nero of the North.” 
Sweden revolted under Gustavus Vasa, 
who expelled the Danish garrisons and 
became king of Sweden, and founder of 
the illustrious house of Vasa. Chris¬ 
tian was dethroned in Denmark, and 
died in 1559. 

Christian IX. (of Schleswig-Hol- 
stein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg) ; born 
in 1818, succeeded Frederick VII. as 
King of Denmark, in 1863. The Kings 
of Greece, of Norway, Queen of Great 
Britain, Dowager Czarina of Russia, 
were his children. He died Jan. 29, 
1906. 

Christian Architecture, a style 
of architecture adopted for religious 
buildings after the introduction of 
Christianity. 

Christian Brothers, a designation 
for teaching orders of men connected 

E. 34. 


with the educational system of the Ro¬ 
man Catholic Church. 

Christian Church, The, consists 
of those who have been baptized in 
the name of Christ and who accept His 
doctrines and live in harmony with 
them. The Church, in its broadest 
sense, consists of true believers in all 
ages; but the Christian Church was 
established through the life and work 
of Christ Himself, and consists only of 
His followers. Its first great increase 
was at Pentecost, where 3,000 souls 
were converted; shortly afterward 
5,000 were added to the Church. 
Stephen was the first to suffer martyr¬ 
dom. Paul made three great mission¬ 
ary tours, and the result was the or¬ 
ganic unity of the Church in its first 
period. 

Christian Churches in America.— 
The colonization of North America 
sprang from religious motives. The 
colonists sought freedom here because 
of the oppressions at home. Periods 
of American Church History: (1) 
From 1607-1660, revival and progress. 
(2) 1660-1720, trial, disputes with 
Great Britain, religious decline. (3) 
From 1720-1750, great revivals. (4) 
From 1750-1783, political agitation, 
freedom from British rule. (5) From 
1783 to the present, extensive revivals, 
separation of Church and State, abo¬ 
lition of slavery, evangelization. The 
Protestant Episcopal Church was 
founded by the James River Colony 
(1607) ; its first General Convention 
was in 1785; it ratified the Thirty- 
nine Articles in 1832. The Puritan 
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, 
and began the development of Congre¬ 
gationalism. The Cambridge Plat¬ 
form was established in 1648. The 
Reformed (Dutch) Church was estab¬ 
lished in 1628 in New Amsterdam 
(New York). The first independent 
organization was in 1771. The Bap¬ 
tists began in Providence, R. I., in 
1639, through Roger Williams. The 
Reformed (German) Church was or¬ 
ganized in 1741. The Lutherans were 
established first in New York in 1669; 
the first Synod was held in 1748. The 
Presbyterians were organized at the 
close of the 17th century. The first 
Presbytery was established in Phila¬ 
delphia in 1706. and the first General 
Assembly in 1789. The first Metho¬ 
dist Society in the United States was 





Christiancy 


Christians 


established in New York in 1766, and 
the first Conference was held in Phil¬ 
adelphia in 1771. The Reformed 
Episcopal Church was organized in 
New York in 1873, under Bishop Cum¬ 
mins. The Roman Catholic Church 
in the United States was first estab¬ 
lished in Maryland through immigra¬ 
tion in 1632. The Episcopal See of 
Baltimore was established in 1789. 
For statistic^ of the American 
Churches see the separate articles. 

Christiancy, Isaac Peckham, an 
American editor and diplomatist; born 
in Johnstown (now Bleeker), N. Y., 
March 12, 1812. He was one of the 
founders of the Republican party. In 
1875 he was chosen United States 
Senator from Michigan, and in 1879 
became Minister to Peru. He died in 
Lansing, Mich., Sept. 8, 1890. 

Christian Endeavor, Young 
People’s Society of, a society dis¬ 
tinctly religious in all its features; 
organized Feb. 2, 1881, in Williston 
Church, Portland, Me., by the Rev. 
Francis E. Clark, D. D. From one 
small association it has expanded into 
over 57,000 societies, in all parts of 
the world, with an aggregate member¬ 
ship (1900) of 3,500,000. In addition 
to the main organizations in the United 
States it has been found necessary to 
form branches, among which are the 
Juniors, organized March 27, 1884, at 
Tabor, la., by the Rev. J. W. Cowan 
and Miss Belle Smith; the Intermedi¬ 
ate, organized by the Rev. A. Z. Con¬ 
rad, of Worcester, Mass.; and the 
Mothers’, suggested by Mrs. Amanda 
B. Fellows, of Chicago, and organized 
in April, 1893, at Topeka, Kan., by 
Mr. F. C. Barton. The first Chris¬ 
tian Endeavor Society in England was 
organized in 1887, and was followed 
by similar ones in other countries, and 
the constitution has been printed in 
over 30 different languages. The 
movement is not a denominational one. 
Any society belonging to an evangel¬ 
ical Church, which adopts the leading 
principles as set forth in the constitu¬ 
tion, including the prayer-meeting 
pledge, and which guarantees these 
principles by the name Christian En¬ 
deavor either alone or in connection 
with a denominational name is admit¬ 
ted to all the privileges of the organ¬ 
ization. 


The distinctive features in the 
Christian Endeavor movement are its 
work among the young people, leading 
them to consecrate their lives to the 
active service of God; the weekly 
prayer-meetings, which each member 
takes a solemn pledge to attend regu¬ 
larly (unless unavoidably detained), 
and to take part in; and the reconse¬ 
cration meetings held once a month, 
at which special efforts are made to 
see if each one has been faithful to his 
pledges. 

Christian Era, the era or epoch 

introduced by the birth of Christ. It 
was calculated back about the year 
532, by a monk, Dionysius Exiguus. 
It is thought that he fixed the advent 
too late by four years, and that con¬ 
sequently Jesus was born, if the con¬ 
tradiction in terms can be permitted, 
in b. c. 4. 

Christiania, a city and port, the 

capital of Norway, at the head of the 
long narrow inlet called Christiania 
Fjord, about 60 miles from the open 
sea. The houses are mostly of brick 
and stone, generally plain buildings, 
devoid of architectural pretension. 
Important public buildings are the 
royal palace, the house of representa¬ 
tives or Storthing, the governor’s pal¬ 
ace, and the cathedral. The manufac¬ 
tures of the city consist of woolen 
cloth, ironware, tobacco, paper, 
leather, soap, spirits, glass, etc., and 
there are extensive breweries. The 
exports are principally timber and 
iron. The environs are exceedingly 
beautiful. Pop. 227,626. 

Christianity, the religion of which 
Jesus Christ is not only the founder, 
but also the object, since it is by Him 
and in Him that man recovers his 
union with God by an effective recon¬ 
ciliation. 

Christians, a religious denomina¬ 
tion, founded in 1810 from threefold 
sources, Methodist, Baptist, and Pres¬ 
byterian, growing out of secessions 
from each of those bodies. The de¬ 
nomination was first called “ The In¬ 
dependent Baptist Church.” The 
members discard creeds and adhere 
closely to Biblical terminology in stat¬ 
ing their views. The first General 
Convention was held in 1819. In 
1854 resolutions in regard to slavery 
were adopted which were-offensive to 
























. 






































V 



































< 











THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST IN BOSTON 

THE MOTHER CHURCH AND ITS EXTENSION 


MRS. MARY BAKER G. EDDY 

Copyright, 1903, W. G. C. Kimball 



















Christian Science 


Christian Science 


the Southern members, who withdrew, 
and formed a Southern Convention. 

Christian Science, a system of 
religion, the practice of which consists 
in the overcoming of sin and the heal¬ 
ing of disease. The discoverer and 
founder of Christian Science is the 
Reverend Mary Baker G. Eddy, of 
Concord, New Hampshire. It was es¬ 
tablished by her in 1866, and has had 
a remarkable development. It is based 
upon the Bible and set forth in a work 
by Mrs. Eddy, entitled “ Science and 
Health, with Key to the Scriptures,” 
first published in 1875. “ Science and 
Health,” pages 114 and 358, states that 
“ Christian Science, understood, coin¬ 
cides with the Scriptures and sustains 
logically and demonstratively every 
point it presents.” “Christian Science 
explains all cause and effect as mental, 
not physical. It shows the scientific 
relation of man to God.” Christian 
Science affirms the spiritual personal¬ 
ity of God, as opposed to all material 
theories. God is held to be the divine 
principle of all being, matter having no 
actual existence. The spiritual uni¬ 
verse manifests but one real mind, 
God, of whom man is the idea or re¬ 
flection. Christian Science is then at 
once the science of God, of man, and 
of life. God is absolute good. He has 
not created nor consented to any form 
of evil, sickness, or death ; His laws 
provide for life only. Sin, sickness 
and death are abnormal conditions of 
mortal mind and have no existence 
outside of carnal thought. Disease is 
a belief, not a reality. When man fully 
awakes to the fact that bodily ills and 
mortality are the results of fear, igno¬ 
rance and sin, he will be in a position 
to deal with and master disease on a 
true scientific basis. Christian Science 
is thus not only a system of faith, but 
a method of healing; disease being in 
its teaching not an actual fact, but a 
distorted belief, while the cure begins 
with discarding a belief in the reality 
of disease. In attestation of its teach¬ 
ings, it points to cures of so-called in¬ 
curable diseases, such as cancer, con¬ 
sumption, locomotor ataxia, etc., with¬ 
out the aid of material remedies, but 
through strictly metaphysical methods. 
Mrs. Eddy says in her book, “ Retro¬ 
spection in Introspection,” page 41: 
“ I claim for healing scientifically the 
following advantages : 1. It does away 


with all material medicines and recog¬ 
nizes the antidote for all sickness, as 
well as sin, in the immortal mind; 
and mortal mind as the source of all 
the ills that befall mortals. 2. It is 
more effectual than drugs, and cures 
when they fail or only relieve, thus 
proving the superiority of metaphysics 
over physics. 3. A person healed by 
Christian Science is not only healed 
of his disease, but is advanced morally 
and spiritually. The mortal body being 
but the objective state of the mortal 
mind, this mind must be renovated to 
improve the body.” 

The services are uniform, consisting 
of meetings on Sundays and on Wed¬ 
nesday evenings. No sermons are 
preached by a personal pastor, but a 
sermon made up of selections from the 
Bible and “ Science and Health, with 
a Key to the Scriptures,” written by 
Mrs. Eddy, is read by two readers, 
called the first and second readers, gen¬ 
erally a man and a woman. At the 
Wednesday evening meetings testi¬ 
monies of healing and remarks on 
Christian Science are given by the 
members of the congregation. 

The absence of creed and dogma in 
the Christian Science Church, its free¬ 
dom from materialism, mysticism, and 
superstition, also the simplicity, uni¬ 
formity, and impersonality of its form 
of worship and organization, are 
among the distinguishing features 
which characterize this modern relig¬ 
ious movement. Hypnotism, mesmer¬ 
ism, spiritualism, theosophy, faith-cure 
and kindred systems are classed by 
Christian Science as foreign to their 
form of worship. Those practising 
these beliefs are denied admission to 
the Christian Science Church. 

The rapid growth of this religion, 
of which we have given only a brief 
outline, is shown by the increase in the 
number of its adherents, it having 
more than 1,000 churches and societies 
in the United States and foreign lands, 
while its followers and sympathizers in 
this country are estimated to be over 
a million. The First Church of Christ, 
Scientist, erected at Boston, in 1894, 
has the enormous membership, resident 
and non-resident, of over 40,000, and 
the membership of the branch churches 
is about the same, many of them being 
also members of the Mother Church. 
All Christian Science churches, other 




Christians of St. John 


Christmas Island 


than the Mother Church in Boston, are 
branches of that church. A spacious 
auditorium with a seating capacity of 
5,000 and built at a cost approaching 
$2,000,000, has been added to the 
church at Boston, and jvas dedicated 
in June, 1906, 30,000 persons being 
present on that occasion. Magnificent 
and costly church buildings have re¬ 
cently been completed and dedicated in 
New York City, Denver, Col., and 
other cities, including a beautiful gran¬ 
ite edifice in Concord, N. H., the gift 
of the Rev. Mrs. Eddy, whose home is 
in that city. There are at present 
more than 4,000 practitioners of Chris¬ 
tian Science healing in the United 
States, and branch churches exist in 
many foreign countries, including 
Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, 
Mexico, the Bahamas, British West 
Indies, Cuba, the Hawaiian Islands, 
Philippine Islands, Sandwich Islands, 
France, Germany, Norway, Switzer¬ 
land, Italy, Australia, India, China, 
and South Africa. 

Christians of St. John, a sect of 
religionists found in Asiatic Turkey. 
They profess to follow the teaching of 
John the Baptist, and are wrongly 
called Christians, since they reject 
Christ, and are practically heathens, 
whose deities are darkness and light. 
They are called also Mendeans, Men- 
daites or Mandaites, and Sabians. 

Christians of St. Thomas, the 

name of a sect of Christians on the 
coast of Malabar, in India, to which 
region the apostle St. Thomas is said 
to have ’carried the gospel. 

Christian Union Churches, an 

American * denominational union, or¬ 
ganized in 1865, composed of members 
of all varieties of orthodox belief. 
Their creed is simple, covering the 
headship of Christ, sufficiency of the 
Bible, and right of local Church gov¬ 
ernment. 

Christian University, a co-edu- 
cational institution in Canton, Mo., 
organized in 1853, under the auspices 
of the Disciples of Christ. 

Christie, William Henry Ma¬ 
honey, an English astronomer; born 
in Woolwich, Oct. 1, 1845. On the 
retirement of Airy as Astronomer 
Royal in 1881, Christie was appointed 
his successor, a position which he still 


holds. He is best known for his spec¬ 
troscopic work with the Greenwich 
Equatorial, especially that relating to 
the motion of stars in the line of sight. 

Christina, Queen of Sweden ; born 
in 1626. She was the daughter of the 
great Gustavus Adolphus, and on her 
father’s death, in 1632, was crowned 
queen, being then only six years of 
age, with the five principal ministers 
of state appointed by Parliament her 
guardians. Having resolved to aban¬ 
don Protestantism, she, in 1654, in an 
assembly of the states at Upsala, abdi¬ 
cated her crown, reserving to herself 
an annual income of $200,000. She 
forthwith left Sweden, and traveled in 
male attire to Brussels, where she 
made a secret profession of the Roman 
Catholic faith. At Innsbruck, she 
made a more formal and public avowal 
of it. She next rode to Rome, where 
the reception accorded to her was an 
ovation. There she did homage to 
Pope Alexander VII., and received the 
honor of his name, in addition to her 
own, being thenceforward styled Chris¬ 
tina Alexandra. In 1656 she went 
to France, where she lived principally 
at Fontainebleau, Compiegne, and 
Paris. During the year following, she 
excited universal horror and disgust 
by the cruel assassination of her mas¬ 
ter of the horse, the Marquis Monal- 
deschi. In 1660 her successor on the 
Swedish throne died, and she there¬ 
upon repaired to Sweden to claim it 
for herself; but her conversion to the 
Roman Catholic Church proved a bar 
to her resumption of the crown, and 
she was compelled to return to Rome, 
where she died in 1689. 

Christison, Sir Robert, a Scotch 
physician, born in Edinburgh, July 18, 
1797, attained eminence as a toxicolo¬ 
gist, professor of medical jurispru¬ 
dence, and author. He died Jan. 27, 
1882. 

Christmas, the festival of the Na¬ 
tivity of Christ, observed by the Chris¬ 
tian Church yearly on the 25th of De¬ 
cember, commonly accepted as the date 
of the birth of Christ. 

Christmas Island, a British isl¬ 
and in the Pacific, with some guano 
deposits. Another Christmas Island, 
annexed to Great Britain in 1888, lies 
about 250 miles S. W. of Java, is 6 
miles long by 4 broad, partly volcanic, 




Christophe 


Chronology 


partly coralline in structure. There 
is a third Christmas Island off Cape 
Breton. 

Christophe, Henri, a King of 

Haiti, was an African, slave; born in 
Grenada, West Indies, in 1767, who 
received his freedom as a reward of 
faithful service. On the outbreak of 
the negro insurrection in St. Domingo, 
1801, he became one of its leaders. 
After the deposition of Toussaint, 
Christophe served under his successor, 
Dessalines. In 1811 Christophe ob¬ 
tained undisputed possession of a por¬ 
tion of the island with the title of 
King of Haiti. He committed suicide 
in 1820. 

Christopher’s, St. (commonly 
called St. Kitt’s), a British island in 
the West Indies, one of the Leeward 
Islands, 23 miles in length, and in 
general about 5 in breadth; area, 68 
square miles. The interior consists of 
many rugged precipices and barren 
mountains. The chief town, a seaport 
with open roadstead, is Basse-Terre. 
The island has a legislature of its own, 
with an executive subordinate to the 
governor of the Leeward Islands, resi¬ 
dent in Antigua. It was discovered 
by Columbus in 1493. Pop., 29,127. 

Christy, Charles, an American 
minstrel; born in New York city, in 
1828. He was an actor from boyhood, 
singing on the minstrel stage. He 
died in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 13, 
1897. 

Chromium, an element discovered 
in the native chromate of lead of Si¬ 
beria. It was afterward found com¬ 
bined with iron. It is the coloring 
matter of the emerald and beryl, and 
has received its name from the brill¬ 
iant colors of its compounds. 

Chromium (or Chrome) Steel, 
steel in which the carbon is replaced 
by the metal chromium. It is claimed 
that this steel can sustain g. greater 
degree of heat than ordinary steel. 

Chromo-lithography, the art of 
printing chromo-lithographs. Color 
printing was not successful till it was 
combined with lithography, invented 
between 1796 and 1800 by Alois Sene¬ 
felder of Prague. In the art an out¬ 
line drawing is first traced, then va¬ 
rious stones are taken, one for each 
color, to which the drawing is trans¬ 
ferred. 


Chromosphere. During total 

eclipses it is observed that a red-colored 
envelope surrounds the sun, and shoots 
up to great distances from the surface. 
It seems to have been first recognized 
by Secchi; and the projecting portions 
of it are commonly described as “ red- 
colored protuberances ” and “ red 
flames.” To this red envelope the 
name chromosphere was given by Sir 
J. Norman Lockyer, and till 1868, 
when M. Janssen and Mr. Lockyer al¬ 
most simultaneously pointed out a 
method of viewing it, it was never 
seen except during eclipses. 

Chronicle, an historical account of 
facts or events disposed chronologically 
or in the order of time. Most of the 
historians of the Middle Ages were 
chroniclers who set down the events 
which happened within the range of 
their information, according to the 
succession of years. 

In Scriptures, the name of two 
books, consisting of an abridgement of 
sacred history from its commencement 
down to the return of the Jews from 
the Babylonish captivity. 

Chronograph, the name given to 
various devices for measuring and reg¬ 
istering very minute portions of time 
with extreme precision. 

Chronology, the doctrine of sci¬ 
ence of time, or of computing dates: 
the method of ascertaining the true 
periods, or years, when past events 
took place, and arranging them in 
their proper order, according to their 
dates. The following are the leading 
systems of chronology existing among 
the several nations of the world: Chi¬ 
nese and Japanese Chronology: In 
these calculation is made by cycles of 
60 years, each year of the cycle sepa¬ 
rately named. Hindu Chronology: 
(1) Historical: No system is universal 
in India or exclusive. Two of the 
chief are the era of Salivahana (a. d. 
77), and that of Vicramaditya (b. C. 
57). (2) Astronomical: The Hin¬ 

dus have four ages. We are now in 
the Kali Yooga, beginning 3101 b. c. 

Greek Chronology: In the time of 
Herodotus, and subsequently in that 
of Thucydides, the Greeks had no 
chronology spanning wide intervals of 
time. It was not till b. c. 194 that 
Eratosthenes, the “ father ” of Greek 
chronology, began to count by Olym- 




Chronometer 


Clmquisaca 


piads, the first of which was dated 
from what we now should call b. c. 
776. 

Roman Chronology: The method 
of Roman reckoning was by the con¬ 
sulships, which, of course, could give 
no indication of time unless their or¬ 
der was carefully preserved, and even 
then was clumsy. A much simpler 
and better plan was by calculating 
years from the building of the city. 
This Varro placed in what would now 
be called b. c. 753, while Cato pre¬ 
ferred 752. 

_ Jewish Chronology: Up till the 
15th century the Jews followed the 
era of the Seleucidae. Since then they 
have dated from the creation of the 
world t which they fix 3760 years and 
three months before the commence¬ 
ment of the Christian era. 

Mohammedan Chronology: Dates 
are counted from the Hegira, that is, 
the time of Mohammed’s flight from 
Mecca to Medina, a. d. 622. 

Christian Chronology: Since the 
6th century dates have begun to be 
reckoned from the birth of Christ, 
though the system did not become uni¬ 
versal in Europe till many centuries 
subsequently. 

Chronometer, any instrument that 
measures time, as a clock, watch, or 
dial; but, specifically, this term is ap¬ 
plied to those time-keepers which are 
used for determining the longitude at 
sea, or for any other purpose where 
an accurate measure of time is re¬ 
quired, with great portability in the 
instrument. 

Chrysalis, the last stage through 
which certain insects pass before be¬ 
coming a perfect insect. It is also 
known by the name, pupa. 

Chrysanthemum, a genus of her¬ 
baceous or slightly shrubby plants, 
represented in the United States by 
the well-known ox-eye daisy, and the 
corn marigold, besides which many va¬ 
rieties have been introduced from 
other countries. 

Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, 
priest of Apollo, famed for beauty and 
for her skill in embroidery. She fell 
to Agamemnon’s lot in the course of 
the Trojan War, but was afterward 
restored, in order to stop a plague 
among the Grecians, which Apollo had 
sent at the reqjaest of her father. 


Chrysippus, a famed Greek philos¬ 
opher ; about 280-206 b. c. ; born prob¬ 
ably at Soli in Cilicia. He attended 
at Athens the lectures of Cleanthes, 
the successor of Zeno, and after his 
death became head of the Stoic school. 
He wrote over 700 books. 

Clirysis, the golden wasp, or ruby- 
tail fly. They are magnificently col¬ 
ored with metallic hues. They are 
parasitic, depositing their eggs in the 
nests of the solitary mason-bees, on 
the larvae of which their larvae live. 

Chrysoberyl, a gem almost as hard 
as sapphire, and the finer specimens 
of which are very beautiful, particu¬ 
larly those which exhibit an opales¬ 
cent play of light. It is of a green 
color, inclining to yellow, semi-trans¬ 
parent, or almost transparent, and has 
double refraction. 

Chrysolite, a green-colored ortho¬ 
rhombic mineral of a vitreous luster, 
transparent or translucent. 

Chrysostom, John, St., (“ golden¬ 
mouthed ”), a celebrated Greek father 
of the church; born in Antioch about 
a. d. 344; died at Comana, in Pontus, 
in 407. 

Chub, an American fish, of the 
genus carp. It is indifferent food, and 
rarely attains the weight of 5 pounds. 
Allied European species receive the 
same name. 

Chubut, or Chupat, a colony in 

Patagonia, so named from a river 
which drains a large part of its area. 
The entrance to the river, about 500 
miles S. of the river Platte, is bad, 
but the bar can be crossed by vessels 
of from 7 to 12 feet draught. Its 
principal interest lies in its Welsh 
settlement, which has remained almost 
wholly Welsh-speaking. 

Chukiang, or Canton River, the 
“ Pearl Raver ” of the Chinese, is the 
lower part of the Pekiang, and has a 
navigable channel of about 300 miles. 
Opposite Canton it is about % mile 
wide, and is crowded with shipping. 

Chung-King, a Chinese port in 
Szechuen, on the Yang-tze-Kiang, at 
the junction of the Pei river. It was 
declared open in 1890, and has ac¬ 
quired a thriving trade. Pop. (1900) 
about 125,000. 

Ckuquisaca, or Sucre, a city of 
South America, the former capital of 






Cliur cli 


Church 


Bolivia; well situated on a plateau 
between the Amazon and La Plata 
rivers, 9,343 feet above sea-level. Pop. 
20,000. The province of Chuquisaca 
has an area of 39,890 square miles; 
pop. 286,710. 

Church, Benjamin, an American 
soldier; born in Duxbury, Mass., in 
1639. He commanded forces with dis¬ 
tinction in King Philip’s War and in 
the famous battle of 1675 with the 
Narrangansetts won renown. He 
killed King Philip in 1676; died in 
January, 1718. 

Church, Benjamin, an American 
physician; born in Massachusetts, 
about 1710. He was a leader in the 
“ Boston tea-party.” He secretly 
corresponded in cipher with the Brit¬ 
ish, and, being detected, failed to ex¬ 
culpate himself. He sailed for the 
West Indies in 1776, and was lost at 
sea. 

Church, Francis Pharcellus, an 

American editor; born in Rochester, 
N. Y., Feb. 22, 1839. 

Church, Frederick Edwin, an 
American landscape-painter; born in 
Hartford, Conn., May 4, 1826. His 
“ View of Niagara Falls from the 
Canadian Shore,” is regarded by many 
as the most successful representation 
of the great cataract. He died- in 
New York city, April 7, 1900. 

Church, William Conant, an 
American journalist; born in Roches¬ 
ter, N. Y., Aug. 11, 1836. 

Church Army, an English relig¬ 
ious organization, founded in London 
in 1882 having for its objects the 
training of working men for ecclesi¬ 
astical service among the laboring 
classes. 

Church Discipline, the practice 
of the Christian Church in dealing 
with such of its office-bearers and 
members as have by public scandal 
caused hindrance to its common spirit¬ 
ual life. 

Church Government, the regula¬ 
tion and ordering of spiritual matters, 
or those pertaining to the discipline 
and work of the Church. 

Churchill, Randolph Henry 
Spencer, Lord, third son of the sev¬ 
enth Duke of Marlborough; born Feb. 
13. 1849; entered the British Parlia¬ 
ment in 1874, and became a leader of the 


Conservative party. On the defeat of 
Gladstone’s Irish Bill in 1886 Church¬ 
ill became leader of the House of Com¬ 
mons and Chancellor of the Ex¬ 
chequer, posts which he unexpectedly 
resigned in December, 1886. Died in 
London, Jan. 24, 1895. Lord Ran¬ 
dolph married, in 1874, Miss Jennie, 
daughter of the late Leonard Jerome, 
of New York City. Their son Wins¬ 
ton Leonard Spencer, born 1874, 
educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, 
entered the army in 1895, saw active 
service in Cuba (1895), in India 
(1897-98), Egypt (1898), and in 
South Africa (1899). He is the 
author of several descriptive campaign 
works, and is a member of the British 
Parliament. In 1900, Lady Randolph 
married George Cornwallis West. 

Ckurckill, Winston, an Ameri¬ 
can author; born in St. Louis, Mo., 
Nov. 10, 1871. He was graduated 
from, the United States Naval Acad¬ 
emy in 1894. and became an editor of 
the “ Army and Navy Journal.” He 
wrote “ Richard Carvel ” ; “ The Cri¬ 
sis ” ; “ The Crossing ” ; “ Coniston.” 

Churchill River, a river of the 
Northwest Territories of Canada, 
which rises in La Crosse Lake, forms 
or passes through various lakes or 
lake-like expansions, and discharges 
into Hudson Bay, at Fort Churchill. 

Churching of Women, a form of 
thanksgiving after child-birth, adopted 
from the Jewish ceremony of purifica¬ 
tion, and practiced still in the Roman 
Catholic and Anglican Churches. 

Church of God, a Christian sect 
which originated in 1830, in a move¬ 
ment in which John Winebrenner, 
previously a minister in the German 
Reformed Church, was most promi¬ 
nent. A new society was organized 
by him, and others who accepted his 
views, which took the name 6f the 
Church of God. It holds the doctrines 
of the Evangelical churches, with bap¬ 
tism by immersion only, subsequent to 
faith; feet-washing; the administra¬ 
tion of the Lord’s Supper in the even¬ 
ing; all the instrumentalities of revi¬ 
vals; and protests against the traffic 
in intoxicating drinks. 

Church, States of the, or Papal 
States, a territory that stretched 
from the Po to near Naples, and in 
1869 had an area of 15,774 square 




Church-warden 


Cilia 


miles and a pop. of 3,000,000. The 
war of 1859 and the popular vote of 
1860 left the Pope only the Comarca 
of Rome, the legation of Velletri, and 
the delegations of Civita Vecchia, 
Frosinone, and Viterbo, 4,493 square 
miles in extent, with a pop. of about 
700,000, the rest being united with 
Italy, and in 1870 the remnant of the 
Pope’s temporal possessions were an¬ 
nexed to the kingdom of Italy, of 
which Rome became the capital. The 
Pope is, however, still permitted to 
keep up the state of a sovereign with¬ 
in the precincts of the Vatican. 

Church-warden, one of two Epis¬ 
copalian parochial officers chosen an¬ 
nually at the Easter vestries, one by 
the minister and one by the parish¬ 
ioners. Their duties are generally to 
act as legal representatives of the 
parish. 

Churrus, the resinous exudation of 
the leaves and flowers of Indian hemp. 
It is used by the natives of India as 
an intoxicating drug. 

Churubusco, Battle of, fought in 
Mexico, Aug. 20, 1847. After the bat¬ 
tle of Contreras, fought on the same 
day, Santa Ana, with some 27,000 
men, made a stand at this hamlet, on 
the river Churubusco, 6 miles S. of the 
City of Mexico, to resist the advance 
of the United States army under Gen. 
Scott. Of 8,000 United States troops 
in the two actions there were 139 
killed and 926 wounded; the Mexicans 
lost 4,000 killed and wounded, 3,000 
prisoners, 37 guns, and much ammuni¬ 
tion. 

Chusan, the principal of the group 
of islands known as the Chusan Archi¬ 
pelago ; lies about a mile off the E. 
coast of China, opposite Ningpo. It 
has an area of over 230 square miles, 
and a population of 200,000 to 250,- 
000 . 

Cibber, Colley, an English dram¬ 
atist ; born in London, Nov. 6, 1671; 
was one of the most successful stagers 
of plays in the history of the theater. 
In 1730, he was appointed Poet Laure¬ 
ate. His autobiographic “ Apology ” is 
his best work. He died Dec. 12, 1757. 

Cibitu, or Sibutu, a southern 
Philippine island, 14 miles long and 2 
miles wide. It is flat, with a conical 
mountain in the center, 500 feet high. 
It was sold by Spain (with Caygay- 


an) to the United States in 1900, 
upon payment of $100,000, having 
been inadvertenly excluded from the 
terms of the treaty of peace. 

Cicely, a popular name applied to 
several umbelliferous plants. Sweet 
Cicely is found in North American 
woods from Canada to Virginia. 

Cicero, Marcus Tullius, a Ro¬ 
man orator; born in Arpinum, in the 
year of Rome 647 (106 B. c.). He 
was one of the greatest orators the 
world has known, and a statesman and 
patriot of singularly pure conduct and 
motives. He was executed at the in¬ 
stance of the Triumvirate—Octavian- 
us, Antony and Lepidus, b. c. 43. 

Cid, Tbe, Don Rodrigo (Ruy) 
Diaz, Count of Bivar; born in 1026. 
The model of the heroic virtues of his 
age, and the flower of Spanish chiv¬ 
alry, styled by his enemies, the Moors 
of Spain, cid (the lord), and by his 
king and countrymen Campeador 
(champion), he continues to live in 
the poetry of his country. The Cid 
died at Valencia, in the 74th year of 
his age (1099). What this hero won, 
and for many years defended, the 
united power of Leon and Castile was 
scarcely able to preserve against the 
encroachments of the infidels. His 
dead body was mailed and mounted on 
his favorite steed and marched out 
against the enemy, who fled at its ap¬ 
proach. 

Cider, a liquor made from the juice 
of apples. 

Cienfuegos, a port and town of 
Cuba, on the S. coast, at the mouth of 
Iagua bay, 140 miles from Havana. 
Cienfuegos is the center of the Cuban 
sugar trade. Pop. 59,128. 

Cigar, a small roll of manufactured 
tobacco leaves carefully made up, and 
intended to be smoked by lighting at 
one end and drawing the smoke through 
it. The cigars of Havana, Cuba, are 
considered the best brands. 

Cilia, the hair which grows from 
the margin of the eyelids. The term 
is also applied to microscopic fila¬ 
ments, or plates which project from 
animal membranes and are endowed 
with quick vibratile motion. In most 
of the lower animals the respiratory 
function is effected by means of the 
vibratile cilia. 




Cilicia 


Cinchonism 


Cilicia, an ancient division of Asia 
Minor, now included in the Turkish 
province of Adana. In early ages 
Cilicia was ruled by its own kings, the 
people, who were probably akin to 
Syrians, and Phoenicians, being notori¬ 
ous pirates. The country fell succes¬ 
sively under Persian, Macedonian, 
Syrian and Roman rule. 

Cimarrones, a name used in the 
Spanish colonies of America for fugi¬ 
tive slaves, of whom in the 16th cen¬ 
tury many hundreds collected on the 
Isthmus of Panama, where they built 
walled towns, attacked the Spanish 
settlements, and became a terror all 
over the country. They finally be¬ 
came amalgamated with the Indian 
tribes. 

Cimarosa, Domenico, an Italian 
composer; born in Aversa, Dec. 17, 
1749. He became famous when 21 
with a comic opera, “ The Pretended 
Parisian.” In the ensuing 30 years 
he wrote over 80 comic operas. As a 
writer of comic operas Cimarosa has 
never been surpassed. He died in 
Venice, Jan. 11, 1801. 

Cimbri, a Celtic tribe, inhabiting 
Jutland, having joined with the Teu¬ 
tons, and which entered Illyria, where 
they defeated Cn. Papirius Carbo, at 
the head of a consular army, b. c. 113. 
Marius collected a large army and 
went to oppose them. The Cimbri 
and Teutones separated into two bod¬ 
ies, the former taking the road through 
Helvetia, and the latter pressing for¬ 
ward to assail the Roman army. Their 
intention was to reunite their forces 
on the Lombard plains. The Teu¬ 
tones were attacked and overwhelmed 
by the Romans, and 100,000 men are 
said to have perished on that occasion, 
b. c. 102. The Cimbri in the mean¬ 
time had reached the valley of the 
Adige, where they defeated the Roman 
army under Quintus Catulus. He 
formed a junction with Marius and 
allured them into an Unfavorable po¬ 
sition, in which they were defeated 
and exterminated, b. C. 101. 

Cimmerian Bosphorus, an an¬ 
cient name for the Strait of Kaffa. 

Cimmerii, or Cimmerians, a no¬ 
madic race, inhabiting the Crimea and 
parts of the neighboring country, hav¬ 
ing been expelled by the Scythians, 
passed along the shores of the Euxine, 


invaded Asia Minor, and pillaged Sar¬ 
dis, the capital of Lydia, b. c. 635. 
In that country they were said to have 
remained until about b. c. 617, when 
they were defeated and driven out of 
Asia Minor. 

Cimon, an ancient Athenian gen¬ 
eral and statesman, was a son of the 
great Miltiades. He fought against 
the Persians in the battle of Salamis 
(480 b. c.), and shared with Aristides 
the chief command of the fleet sent to 
Asia to deliver the Greek colonies from 
the Persian yoke. He died shortly 
after, in 449, while besieging Citium 
in Cyprus. 

Cinchona, a genus of trees found 
exclusively on the Andes in Peru and 



CINCHONA. 


adjacent countries, and recently intro¬ 
duced into India, producing a medic¬ 
inal bark of great value known as Pe¬ 
ruvian bark. 

Cinchona Bark, the bark of sev° 
eral species of trees used in medicine, 
or for the extraction of the alkaloids, 
quinine, cinchonine, etc., which they 
contain. 

Cinchonism, a group of symptoms, 
chiefly connected with the nervous sys¬ 
tem, produced by the presence of qui¬ 
nine in the system. There are noises 
in the ears. These noises are accom- 





Cincinnati 


Cincinnati 


panied "with more or less deafness. 
Affections of sight are less common. 
These symptoms usually pass away in 
a few days after discontinuing the 
drug. 

Cincinnati, a city and county-seat 
of Hamilton Co., O. It is the second 
city in the State in population and 
the tenth in the United States, accord¬ 
ing to the census of 1900. It is built 
on the N. shore of the Ohio river, di¬ 
rectly opposite Covington, Ky. ;■ and 
is connected with the Kentucky shore 
by five bridges; area, 35*4 square 
miles; population (1900 ) 325,902. 

The city owns an extensive water¬ 
works system, costing $10,291,722. 
The principal park in Cincinnati is 
Eden Park, situated on a hill over¬ 
looking the city and the Ohio river. It 
contains 216 acres and two reservoirs, 
so constructed as to resemble natural 
lakes. Burnet Woods, in the N. part 
of the city, contains 170 acres of 
woodland. Hopkins, Lincoln, and 
Washington are smaller parks, form¬ 
ing magnificent pleasure grounds. 
Spring Grove Cemetery is one of the 
most beautiful in the West, and con¬ 
tains about 600 acres, well wooded, 
and many handsome monuments and 
mausoleums. 

The public buildings include the (U. 
S.) Government Building, of granite, 
cost $5,200,000; (U. S.) Marine Hos- 
ital; the Y. M. C. A. Building, cost, 
201,063; the County Court House, 
and jail, built in Romanesque style; 
the City Hospital; the City Hall, 
erected at a cost of over $1,000,000; 
and the Chamber of Commerce. Cin¬ 
cinnati is also celebrated as the site 
of one of the earliest astronomical ob¬ 
servatories in the United States, 
founded about the same time as that 
of Harvard University and the Naval 
Observatory at Washington. The ob¬ 
servatory has since been moved to 
Mount Lookout, a suburb of Cincin¬ 
nati, and a much better site than that 
first selected. The institution is best 
known for the work done there by 
Prof. Ormond Stone, one of its former 
directors, on the measurement of 
double-stars and the discovery of many 
new ones. It contains an 11-inch re¬ 
fractor and a new meridian circle. The 
University of Cincinnati, opened in 
1873, had twenty years later, a student 
body of 1,200, with 175 instructors. 


and an equipment and endowment val¬ 
ued at $3,500,000. 

The Federal census of 1900 reported 
5,127 manufacturing establishments, 
employing $109,582,142 capital and 
63,240 persons ; paying $77,539,292 for 
stock used and $27,189,069 for wages; 
annual value of products $157,806,834. 
The Rook wood Pottery (q. v.) is fa¬ 
mous for its porcelain. 

There are many beautiful churches 
and fine public schools. Among mu¬ 
nicipal benevolent and penal institu¬ 
tions are the City Infirmary, the 
Work House, and the House of Ref¬ 
uge for incorrigible or homeless boys 
and girls. Besides large public hospi¬ 
tals, there are several private ones, and 
many orphan asylums and homes. 

Cincinnati, named in honor of the 
Society of the Cincinnati, was first 
settled by white men in 1780, and was 
incorporated as a city in 1819. Mounds 
containing various relics show that a 
portion of the site of the city was an¬ 
ciently occupied. The first steamboat 
descending from Pittsburg visited the 
town in 1811; the Miami canal was 
completed in 1830; the first railway 
was opened in 1845. 

Cincinnati, a society or order in 
the United States, established by the 
officers of the Revolutionary army in 
1783, “ to perpetuate their friendship, 
and to raise a fund for relieving the 
widows and orphans of those who had 
fallen during the war.” The badge 
of the society is a bald eagle suspended 
by a dark-blue ribbon with white bor¬ 
ders, symbolizing the union of France 
and the United States. On the breast 
of the eagle there is a figure of Cin- 
cinnatus receiving the military ensigns 
from the senators, round the whole are 
the words “ Omnia reliquit servare 
rempublicam.” Membership descends 
to the eldest lineal male descendant, 
and, in failure of direct male descent, 
to male descendants through interven¬ 
ing female descendants. The general 
society is composed of the general of¬ 
ficers and five delegates from each 
State society, and meets triennially. In 
1854 it ruled that proper descendants 
of Revolutionary officers who wert 
entitled to original membership, but 
who never could avail themselves of it, 
are qualified for hereditary member¬ 
ship, if found worthy, on due applica¬ 
tion. 





Cincinnatns 


Circe 


Cincinnatns, Lucius Quinctius, 

a wealthy patrician in the early days 
of the Roman Republic, born about 
519 b. c. He succeeded Publicola in 
the consulship, and then retired to 
cultivate his small estate beyond the 
Tiber. The messengers of the senate 
fdund him at work on his farm when 
they came to summon him to the dicta¬ 
torship. He rescued the army from 
its peril, and then returned quietly to 
his farm. At the age of 80 he was 
again appointed dictator to oppose the 
ambitious designs of Spurius Maelius. 

Cinematograph, a device for 
showing pictures of men, animals, etc., 
in motion. 

Cinnabar, red sulphide of mercury, 
the principal ore from which that met¬ 
al is obtained, occurring abundantly in 
California, China, etc. It is of a 
cochineal-red color, and is used as a 
pigment under the name of vermilion. 

Cinnamic Acid, an acid which ex¬ 
ists in the free state in the balsams of 
tolu and Peru, in liquid storax, and in 
gum benzoin. 

Cinnamon, an aromatic substance 
consisting of the bark of a tree, from 
which the essential oil of Cinnamon is 
distilled. The oil has aromatic car¬ 
minative, and stimulant properties. 

Cinque Ports, (Five Ports), the 
sea-port towns of Dover, Sandwich, 
Hastings, Hythe, and Romney, Eng¬ 
land ; to which three others were af¬ 
terward added, viz., Winchelsea, Rye, 
and Seaford. These towns are incor¬ 
porated, with peculiar privileges; are 
under the government of a lord war¬ 
den, to whom writs for the election of 
members to parliament from them are 
directed; and the members so elected 
are termed Barons of the Cinque 
Ports. 

Cintra, a town in Portugal, 15 
miles W. N. W. Lisbon, finely situated 
on the slope of the Sierra de Cintra. 
The kings of Portugal have a palace 
with fine gardens at Cintra. The town 
is celebrated for the convention en¬ 
tered into there in 1808, by which the 
French, after their defeat at Vimeira, 
were conveyed to France. Pop. 4,751. 

Ciphers, signs used to represent 
numbers, whether borrowed signs, as 
letters, with which the Greeks desig¬ 
nated their numbers, or peculiar char¬ 


acters, as the modern or Arabic ones. 
The ciphers, such as they are at pres¬ 
ent, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, did not 
come into common European use until 
the 11th century. 

Cipher Writing, a method of 

sending important intelligence in a 
manner so effectually disguised that 
only those for whom the news is in¬ 
tended can understand the meaning of 
what is written. By this method one 
word may be used to represent an en¬ 
tire sentence and thus not only is the 
cost of transmitting a message mate¬ 
rially reduced, but the contents be¬ 
come known only to the person for 
whom it is intended or to the possessor 
of a key. Cipher codes are employed 
by the State Departments of all gov¬ 
ernments and frequently changed. The 
special code is entrusted to the per¬ 
sonal custody of diplomatic officials 
embarking on a mission, who retain 
possession of it and destroy it if their 
lives are endangered. 

Cipriani, Giambattista, an Ital¬ 
ian history-painter and designer; born 
in Florence in 1727, of an old Pistoja 
family. He died in Hammersmith, 
England, Dec. 14, 1785. 

Circassia, or Tcherkessia, a 
mountainous region in the S. E. of, 
European Russia, lying chiefly on the 
N. slope of the Caucasus, partly also 
on the S., and bounded on the W. by 
the Black Sea, and now forming part 
of the Lieutenancy of the Caucasus. 
The mountains are intersected every¬ 
where with steep ravines and clothed 
with thick forests. Its climate is 
temperate, its inhabitants healthy and 
long-lived. 

The Circassians, properly so called, 
have been estimated to number from 
500.000 to 600,000. 

Circe, a daughter of Sol and Perse, 
celebrated for her skill in magic and 
poisonous herbs, who lived on an is¬ 
land called iEa, on the coast of Italy. 
Ulysses, on his return from the Trojan 
war, visited her coast; and all his 
companions, who ran headlong into 
pleasure and voluptuousness, were 
changed by Circe’s potions into swine. 
Ulysses, fortified against all enchant¬ 
ments by an herb called moly, which 
he had received from Mercury, de¬ 
manded from Circe the restoration of 
his companions to their former state. 
She complied, loading the hero with 





Circle 


Circus 


honors; and, for one whole year, he 
forgot his glory in his devotion to 
pleasure. 

Circle, a plane figure contained by 
one line, which is called the circumfer¬ 
ence, and is such that all straight lines 
drawn from a certain point (the cen¬ 
ter) within the figure to the circum¬ 
ference are equal to one another. 
i Circle, Magic, a space in which 
sorcerers were wont to protect them¬ 
selves from the fury of the evil spir¬ 
its they had raised. This circle was 
usually formed on a piece of ground 
about 9 feet square, in the midst of 
some dark forest, churchyard, vault, 
or other lonely and dismal spot. In¬ 
side the outer circle was another some¬ 
what less, in the center of which the 
sorcerer had his seat. The spaces be¬ 
tween the circles, as well as between 
the parallel lines which inclosed the 
larger one, were fillled with all the 
holy names of God, and a variety of 
other characters supposed to be po¬ 
tent against the powers of evil. With¬ 
out the protection of this circle, the 
magician, it was believed, would have 
been carried off by the spirits. 

Circuit Court, a court in the 
United States next in rank to the 
United States Supreme Court. In 
1900 there were nine circuits, each 
consisting of several States, and each 
is allotted to one of the nine justices 
of the Supreme Court, who must at¬ 
tend at least one term of court in each 
district of his circuit every two years. 
The judges of each circuit and the jus¬ 
tice of the Supreme Court for the cir¬ 
cuit constitute a Circuit Court of Ap¬ 
peals. 

Circular Notes, notes or letters of 
credit furnished by bankers to persons 
about to travel abroad. 

Circular Numbers, numbers whose 
powers end on the same figures as 
themselves; as 0, 1, 5, etc. 

Circulation, in anatomy and 
physics, the term used to designate 
the course of the blood from the heart 
to the most minute blood-vessels (the 
capillaries), and from these back to 
the heart. 

Circulation of Sap, in plants, its 

ascent from the root to the leaves and 
bark, and its partial descent after the 
elaboration, which it undergoes in 
these organs. 


Circumcision, an operation con¬ 
sisting in removing circularly the pre¬ 
puce of infants. God commanded 
Abraham to use circumcision as a sign 
of his covenant; and in obedience to 
this order, the patriarch at 99 years 
of age was circumcised, as also his son 
Ishmael, and all the males of his 
household (Gen. xvii: 10-12). God 
repeated the precept to Moses, and or¬ 
dered that all who intended to partake 
of the Paschal sacrifice should receive 
circumcision, and that this rite should 
be performed on children on the eighth 
day after their birth (Ex. xii: 44). 
The Jews and all the other nations 
sprung from Abraham, as the Ishmael- 
ites, the Arabians, etc., have always 
been very exact in observing this cere¬ 
mony. At the present day it is an es¬ 
sential rite of the Mohammedan reli¬ 
gion, and though not enjoined in the 
Koran, prevails wherever this religion 
is found. 

Circumference, or Periphery, 

the curve which incloses a circle, el¬ 
lipse, oval, or other plane figure. 

Circumnavigator, one who sails 
round the globe. The first European 
known to have circumnavigated the 
globe was Magellan or Magalhaens, a 
Portuguese, who accomplished the feat 
in A. d. 1519. From him the Straits 
of Magellan derive their name. 

Circumpolar Stars, those that ap¬ 
pear to move around the pole and per¬ 
form their circles without setting. 

Circumstantial Evidence, evi¬ 
dence obtained from circumstances, 
which necessarily or usually attend 
facts of a particular nature, from 
which arises presumption; any evi¬ 
dence not direct and positive. 

.Circumvallation, or Line of 
Circumvallation, in military affairs 
a line of field-works consisting of a 
rampart or parapet, with a trench 
surrounding a besieged place, or the 
camp of a besieging army. 

Circus, among the Romans, a 
nearly, oblong building without a roof, 
in which public chariot-races and ex¬ 
hibitions of pugilism and wrestling, 
etc., took place. The modern circus is 
a place where horses and other animals 
are trained to perform tricks, and 
where exhibitions of acrobats and va¬ 
rious pageantries, including a large 
amount of buffoonery, are presented. 




Cirrhosis 


City 


Cirrhosis, a chronic nonsuppura¬ 
tive inflammation. The term was orig¬ 
inally applied to the liver, and was 
due to alcoholic indulgence. 

Cirta, the capital of the ancient 
Massylii in Numidia. After the defeat 
of Jugurtha it passed into the hands 
of the Romans, and was restored by 
Constantine, who gave it his own 
name. 

Cisalpine Republic, a former 

State in North Italy. After the bat¬ 
tle of Lodi, in May, 1796, General 
Bonaparte proceeded to organize two 
States — one on the S. of the Po, the 
Cispadane Republic, and one on the 
N., the Transpadane. These two were 
on July 9, 1797, united into one under 
the title of the Cisalpine Republic, 
which embraced Lombardy, Mantua, 
Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Verona, 
and Rovigo, the duchy of Modena, the 
principalities of Massa and Cararra, 
and the three legations of Bologna, 
Ferrara, and the Romagna. The re¬ 
public had a territory of more than 
16,000 square miles, and a population 
of 3,500,000. Milan was the seat of 
the government or Directory. In 1802 
it took the name of the Italian Re¬ 
public, and chose Bonaparte for its 
president. A deputation from the re¬ 
public in 1805 conferred on the Em¬ 
peror Napoleon the title of King of 
Italy; after which it formed the king¬ 
dom of Italy till 1814. 

Cisleithania, or Cisleithan 
Provinces, Austria proper or Austria 
W. of the river Leitha, which partly 
forms the boundary between it and 
Hungary. 

Cisneros-Betancourt, Salvador, 

a Cuban patriot; born in Puerto Prin¬ 
cipe in 1832. During the Revolution 
of 1868-1878, he was president of the 
Cuban House of Representatives, and 
during a part of the time president of 
the Cuban Republic. In 1895 he was 
re-elected president of the new Cuban 
Republic. 

Cissoid, a curve in geometry, the 
locus of the vortex of a parabola roll¬ 
ing upon equal parabola. 

Cist, a place of interment of an 
early or prehistoric period, consisting 
of a rectangular stone chest or inclos¬ 
ure formed of rows of stones set up¬ 
right, and covered by similar flat 
stones. 


Cistercian, a monastic order in 
connection with the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

Cistern, a tank for holding water. 
Cisterns differ from wells in that they 
do not get their water from natural 
sources, such as springs, but through 
channels made by the hand of man. 

Citation, a summons or official no¬ 
tice given to a person to appear in a 
court as a party or witness in a cause. 

Cithern, or Cittern, an old instru¬ 
ment of the guitar kind, strung with 
wire instead of gut. 

Cities of Refuge. Moses, at the 
command of God, set apart three cities 
on the. E. of Jordan, and Joshua added 
three others on the W., whither any 
person might flee for refuge who had 
killed a human creature inadvertently. 
The three on the E. of Jordan were 
Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan; the three 
on the W. were Hebron, Shechem, and 
Kedesh. (Deut. iv: 43; Josh, xx: 1-8.) 

Cities of the Plain, Sodom and 
Gomorrah, chief of those five cities 
which, according to the commonly re¬ 
ceived account, were destroyed by fire 
from heaven, and their sites over¬ 
whelmed by the waters of the Dead 
Sea. 

Citizen, a member of a State or 
community, an inhabitant of any State 
or place. “ All persons born or natu¬ 
ralized in the United States, and sub¬ 
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, are cit¬ 
izens of the United States and of the 
State wherein they reside.”—Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States, Amend, xiv., 
Sec. 1. 

Citric Acid, is a very widely dis¬ 
tributed acid, being present in most 
common fruits, such as gooseberries, 
currants, lemons, citrons, cherries, and 
many others. 

Citron, a tree of the genus Citrus. 
A small evergreen shrub introduced 
into the S. parts of Europe and Asia. 

City, a municipal organization char¬ 
tered by the sovereign authority, and 
endowed with certain powers of self 
government. In remotely ancient 
times a city was usually itself a cen¬ 
ter of sovereign power. This feature 
survives only in cities like Hamburg 
and Bremen. It does not exist in 
American or English cities, which are 
as much under the control of the State 




Ciudad-Rodrigo 


Civil Service 


as the smaller village, and which are 
in effect simply corporations organized 
for the better management of corpor¬ 
ate affairs, the protection of health, 
the general safety, and so forth. 

Ciudad-Rodrigo, a fortress in 
Spain, in Leon, on the river Aguada. 
In the Peninsular War it was taken 
by storm by the British under Wel¬ 
lington, after a siege of 11 days. The 
Cortes gave him the title of Duke of 
Ciudad-Rodrigo. 

Civet, a genus of carnivorous an¬ 
imals, natives of the warmer regions 
of Asia and Africa. In general ap¬ 
pearance the civets remind one of ani¬ 
mals of the cat tribe, which they also 
resemble in habits. The odoriferous 
substance which these animals yield, 
called, from them, civet, when largely 
diluted with oil or other materials be¬ 
comes an agreeable perfume. At a 
time when perfumes were more fash¬ 
ionable than they are at present civet 
was very highly esteemed. 

Civic Crown, among the Romans, 
the highest military reward, assigned 
to him who had preserved the life of 
a citizen. It bore the inscription “ Ob 
civem servatum,” that is, “ for saving 
a citizen,” and was make of oak leaves. 
The person who received the crown 
wore it in the theater, and sat next 
the senators, and when he came in all 
the assembly arose as a mark of re¬ 
spect. 

Civics, the science that treats of 
citizenship and the relations between 
citizens and the government. It em¬ 
braces ethics, or social duties; civil 
law, or governmental methods; eco¬ 
nomics, or the principles of finance and 
exchange; and the history of civic de¬ 
velopment. 

Civil Damage Acts, legislative 
bills, passed in several of the United 
States, giving to husbands, wives, chil¬ 
dren, parents, guardians, employers, 
and others who have sustained injury 
in person or property or means of sup¬ 
port, by an intoxicated person in con¬ 
sequence of such intoxication, the right 
of action against the person who sold 
or gave away the liquor which caused 
such intoxication, have been held to be 
constitutional. In some cases the 
right of action has been extended to 
the owner of the premises where such 
intoxicating liquor has been obtained. 


Civil Engineering, the science or 

art of constructing machinery for man¬ 
ufacturing purposes, constructions and 
excavations, for general transit, as 
canals, docks, railroads, etc. 

Civilization. The influences by 
which men operate upon each other in 
society produce in their aggregate the 
particular state and tendencies of each 
society, and these constitute what is 
called the civilization of the society. 
Civilization, then, may be defined as 
the sum of the results of individual 
influence upon society. When these 
influences are on the whole beneficial, 
civilization is progressive; when they 
are injurious, it is retrograde. The 
common use of the word civilizaton as 
an equivalent of progress or refinement 
is a sufficient indication of the belief of 
mankind that these influences are on 
the whole beneficial; and the contin¬ 
ued existence of society is in itself a 
confirmation of this belief. 

Civil Service, that branch of the 
public service which includes the non¬ 
military servants of the government. 
In January, 1883, the United States 
Congress passed a law to prevent the 
abuse of the appointing power of the 
officers of government. The Presi¬ 
dent was authorized to appoint, with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, 
three civil service commissioners, 
whose duty is to aid the President in 
preparing suitable rules which shall 
provide for open competitive examina¬ 
tions for testing the fitness of appli¬ 
cants for the public service, such ex¬ 
aminations to be practical in their 
character, and so far as may be relat¬ 
ing to those matters which will fairly 
test the relative capacity and fitness 
of the persons examined to discharge 
the duties of the service. All the 
places arranged in classes are to be 
filled by selections according to grade 
from among those standing highest as 
the result of such examinations. The 
appointments to the public service in 
the departments at Washington are to 
be proportioned upon the basis of pop¬ 
ulation to the several States and Ter¬ 
ritories and the District of Columbia. 
The law provides a period of probation 
before any absolute appointment is 
made, and exempts all persons in the 
public service from all obligation to 
contribute to any political fund or to 
render any political service. It for- 





Civil War 


Clairvoyance 


bids any person in the public service 
using his official authority to coerce 
the political action of any other person 
or body. Non-competitive examina¬ 
tions in all proper cases are provided 
for after notice given of a vacancy, 
the appointing power to give notice in 
writing to the civil service commission 
of the persons selected for appointment 
among those who have been examined. 
Power is given this commission to 
make regulations for, and to have con¬ 
trol of, such examinations, subject to 
the rules made by the President. The 
civil service commission is required to 
report annually to the President, for 
transmission to Congress, its own ac¬ 
tion, the rules and regulations, and 
the exceptions thereto in force, the 
practical objects thereof, and any sug¬ 
gestions for the more effectual accom¬ 
plishment of the purposes of the law. 
Provision is made for holding exami¬ 
nations at convenient places twice each 
year in every State and Territory of 
the United States. 

The statute punishes by fine and 
imprisonment all in the public service 
who wilfully defeat, obstruct, or de¬ 
ceive any person in respect to his or 
her right of examination, or who shall 
corruptly and falsely mark, or report 
upon the proper standing of any per¬ 
son examined, or aid in so doing, or 
who shall furnish to any person any 
special or secret information for the 
purpose of either improving or injur¬ 
ing the prospects of any person so ex¬ 
amined appointed, employed, or pro¬ 
moted. It was provided that after six 
months from the passing of the act, 
no officer or clerk was to be appointed 
until after passing examination, unless 
specially exempted by the act; and no 
person in the habit of using intoxicat¬ 
ing beverages to excess is to be ap¬ 
pointed to or retained in any employ¬ 
ment to which the act applies. 

Civil War, American, the war in 
the United States, caused by the at¬ 
tempt of the Southern States to estab¬ 
lish an independent government under 
the name of the Confederate States of 
America. 

The result of the war was to estab¬ 
lish the fact that the United States is 
a nation, and that no State has the 
right to secede from the Union. It 
also resulted in the abolition of slav¬ 
ery, and the 13th Amendment to the 


Constitution, adopted after the war, 
extinguished slavery in the United 
States. During the Civil War there 
were 2,778,304 men mustered into ser¬ 
vice on the Union side and about 600,- 
000 on the Confederate. The number 
of casualties in the volunteer and regu¬ 
lar armies of the United States dur¬ 
ing the war, according to a statement 
prepared by the Adjutant-General’s of¬ 
fice, was as follows: Killed in battle, 
67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died 
of disease, 199,720; other causes, such 
as accidents, murder, Confederate pris¬ 
ons, etc., 40,154; total died, 349,944; 
total deserted, 199,105. Number of 
soldiers in the Confederate service who 
died of wounds or disease (partial 
statement), 133,821. Deserted (par¬ 
tial statement), 104,428. Number of 
United States troops captured during 
the war, 212,608; Confederate troops 
captured, 476,169. Number of United 
States troops paroled on the field, 16,- 
431; Confederate troops paroled on 
the field, 248,599. Number of United 
States troops who died while prisoners, 
30,156; Confederate troops who died 
while prisoners, 30,152. 

Claflin, Mary Bucklin, an Amer¬ 
ican prose-writer; born in Hopkinton, 
Mass., July, 1825. She was the wife 
of Governor Claflin, of Massachusetts. 
For 18 years she was a trustee of Bos¬ 
ton University; and of Wellesley Col¬ 
lege from its foundation till her death, 
which occurred in Whitinsville, Mass., 
June 13, 1896. 

Claflin University, a co-educa- 

tional institution in Orangeburg, S. 
C.; organized in 1869, under the aus¬ 
pices of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, exclusively for the colored 
race. 

Clairvaux, a village of France, on 
the Aube, 10 miles S. E. of Barsur- 
Aube; is remarkable as the site of the 
once famous Cistercian, Abbey, founded 
in 1115 by St. Bernard, who presided 
over it till his death in 1153, when he 
was buried in the church. 

Clairvoyance, defined as the power 
of perceiving without the use of the 
organ of vision or under conditions in 
which the organ of vision with its nat¬ 
ural powers alone would be useless. It 
comprises the sight of things past, 
present, or future, and various meth¬ 
ods are observed in its performance. 





Clam 


Clark 


Clam, the popular name of certain 
bivalvular shell-fish of various genera 
and species. The giant clam has the 
largest shell known, and the animal is 
used as food in the Pacific. The com¬ 
mon American clam is found in gravel¬ 
ly mud, sand, and other soft bottoms, 
especially between high and low water 
mark. They are largely used for bait, 
and are a much-relished article of 
food. 

Clan, a tribe or number of families, 
bearing the same surname, claiming to 
be descended from the same ancestor 
and united under a chieftain repre¬ 
senting the ancestor. 

Clapboard, a thin, narrow board 
commonly used for covering the sides 
of wooden buildings. 

Clapperton, Hugh, an African 
traveler; born in Dumfriesshire, Scot¬ 
land, in 1788. He was the first Euro¬ 
pean who traversed the whole of Cen¬ 
tral Africa from the Bight of Benin 
to the Mediterranean. He died in Af¬ 
rica in April, 1827. 

Claque, a body of hired applause- 
makers, openly employed in France 
and sometimes secretly resorted to 
elsewhere. 

Clare, St., bom in 1193, of a noble 

family of Assisi; in 1212 retired to the 
Portiuncula of St. Francis, and in the 
same year founded the order of Fran¬ 
ciscan nuns. She died Aug. 11, 1253. 
The Nuns of the Order of St. 
Clara (also called the Poor Clares) 
at first observed the strictest Benedic¬ 
tine rule, but the austerity of this rule 
was mitigated by St. Francis in 1224, 
and further modified by Urban IV. 
in 1265. A large proportion of the 
nuns adopted Urban’s rule. 

Clarence, Duke of. See George. 
Duke of Clarence. 

Clarendon, Constitutions of, a 
code of laws adopted in the 10 th year 
of Henry II. (1164), at a council of 
prelates and barons held in the village 
of Clarendon, in Wiltshire, in Janu¬ 
ary of the above year. Ten of the ar¬ 
ticles were condemned, and six allowed 
by Pope Alexander III. The six arti¬ 
cles approved of were of comparatively 
slight importance, mostly confirming 
the privileges of the ecclesiastical 
order. 

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl 

of, Lord High Chancellor of England; 


born in Dinton, Wiltshire, in 1608. *7 
During the civil wars he zealously at¬ 
tached himself to the royal cause, was 
made successively chancellor of the ex¬ 
chequer and privy councillor. After 
the failure of the royalist arms he took 
refuge in Jersey, and then joined 
Prince Charles in Holland. He con¬ 
tributed to the Restoration, accom¬ 
panied Charles II. to London, and was 
made Lord Chancellor. His daughter 
Anne was married to the Duke of 
York, afterward James II., and two 
daughters, Anne and Mary, both as¬ 
cended the English throne. He died in 
Rouen in 1674. 

Claret, a name given to wines of a 

light-red c®lor. 

Clarification, the act or process 
of making any liquor clear and bright 
by freeing it from visible impurities. 

It differs from purification in that a 
liquid, though clear to the sight, may 
still contain a large amount of im¬ 
pure matter. 

Clarinet, or Clarionet, a musical 

instrument. It consists essentially of 
a mouth-piece furnished with a single 
beating reed, a cylindrical tube ending 
in a bell, and provided with 18 open¬ 
ings in the side, half of which are 
closed by the fingers and half by the 
keys. 

Clark, Abraham, an American 

patriot; born in Elizabethtown, N. J., 
Feb. 15, 1726. He was a dele¬ 

gate to the Continental Congress and 
signed the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence. He aided in framing the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States. He 
died in Rahway, N. J., Sept. 15, 1794. 

Clark, Alexander, an American 
clergyman and writer ; born in Jeffer¬ 
son county, Ohio, in 1834. Died in 
Georgia, July 6 , 1879. 

Clark, Alonzo Howard, an Amer¬ 
ican scientist: born in Boston, April 
13, 1850. Since 1881 he has been con¬ 
nected with the Smithsonian Institu¬ 
tion. 

Clark, Alvan, an American astro¬ 
nomical-instrument maker; born in 
Ashfield, Mass., March 3, 1804. He 
was at one time a portrait painter. 
His attention was turned to telescope 
making and he achieved a world-wide 
reputation. He died in Cambridge, 
Mass., Aug. 9, 1887. His son, Alvan 
Graham Clark, born in Fall River, 




Clark 


Clark 


Mass., July 10, 1832, was associated 
with his father and his brother George 
in the manufacture of telescopes. He 
died in 1897. 

Clark, Champ, an American poli¬ 
tician and lawyer, born in Anderson 
county, Kentucky, March 7, 1850. He 
was president of Marshall College, 
West Virginia; has attained distinc¬ 
tion as a Democratic campaign speaker 
and since 1893 has been, with an in¬ 
termission of one term, a member of 
Congress from Missouri. 

Clark, Charles Dickson, an 
American jurist; born in Laurel Cove, 
Tenn., Oct. 7, 1847. He practiced as 
a lawyer in his native State until 
1895, when he was appointed Judge of 
the United States Court for the East¬ 
ern and Middle Districts of Tennessee. 

Clark, Charles Edgar, an Ameri¬ 
can naval officer; born in Bradford, 
Vt., Aug. 10, 1843. He entered the 
naval service in 1860; was promoted 
captain in 1896. In March, 1898, he 
took command of the battleship “Ore¬ 
gon,” and when war with Spain was 
deemed inevitable he received orders to 
roceed to Key West, Fla., with all 
aste. After a most remarkable voy¬ 
age of over 14,000 miles, he joined the 
American fleet in Cuban waters on 
May 26, and commanded his ship at 
the battle of Santiago. Was assigned 
to duty at the League Island navy 
yard; promoted rear-admiral June 16, 
1902; and retired Aug. 10, 1905. 

Clark, Daniel, a Canadian patho¬ 
logist ; born in Granton, Scotland, 
Aug. 29, 1836. He was takeh to Can¬ 
ada when a child; practiced medicine 
in Ontario with great success. He 
has paid especial attention to the care 
of the insane and since 1875 he has 
been at the head of the Provincial 
Asylum for the Insane at Toronto. 

Clark, Edward, an American ar¬ 
chitect ; born in Philadelphia, in 1824. 
He studied architecture, and after 
serving as assistant was made chief 
architect of the United States Capitol 
in 1864, serving ever since. 

Clark, Francis Edward, an 
American clergyman ; born in Aylmer, 
Quebec, Sept. 12, 1851. He became 
pastor of a Congregational Church at 
Portland, Me., and there organized the 
first Young People’s Society of Chris¬ 
tian Endeavor, Feb. 2, 1881. 

p. 35. 


Clark, or Clarke, George Rogers, 

an American pioneer; born near Mon- 
ticello, Va., Nov. 19, 1752. He studied 
surveying, and settled in Ohio, serving 
in the Indian wars of that time and 
region. He removed to Kentucky in 
1775, procuring the organization of 
that territory. On the outbreak of the 
Revolutionary War he led the patriot 
army on the frontier, campaigning 
against the British throughout Illinois, 
Ohio and Kentucky. His success in 
this saved much territory to the colo¬ 
nies in the final treaty of peace with 
Great Britain. He died near Louis¬ 
ville, Ky., Feb. 18, 1818. 

Clark, Henry James, an Ameri¬ 
can naturalist and prose-writer; born 
in Easton, Mass., June 22, 1826; was 
associated in work with Agassiz for 
several years. He died in Amherst, 
Mass., July 1, 1873. 

Clark, James Gowdy, an Ameri¬ 
can balladist; born in Constantia, N. 
Y., June 28, 1830. He was well known 
as a concert singer and song writer. 
Among his most popular songs are 
“The Beautiful Hills,” “Freedom’s 
Battle Hymn,” etc. He served as a 
volunteer during the Civil War, and 
died in Pasadena, Cal., in September, 
1897. 

Clark, JoHn Bates, an American 
economist; born in Providence, R. I., 
Jan. 26, 1847. He is prominent as 
a political economist. In 1900 he was 
Professor of Political Economy at Co¬ 
lumbia University. 

Clark, John Emory, an American 
scientist; born in Northampton, N. 
Y., Aug. 8, 1832. After serving in the 
Civil War he became Professor of As¬ 
tronomy at Antioch College. Since 
1873 he has been Professor of Mathe¬ 
matics at the Sheffield Scientific 
School of Yale University. 

Clark, Jonas Gilman, an Ameri¬ 
can philanthropist; born in Hubbards- 
ton, Mass., Feb. 1, 1815. He is noted 
as the founder of Clark University. 
Worcester, Mass. He also conferred 
gifts on his native town. He died in 
Worcester, Mass., May 23, 1900, and 
bequeathed $200,000 to Clark Uni¬ 
versity outright and $1,000,000 and 
the residue of his estate conditionally. 

Clark, Lewis Gaylord, an Amer¬ 
ican journalist and humorous writer; 
born in Otisco, N. Y., March 5, 1810. 





Clark 


Clarke 


In 1834 he became editor of the 
“Knickerbocker Magazine,” and made 
it the foremost literary publication of 
that time. He died in Piermont, N. 
Y., Nov. 3, 1873. 

Clark, Thomas March, an Amer¬ 
ican clergyman ; born in Newburyport, 
Mass., July 4, 1812. He entered the 
Presbyterian ministry and in 1836 be¬ 
came an Episcopalian priest. He was 
chosen Bishop of Rhode Island in 
1854. He cued Sept. 7, 1903. 

Clark, Walter, an American 
jurist; born in Halifax, N. C., Aug. 
19, 1846. He became a lawyer in 
1868, judge of the Superior Court in 
1885 and of the Supreme Court in 
1889. 

Clark, William, an explorer; 

brother of George Rogers Clark ; born 
in Virginia, Aug. 1, 1770; emigrated 
with his family at the age of 14 to 
the falls of the Ohio, in Kentucky, on 
the present site of Louisville. In 1808 
he was appointed in conjunction with 
Capt. Meriwether Lewis to the com¬ 
mand of an expedition designed to ex¬ 
plore the N. W. territory. His journal 
and the account kept by him of the 
astronomical observations made by him 
and Captain Lewis have been pub¬ 
lished. He was appointed in 1813 
governor of the Northwest Territory 
and superintendent of Indian affairs, 
which offices he retained till 1820, 
when Missouri was created a State. 
Two years afterward he was again 
appointed commissioner and superin¬ 
tendent of Indian affairs. He died in 
St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 1, 1838. 

Clark, William Andrews, an 
American capitalist; born near Con- 
nellsville, Pa., Jan. 8, 1839. He set¬ 
tled in Montana in 1863, and acquired 
a great fortune. He was the Demo¬ 
cratic choice for United States Senator 
from Montana in 1890 and 1896, and 
in 1899 the Legislature elected him. 
In April, 1900, the United States Sen¬ 
ate declared his election void; but his 
legislature reelected him Jan. 16, 1901. 

Clark, William Bullock, an 
American scientist; born in Brattle- 
boro, Vt., Dec. 15, 1860. He became 
instructor in Geology at Johns Hop¬ 
kins University in 1887, and since 
1894 has been Professor of Geology 
there. In 1891 he was appointed Di¬ 
rector of the Maryland Weather Ser¬ 
vice. 


Clark, Willis Gaylord, an Amer¬ 
ican poet, twin brother of Lewis Gay¬ 
lord ; born in Otisco, N. Y., March 5, 
1810; died in Philadelphia, Pa., June 
12, 1841. 

Clarke, Augustus Peck, an Amer¬ 
ican physician; born in Pawtucket, R. 
I., Sept. 24, 1833. He was an army 
surgeon during part of the Civil War, 
and subsequently entered private prac¬ 
tice. He has been sent to every Inter¬ 
national Medical Congress since 1887, 
and since 1894 has been Dean of the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons in 
Boston. 

Clarke, Benjamin Franklin, an 

American educator; born in Newport, 
Me., July 14, 1831. He became Pres, 
of Brown University in 1898. 

Clarke, Sir Caspar Purdon, 
Anglo-American archssologist and art- 
critic, b. 1846. He studied art, archi¬ 
tecture and archaeology, became direc¬ 
tor of the London South Kensington 
Museum, and in 1905 of the Metropol¬ 
itan Museum of Art, N. Y. G. He was 
knighted in 1902. 

Clarke, Creston, an American 
actor; born in Philadelphia, Aug. 20, 
1865. He made his debut in London, 
1882, and has attained success in 
tragic roles. 

Clarke, Editk Emily, an Ameri¬ 
can librarian; born in Syracuse, N. 
Y., Nov. 5, 1859. She became chief 
cataloguer of public documents for the 
National Government in 1895, and li¬ 
brarian of the University of Vermont 
in 1898. 

Clarke, Frank Wigglesworth, 

an American scientist; born in Boston, 
Mass., March 19, 1847. He has been 
chief chemist of the United States 
Geological Survey since 1883. 

Clarke, James Freeman, an 
American Unitarian clergyman and 
author; born in Hanover, N. H., April 
4, 1810; settled in Boston, Mass., in 
1841, and was pastor of the Church of 
the Disciples which was organized es¬ 
pecially for him, and of which he had 
charge till his death. From 1867-1871 
he was Professor of Natural Religion 
University. He died in Boston, Mass., 
June 8, 1888. 

Clarke, John Mason, an Ameri¬ 
can scientist; born in Canandaigua, N. 
Y., April 15, 1857. He was Professor 
of Geology at Smith College and sub- 






Clarke 


Clavicle 


sequently became State Palaeontologist 
of New York. 

Clarke, Jokn Sleeper, an Ameri¬ 
can actor; born in Baltimore, Md., 
Sept. 3, 1833. He was a theatrical 
manager and a brother-in-law of Ed¬ 
win Booth. He died in London, Eng¬ 
land, Sept. 14, 1899. 

Clarke, McDonald, an American 
poet; born in Bath, Me., June 18, 
1798. He was an eccentric character, 
familiarly known as “the mad poet”; 
the subjects of Clarke’s verses were 
usually the belles of the city and topics 
of the day. He died in New York, 
March 5, 1842. 

Clarke, Mary Bayard, an Amer¬ 
ican author; born in Raleigh, N. C., 
about 1830. While living in Cuba she 
published verses, and after her return 
in 1855 she wrote “Reminiscences of 
Cuba.” 

Clarke, Rebecca Sopkia 

(“Sophie May”), an American novel¬ 
ist and writer of children’s stories; 
born at Norridgewock, Me., 1833. 

Clarke, Rickard Henry, an Amer¬ 
ican author; born in Washington, D. 
C., July 3, 1827. He was made pres¬ 
ident of the Society of American Au¬ 
thors in 1891. 

Clark University, a co-educa- 
tional institution in Atlanta, Ga.; or¬ 
ganized in 1870 under the auspices of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Clark University, Worcester, 
Mass., an institution founded in 1887 
by Jonas Gilman Clark (q. v.), and 
designed for advanced students in sci¬ 
ence. At the death of Mr. Clark in 
1900, the University received a bequest 
of $2,500,000 for the establishment of 
an undergraduate department. 

Claude Lorraine, a landscape 
painter whose real name was Claude 
Gel6e, but who was called Lorraine 
from the province where he was born 
in 1600. He traveled in Italy, France 
and Germany, but settled in 1627 in 
Rome, where his works were greatly 
sought for, and where he lived much 
at his ease until 1682, when he died 
of gout. He excelled in luminous at¬ 
mospheric effects, of which he made 
loving and elaborate studies. He 
made small copies of all his pictures 
in six books known as “ Libri di 
Verita” (Books of Truth), which 
form a work of great value. 


Claudianus, Claudius, a Roman 
poet of the 4th century. He stood 
high in favor with the Emperors 
Honorius and Arcadius, and was pro¬ 
moted to the highest honors of the 
state. He was the last of the non- 
Christian poets of Rome. 

Claudius I., Tiberius Drusus 
Nero, sur-named Germanicus and 
Britannicus, the fourth Emperor of 
Rome; born in Lyons, b. c. 10. After 
spending 50 years of his life in a 
private station, he was, on the murder 
of Caligula, his nephew, a. d. 41, pro¬ 
claimed Emperor by the soldiers, and 
confirmed in the sovereignty by the 
Senate. He died, A. d. 54, of poison 
administered by his second wife Agrip¬ 
pina. 

Claudius, Appius, a Roman de¬ 
cemvir (451 and 450 b. c.), who gained 
the high favor of his fellow-citizens 
by his ability and activity. In the 
latter year he began to show his real 
aims toward absolute power. The in¬ 
dignation of the Roman populace 
reached a height on account of his 
tyrannical action toward Virginia, 
daughter of a plebeian named Lucius 
Virginius. The patrician gained pos¬ 
session of the maiden by pretending 
that she was the born slave of one of 
his clients. Her lover Icilius sum¬ 
moned her father from the army. To 
save his daughter from dishonor, the 
unhappy father seized a knife and 
slew her. The popular indignation 
and the father’s appeal to the army 
overthrow the decemviri, and Appius 
was flung into prison, where he died 
by his own hand. 

Clausel, Bertrand, a marshal of 
France; born in Mirepoix in 1773. 
He accompanied Junot and Massena 
to Spain in 1810. In 1813 Napoleon 
rewarded his valor by conferring on 
him the chief command of the forces 
in the N. of Spain. On the restora¬ 
tion of the Bourbons he came to the 
United States, and lived here for a 
long time, but when Charles X. was 
overthrown, in 1830, he received from 
Louis Philippe the command of the 
French troops in Algeria, which he 
retained till 1836. He died in 1842. 

Clavickord, a key and stringed 
instrument, not now in use, being su¬ 
perseded by the pianoforte. 

Clavicle, the collar-bone. It con¬ 
nects the upper limb with the trunk. 




Clavijero 


Clay 


Clavijero, Francisco Xavier, 

Mexican historian, b. 1731; d. 1787. 

Claxton, Kate (Mrs, Charles A. 
Stevenson), an American actress; 
born in New York city in 1848. She 
made her debut at Daly’s Theater be¬ 
fore she was out of her teens, but her 
success dates from 1873. Since 1896 
she has been touring the country in 
emotional plays. 

Clay, the name of various earths, 
which consist of hydrated silicate of 
aluminum, with small proportions of 
the silicates of iron, calcium, mag¬ 
nesium, potassium, and sodium.. Their 
tenacity and ductility when moist and 
their hardness when they are dry has 
made them from the earliest times the 
materials of bricks, tiles, pottery, etc. 

Clay, Cassius Marcellus, an 
American diplomatist; born in Mad¬ 
ison county, Ky., Oct. 19, 1810. He 
was an opponent of slavery and sup¬ 
ported Lincoln for the Presidency. 
From 1862 to 1869 he was Minister to 
Russia. In 1886 he published his 
speeches. His old age was marked by 
eccentricity. He died in 1905. 

Clay, Frederick, an English com¬ 
poser ; born in Paris, Aug. 3, 1840. 
His most successful production was 
“ The Black Crook.” He died in Lon¬ 
don, Nov. 27, 1889. 

Clay, Henry, an American states¬ 
man ; born in “ The Slashes ” district, 
Hanover county, Va., April 12, 1777. 
Becoming a student of law, in his 21st 
year, he was admitted to the bar, and 
began practice at Lexington, Ky. His 
success was signal and immediate. 
About 1804 he entered politics, and 
in 1806 became United States Senator 
for a single year, to fill the unexpired 
term of Mr. Adair; and in 1811 was 
elected to, and chosen speaker of, the 
House of Representatives, remaining 
in that post till 1814, when he was 
sent abroad as one of the commission¬ 
ers to negotiate the treaty of peace 
with England at Ghent. On his re¬ 
turn he was again sent to Congress, 
and reelected to his old position as 
speaker. He had a prominent share 
in the vehement discussions about 
slavery which were excited in 1820 by 
the question respecting the admission 
of Missouri into the Union; and he 
was (if not the author) the earnest 
advocate of the famous “ compromise ” 


on that subject. In 1824 he was a 
candidate for the Presidency against 
J. Q. Adams, General Jackson, and 
W. H. Crawford, and no choice be¬ 
ing effected in the Electoral College, 
when the matter came up to the House 
of Representatives Clay and his 
friends voted for Mr. Adams, thereby 
securing his election. During the en¬ 
tire period of the Adams administra¬ 
tion, 1825-1829, Clay was Secretary 
of State, and performed the duties, of 
that office with consummate ability. 
In 1831, he returned to the United 
States Senate, and became the leader 
of the opposition to General Jackson’s 
government, and strove, but ineffectu¬ 
ally, against the removal of the de¬ 
posits from the United States Bank. 
Through his influence also, the “ Com¬ 
promise Bill,” as it was called, was 
passed through Congress, which put 
an end to the Nullification contro¬ 
versy by a partial abandonment of the 
protective system. 

In 1832, he was again the candi¬ 
date of his party for the presidency, 
though with little chance of success, 
owing to the overwhelming popularity 
of General Jackson, who was re¬ 
elected. In March, 1842, he resigned 
his seat in the Senate, and retired in¬ 
to private life, till 1844, when he 
came forward a third time as a can¬ 
didate for the Presidential chair. In 
one of the most exciting political con¬ 
tests that ever occurred in the United 
States he was again defeated, but 
by a very small numerical majority. 
The immediate consequence of this 
defeat was the annexation of Texas, 
a measure to which he had given his 
strenuous opposition. This was vir¬ 
tually the termination of his public 
career, though, in 1849, he consented 
to resume his seat in the Senate, in 
view of the perilous contest which 
was then impending between the slave¬ 
holding party and its opponents, on 
the California and territorial ques¬ 
tions. He was the author of the cele¬ 
brated “ Compromise of 1850,” as it 
was termed, through which, after a 
long and vehement struggle, this dis¬ 
pute was, for the time being, adjusted. 
The excitement and exhaustion occa¬ 
sioned by this last great controversy 
gave the final blow to his already en¬ 
feebled constitution, and he died in 
Washington, June 29, 1852, 






Claymore 


Clement 


Claymore, formerly the large two- 
handed, double-edged sword of the 
Scotch Highlanders; now a basket- 
hilted, double-edged broad-sword. 

Claypolc, Edward Waller, an 
American geologist born in England, 
June 1, 1835. He became Professor 
of Geology and Biology in the Cali¬ 
fornia Polytechnic Institute in Pasa¬ 
dena, and served also on the Geological 
Survey of Pennsylvania. He was a 
member of a number of geological 
societies in America, London, and 
Edinburgh, and of the American 
Association for the Advancement of 
Sciences. He died in Long Beach, 
Cal., Aug. 17, 1901. 

Clayton, John Middleton, an 
American statesman; born in Sussex 
county, Del. in 1796. He was suc¬ 
cessively United States Senator, chief 
justice of his native State, and United 
States Senator a second time, when 
he became Secretary of State under 
Gen. Taylor. In this capacity he 
negotiated the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. 
Clayton resigned his office on General 
Taylor’s death in 1850, but remained 
in the Senate till his death, Nov. 9, 
1856. 

Clayton, Powell, an American 
military officer; born in Bethel, Pa., 
Aug. 7, 1833. When the Civil War 
broke out he entered the Union army 
as captain of the 1st Kansas In¬ 
fantry, and in 1864 was promoted 
Brigadier- General of volunteers. At 
the close of the war he settled in Ar¬ 
kansas ; was elected governor in 1868; 
United States Senator in 1871-1877; 
appointed Minister to Mexico in 1897, 
and raised to the rank of ambassador 
in 1899. 

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, a con¬ 
vention between the United States 
and Great Britain, concluded April 
19, 1850, and deriving its name from 
John M Clayton, Secertary of State 
of the United States, and Sir Henry 
Bulw’er, British Minister of Wash¬ 
ington. The object of the treaty was 
to aid the construction of an inter- 
oceanic canal on either the Nicaragua 
or Panama routes. 

Clearance of Vessels, the exam¬ 
ination of them by the proper custom¬ 
house officers, and the giving of a 
certificate that the regulations have 
been duly complied with. 


Clearing-house, a financial insti¬ 
tution which makes daily adjustment 
of debits and credits among the banks 
constituting its membership. 

Cleary, James Vincent, a Cana¬ 
dian clergyman; born in Waterford, 
Ireland, Sept. 18, 1828. In 1880 was 
appointed Bishop of Kingston, Cana¬ 
da, the see being made an archbishop¬ 
ric in 1889. 

Cleef, (I.), Joseph van, surnamed 
the Fool; born in Antwerp in 1480, 
one of the most celebrated painters of 
his time. He died insane in 1529. (2) 
John, a painter; born in Rome in 
1646, belongs to the Flemish school. 
He died in 1716. 

Clef, a character placed at the be¬ 
ginning of a stave, to show the ele¬ 
vation of that particular stave in the 
musical system, and to define the posi¬ 
tion and name of each note. 

Clematis. See Traveler’s Joy. 

Clemenceau, Georges Benja¬ 
min, French statesman and author, b. 
Mouilleron-en-Pareds, 1841, became a 
physician, mayor of Montmartre 1870, 
deputy 1871; championed Dreyfus and 
as Minister of Interior directed the 
separation of Church and State. 

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 
best known by his pen-name Mark 
Twain, an American humorist, born 
in Florida, Mo., Nov. 30, 1835. After 
a common-school education, he was in 
turns compositor, Mississippi pilot, 
Confederate soldier, a Nevada news¬ 
paper reporter, gold-miner, and a lec¬ 
turer. He sprang into celebrity in 
1869 with the “ Innocents Abroad,” 
and “ The New Pilgrim’s Progress,” 
the account of an excursion party in 
the Orient, since when a long list of 
bright books, magazine articles, etc., 
have added to his fame. 

Clement VII., Pope, (Giulio de 
Medici), nephew of Lorenzo the Mag¬ 
nificent, and cousin of Leo X., suc¬ 
ceeded Adrian VI. in 1523. It was 
during his reign that schism occur¬ 
red which ultimately resulted in the 
separation of England from the Rom¬ 
ish Church. He died in 1534, and was 
succeeded by Paul III. 

Clement XI., (Giovanni Francesco 
Albani), born in Pesaro, 1649, suc¬ 
ceeded Innocent XII., 1700. He issued 
the famous Unigenitus bull. Died in 
1721, succeeded by Innocent XIII. 




Clement 


Clermont 


Clement XIII., (Carlo Rezzoni- 
co), born in Venice, 1693, succeeded 
Benedict XIV., 1758. The Jesuits hav¬ 
ing been expelled from France, Spain, 
Portugal, and Naples, he made great 
but useless efforts to reinstate them. 
He died in 1769. He was succeeded 
by Clement XIV. 

Clement XIV., (Giovanni Vin¬ 
cenzo, Antonio Ganganelli), born in 
St. Arcangelo, 1705. Being of a con¬ 
ciliating disposition, he lived on good 
terms with all the European courts. 
He died in 1774, and was succeeded 
by Pius VI. 

Clement, Jacques, the assassin of 
Henry III. of France; born in 1567. 
Having fatally stabbed the king, he 
was at once killed by the courtiers; 
but the populace, instigated by the 
priests, regarded him as a martyr; and 
Pope Sixtus V. even pronounced his 
panegyric. 

Clement, William Henry Pope, 

a Canadian lawyer; born in Vienna, 
Ont., May 13, 1858. He has written 
“The Law of the Canadian Consti¬ 
tution ” (1892), a work that was made 
a text-book in the principal colleges 
and universities of the Dominion. 

dementi, Muzio, an Italian pian¬ 
ist and composer; born in Rome in 
1752. He represented perhaps the 
highest point of technique of his day, 
and his influence on modern execution 
has led to his being characterized as 
“ the father of pianoforte playing.” 
He died in England in 1832, and was 
interred in Westminster Abbey. 

Clemson Agricultural College, 
an educational (non-sect.) institution 
in Clemson College Station, S. C.; or¬ 
ganized in 1890. 

Cleon, an Athenian demagogue, or¬ 
iginally a tanner by trade. He was 
sent in 422 against Brasidas, but ah 
lowed himself to be taken unawares, 
and was slain while attempting to flee. 

Cleopatra. Among several Egyp¬ 
tian princesses of this name, the most 
renowned was the eldest daughter of 
Ptolemy Auletes, wife of his eldest 
son Ptolemy, with whom she shared 
the throne of Egypt. She accompan¬ 
ied Antony on his march against the 
Parthians, and when he parted from 
her on the Euphrates he bestowed 
Gyrene, Cyprus, Ccelosyria, Phoenicia, 


Cilicia, and Crete on her, to which he 
added part of Judea and Arabia at 
her request. The war between Aug¬ 
ustus and Anthony commenced, and at 
Actium the fleets met. Cleopatra, 
who had brought Antony a reinforce¬ 
ment of 60 vessels, suddenly took to 
flight, and thus caused the defeat of 
her party. They fled to Egypt, and de¬ 
clared to Augustus that if Egypt was 
left to Cleopatra’s children they would 
thenceforth live in retirement. But Au¬ 
gustus demanded Antony’s death and 
advanced toward Alexandria. Antony 
threw himself upon his sword, and 
Augustus succeeded in getting Cleo¬ 
patra into his power. She still hoped 
to subdue him by her charms; but her 
arts were unavailing, and becoming 
aware that her life was spared only 
that she might grace the conqueror’s 
triumph, she determined to escape this 
ignominy by a voluntary death. She or¬ 
dered a splendid feast to be prepared, 
desired her attendants to leave her, 
and put an asp, which a faithful ser¬ 
vant had brought her, concealed 
among flowers, on her arm, the bite of 
which caused her death (30 B. C.). 
At the time of her death she was 39 
years old, and had reigned over Egypt 
22 years. 

Cleopatra’s Needles, two obe¬ 
lisks that were set up at the entrance 
of the Temple of the Sun, in Helio¬ 
polis, Egypt, by Thothmes III., about 
1831 b. c. In 1819 one of these obe¬ 
lisks was presented by the Egyptian 
Government to England, but as no one 
knew how to move them, it was not 
taken to London until 1878. Later 
the other obelisk was presented to the 
United States, and is now in Cen¬ 
tral Park, New York city. 

Clergy, the body or order of men 
chosen or set apart to the service of 
God, in the Christian Church; in con¬ 
tradistinction to the lay worshipers. 

Clerk, one who has charge of an 
office or department, subject to a 
higher authority as a board, corpora¬ 
tion, etc.; a secretary, as, the Clerk 
of the House of Representatives or 
Senate; Clerks of the various courts, 
clerks of cities, etc. 

Clermont, The, the name given by 
Robert Fulton to the steamboat in 
which he made his first trip from New 
York city to Albany in 1807. 





Cleveland 


Climate 


Cleveland, city, county-seat and 
port of entry of Cuyahoga Co., O. It 
is the first city in population and im¬ 
portance in Ohio and seventh in the 
United States in 1900. The city has 
a harbor secured by artificial break¬ 
waters. Pop. (1900) 381,768. The 
principal industries, according to 
the value of the products, are 
the manufacture of iron and steel 
($24,276,197) ; foundry and machine 
shop products ($15,428,053) ; slaugh¬ 
tering and meat packing, whole¬ 
sale ($7,514,470) ; malt liquors ($4,- 
033,915). Cleveland is the center of 
the malleable iron trade in the United 
States, and surpasses all other lake 
ports in the building of iron and steel 
vessels, some having been built 380 
feet in length and costing $500,000. 
Cleveland was settled in 1796, under 
the direction of Gen. Moses Cleave- 
land, agent of the Connecticut Land 
Company. It was situated in the 
“ Western Reserve ” of the State of 
Connecticut, and its early settlers 
were mostly from that State. 

Cleveland, Grover, an Amer¬ 
ican statesman; twice President of the 
United States; born in Caldwell, Es¬ 
sex Co., N. J., March 18, 1837; son 
of a Presbyterian clergyman. He set¬ 
tled in Buffalo and studied law, and 
in 1863 became assistant district at¬ 
torney of Erie Co., N. Y. After be¬ 
coming in succession sheriff and may¬ 
or of Buffalo, he was chosen governor 
of New York in 1882. In 1884 he 
received the Democratic nomination 
for the presidency, and was elected, 
defeating James G. Blaine. He was 
renominated in June, 1888, but was 
defeated by Benjamin Harrison, Nov. 
6 following. After a successful law 
practice of four years he was again 
nominated by the Democratic Na¬ 
tional Convention of 1892, in spite 
of the opposition of the delegates from 
his own State, and elected by very 
large majorities. Some of the meas¬ 
ures of his administration were: The 
settlement of the Venezuelan bound¬ 
ary question with Great Britain; the 
consolidating of post-offices in large 
centers so as to increase the scope 
of the civil service rules; and most 
notably the conclusion in January, 
1897, of a general arbitration treaty 
with Great Britain, which, however, 


was rejected by the Senate. In 1904 
his name was again prominent in con¬ 
nection with the Presidency. He mar¬ 
ried Frances Folsom in June, 1886, 
and has three daughters and a son. 

Cleveland, Rose Elizabeth, an 
American prose-writer, sister of 
Grover Cleveland; born in Fayette¬ 
ville, N. Y., 1846. After the inaugu¬ 
ration of her brother (1885) she be¬ 
came the “ mistress of the White 
House,” remaining there until 1886. 

Cleves, (German Kleve), a town 
in Rhenish Prussia. In the center of 
the town rises the old and renowned 
Schwanenburg (Swan’s Castle), the 
ancient residence of the dukes of 
Cleves, founded, says tradition, by Ju¬ 
lius Caesar. Prussia (Brandenburg) 
acquired Cleves in 1609. Pop. 10,936. 

Clianthus, a genus of plants, hav¬ 
ing crimson, scarlet, and flesh-colored 
flowers. 

Clients, in ancient Rome, citizens 
of the lower ranks who chose a patron 
from the higher classes, whose duty it 
was to assist them in legal cases, to 
take a paternal care of them, and to 
provide for their security. In modem 
times the word client is used for a 
party to a lawsuit who has put his 
cause into the hands of a lawyer. 

Cliff Dwellers, a race of Indians 
who lived in the cliffs bordering on the 
valleys of the Rio Grande and Rio 
Colorado. Their homes were built 
in the recesses of these cliffs at a 
height often several hundred feet from 
the ground. How the inhabitants sub¬ 
sisted is not known, but probably 
mainly by hunting and fishing, as the 
soil about these localities is barren. 

Climacteric, critical, dangerous, 
pertaining to the great climacteric, or 
to any one of lesser peril. A climac¬ 
teric disease is a disease affecting both 
men and women about the 63d year 
of age, but varies in the time of its 
coming, according to the constitution 
of the individual. Its most common 
predisposing cause is mental anxiety 
or suffering. 

Climate, in its most general ac¬ 
ceptation, embraces all those modifi¬ 
cations of the atmosphere by which 
our organs are sensibly affected; such 
as temperature, humidity, variations 
of barometric pressure, the tran¬ 
quillity of the atmosphere or effects 




Climax 


Clock 


of winds, the purity of the air, 
or its mixture with gaseous emana¬ 
tions more or less salubrious; and 
lastly, that serenity of the sky so im¬ 
portant on account of the influence 
which it exercises not only on the 
development of organic tissues in vege¬ 
tables and the ripening of fruits, but 
also on the ensemble of moral sen¬ 
sations which mankind experience in 
the different zones. 

Climax (a gradual ascent), a rhe¬ 
torical figure in which a series of 
propositions or objects are presented 
in such a way that the least impress¬ 
ive comes first, and there is a regular 
gradation from this to the most im¬ 
pressive or final. 

Climbing Perch, an Indian 

species of perch which quits the wa¬ 
ter and makes its way for consider¬ 
able distances over the land. It is 
even said to climb trees, whence its 
specific name. 

Climbing Plants, plants which 
climb by tendrils or any similar ap¬ 
pliances terminating at the stem. 

Clinch, Charles Powell, an 
American poet and play-writer; born 
in New York city, Oct. 20, 1797. He 
died in New York, Dec. 16, 1880. 

Clinical Medicine, a branch of 
medical practice that teaches us to 
investigate at the bedside of the sick 
the true nature of diseases in the phe¬ 
nomena presented; to note their 
course and termination; and to study 
the effects of the various modes of 
treatment to which they are subjected. 

Clinton, De Witt, an American 
lawyer and statesman; born in Little 
Britain, N. Y., March 2, 1769. He 
was successively United States Sen¬ 
ator from New York; mayor of New 
York city; lieutenant-governor; can¬ 
didate for President and governor. He 
was the chief originator of the Erie 
Canal (1817-1825). He died in 
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 11, 1828. 

Clinton, George, Vice-President 
of the United States; born in Little 
Britain, Ulster Co., N. Y., July 26, 
1739. He was a member of Congress 
in 1776, and voted for the Declaration 
of Independence, but was summoned 
to the army as Brigadier-General be¬ 
fore it was prepared for signature. In 
1777 he was elected governor and at 
the same time lieutenant-governor of 


the State of New York, which latter 
office was, on his acceptance of the 
other, conferred upon Mr. Van Cort- 
landt. He held the office of governor 
during the next 18 years. He was 
again chosen governor after spending 
five years in private life, in 1801, and 
in 1804 became Vice-President of the 
United States. He died in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., April 20, 1812. 

Clinton, Sir Henry, a British 
general, born about 1738; was sent in 
1775 with the rank of Major-General, 
to America, where he distinguished 
himself in the battle of Bunker Hill. 
He defeated the Americans at Long Is¬ 
land, but had to evacuate Philadelphia 
to Gen. Washington. In 1782 he re¬ 
turned to England. He died in Gib¬ 
raltar, Dec. 23, 1795. 

Clinton, James, an American mil¬ 
itary officer; born in Little Britain, 
Ulster Co., N. Y., Aug. 9, 1736. He 
accompanied Montgomery to Quebec 
in 1775. and was appointed Brigadier- 
General the following year. He aft¬ 
erward served against the Indians 
under Sullivan, in 1779, and was 
present at the surrender of Corn¬ 
wallis. He died Dec. 22, 1812. 

Clio, glory, renown, the muse of 
history and epic poetry, represented 
as bearing a half-opened roll of a book. 

Clive, Robert, Lord Clive and 
Baron of Plassey, an English soldier 
and statesman; born in Shropshire, 
Sept. 29, 1725. His military successes 
established British predominance in 
India. Having been censured by Par¬ 
liament for alleged wrongdoing in In¬ 
dia he committed suicide Nov. 22, 
1774. 

Cloaca, a sewer, an underground 
drain or conduit. The Roman Cloaca 
Maxima is said to have been con¬ 
structed about 588 b. c. and is still 
used in the drainage of Rome. 

Clock, an instrument for measur¬ 
ing and indicating the time of day. 
The first measure of time was the sun¬ 
dial, followed by the hour-glass; next 
the clepsydra, or water clock. These 
have been in use 2,000 years. The 
next improvement was the substitu¬ 
tion of a weight for the water. A 
pendulum was added about a. d. 
1000. The anchor escapement, in¬ 
vented in 1666-1680, and the dead- 





Cloister 


Clovis 


beat escapement in 1700, gave a new 
impulse to clockmaking. There has 
been no material change in the prin¬ 
ciples on which clocks are made, ex¬ 
cept in the substitution of steel 
springs for weights and in the finer 
movements, and in the addition of the 
hair-spring to regulate still further 
the action of the escapement or pen¬ 
dulum, since 1700. 

Cloister, the square space attached 
to a regular monastery or large 
church which forms part of the passage 
of communication from the church to 
the other parts of the establishment. 

Clootz, Jean Baptiste de, a 
Prussian baron, one of the wildest and 
most violent actors in the early 
scenes of the French Revolution. He 
was born in Cleves in 1755. He was 
in 1792 sent to the French National 
Convention as deputy from the de¬ 
partment of the Oise. He was among 
those who voted for the death of Louis 
XVI. Becoming an object of sus¬ 
picion to Robespierre, he was arrest¬ 
ed, and guillotined in 1794. 

Closure, a rule in British parlia¬ 
mentary procedure adopted in 1887 
by which, at any time after a ques¬ 
tion has been proposed, a motion may 
be made with the speaker’s or chair¬ 
man’s consent “ That the question be 
now put,” when the motion is imme¬ 
diately put and decided without de¬ 
bate or amendment. 

Cloudberry, or Mountain Bram¬ 
ble, a fruit found in America, Eu¬ 
rope, and Asia of the same genus with 
the bramble or blackberry. 

Cloud Burst, a sudden and violent 
rainfall, covering a limited territory 
and of brief duration. It is caused 
by the contact of a warm current of 
air, surcharged with moisture, with 
a cold current, the result being swift 
condensation and immediate precipi¬ 
tation of the water formed. 

Clouds, formations owing their or¬ 
igin to aqueous vapor diffused in the 
atmosphere, supplied from the evapo¬ 
ration of the sea and other water sur¬ 
faces, under the influence of solar 
heat, and diffused through the agency 
of winds. Air can absorb, or hold, 
only a certain amount of invisible 
vapor. Should the temperature, under 
this condition, be lowered, condensa¬ 
tion takes place, and clouds are form¬ 


ed. Should the cooling continue, these 
globules unite and are finally precipi¬ 
tated in the form of rain, and, with 
sufficiently reduced temperature, as 
snow. Mists and fogs are simply in¬ 
cipient states of clouds, and when in 
contact with cold bodies produce, by 
deposition of moisture, dew, and hoar 
frost. Tropical countries generally 
have a dry and wet season, and there 
are other localities where rain may 
fall irregularly at all seasons. Fifty 
inches per annum may be regarded 
as a moderate rainfall, and below 20 
inches a very light one, and generally 
insufficient for agricultural purposes. 

Cloud, St., a town of France, in 
the department of Seine-et-Oise, on 
the border of Paris. The historical as¬ 
sociations of this place are intimately 
connected with the royalty of France. 
Its palace, which is very beautiful, 
was originally the property of the 
Dukes of Orleans, and was a summer 
residence of the Kings of France. 
Here, in 1799, Napoleon I. dismissed 
the Assembly of Five Hundred, and 
caused himself to be proclaimed first 
consul; and in 1830, Charles X. put 
his signature to the ordinances which 
cost him his throne. 

Clove Bark, a name vaguely used 
for various aromatic drugs; some be¬ 
longing to the clove, others to the cin¬ 
namon alliance. 

Clover, or Trefoil, a genus of 
plants containing a great number of 
species, natives chiefly of temperate 
climates, and some of them very im¬ 
portant in agriculture as affording 
pasture and fodder for cattle. 

Cloves, a very pungent and aro¬ 
matic spice, the dried flower-buds of 
a tree a native of the Molucca Isl¬ 
ands, belonging to the myrtle tribe, 
now cultivated in Sumatra, Mauri¬ 
tius, Malacca, Jamaica, etc. Every 
part of the plant abounds in the vola¬ 
tile oil for which the flower-buds are 
prized. 

Clovis I., King of the Franks, us¬ 
ually called the founder of the French 
monarchy; born in 467. He was the 
son of Childeric I. and succeeded him 
in 481. During his reign he recovered 
from the Romans all their posses¬ 
sions in Gaul. He disgraced himself 
by the unjust and cruel measures he 
took to get rid of several of his kin- 




Clowes 


Clyde 


dred, possible competitors for the 
crown. He died in Paris, in 511, 
after dividing his kingdom between his 
four sons. He was the first Christian 
king of France. 



CLOVES. 

Clowes, William Laird, an Eng¬ 
lish naval critic and miscellaneous 
writer; born in London, Feb. 1, 1856. 
Was correspondent for various news¬ 
papers. His works include “ The 
Naval Pocket Book,” “ Black Amer¬ 
ica,” etc. 

Clown, the buffoon or practical 
jester in pantomime and circus per¬ 
formances. 

Club, an association or number of 
persons combined for the promotion of 
some common object, whether politi¬ 
cal, social or otherwise. Well-estab¬ 
lished clubs have been organized in 
all the leading cities of the United 
States, and clubs exclusively for wom¬ 
en have become numerous, one of the 
most notable pioneers in this line be¬ 
ing the Sorosis of New York. 

Clubbing, a diseased condition of 
plants of the cabbage family produced 
by the larvae of insects, consisting in 


the lower part of the stem becoming 
swollen. 

Club Foot, a short, deformed foot 
In 1831 Dr. Stromeyer cured a man 
of this defect by dividing the tendons 
of the contracted muscles with a very 
thin knife. There are three prin¬ 
cipal forms: When the foot is turned 
inward. When it is turned outward. 
When the patient can only put the 
toes on the ground. 

Clugny, or Cluuy, a town of 
France in the department of Saone- 
et-Loire, 46 miles N. of Lyons. The 
monks of the order of Cluny were 
the first branch of the order of Bene¬ 
dictines. The Benedictines having be¬ 
come very lax in their discipline, St. 
Odo, abbot of Cluny in 927, not only 
insisted on a rigorous observance of 
the rules by the monks under him, 
but introduced new ceremonies of a 
severer nature. The order was abol¬ 
ished in 1790. 

Cluricauue, in Irish mythology, 

an elf of evil disposition who usually 
appears as a wrinkled old man, and 
has knowledge of hidden treasures. 

Cluseret, Gustave Paul, a 
French officer and Communist; born 
in Paris, June 13, 1823; he came to 
the United States soon after the 
breaking out of the Civil War, and 
after serving on General McClellan’s 
staff became a Brigadier-General. Sub¬ 
sequently he returned to Paris, and 
was War Minister of the Commune 
in April, 1871. From Paris he fled 
to England and Mexico, and was con¬ 
demned to death by military tribunal 
in 1872. He was, however, pardoned 
and allowed to return to Paris in 
1880. He died in Toulon, Aug. 23, 
1900. 

Clustered Column, in architec¬ 
ture, a pier which appears, to consist 
of several columns or shafts clustered 
together. 

Clutba, the largest river in 
New Zealand, in the S. part of the 
South Island. It receives the waters 
of Lakes Hawea, Wanaka, and Wa- 
katipu, and flows in a S. E. direction, 
having a length of 150 miles. It is 
called also Molyneaux. 

Clyde, a river of Scotland, which 
has its sources amid the hills that 
separate Lanarkshire from the coun¬ 
ties of Peebles and Dumfries and 


























































































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Clymer 


Coal 


forms an extensive estuary before it 
enters, the Irish Sea. The Clyde, by 
artificial deepening, has been made 
navigable for large vessels up to Glas¬ 
gow. 

Clymer, Ella Dietz, an American 
poet; born in New York. She began 
her career as an actress in 1872; in 
1881 she abandoned the stage. She 
was one of the founders of the “So- 
rosis” Society, and its president in 
1889. 

Clymer, George, an American pa¬ 
triot; born in Philadelphia in 1739. 
He was prominent in public affairs 
prior to the Revolution, and became 
one of the first Continental treas¬ 
urers. He was chosen in 1776 to 
succeed a member of the Continental 
Congress who had refused to sign the 
Declaration of Independence, to which 
he promptly affixed his signature. In 
1787 was a member of the convention 
that framed the Constitution of the 
United States. He was a member of 
the First Congress of the United 
States. He died in Moinsville, Pa., 
Jan. 23, 1813. 

Coach, a large, close, four-wheeled 
vehicle, generally constructed to carry 
passengers inside and outside; used 
for purposes of State for pleasure, or 
for traveling. Italy, France, Spain, 
and Germany all claim the honor of 
having invented coaches. In the first 
half of the 19th century, the greater 
part of the passenger traffic of the 
United States was by coaches. 

Coadjutor, a Latin term, nearly 
synonymous in its original meaning 
with assistant. The term is especial¬ 
ly applied to an assistant bishop. 

Coagulation, the act or process 
of being coagulated, or of changing 
from a liquid to a curd-like semi-solid 
state, produced without evaporation 
and without crystallization. 

Coahuila, a State of Mexico, sep¬ 
arated from Texas by the Rio Grande, 
has an area of 59,280 square miles, 
partly mountainous. The climate is 
healthy, though extremes of heat and 
cold are usual. The state is rich in 
minerals. It has a valuable pastur¬ 
age, and in many parts a most fer¬ 
tile soil; but no district of Mexico is 
so little known, or has been less de¬ 
veloped. Pop. (1900) 280,899; capi¬ 
tal, Saltillo. 


Coal, a solid mineralized vegetable 
matter that can be used for fuel. The 
entire coal area of the United States 
is about 200,000 square miles. But 
though the coal measures of the 
States are of vast extent there has 
been doubt whether the amount of 
workable coal is as great as has been 
stated. The coal areas of the United 
States are seven in number. They 
are: The Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island area, the Allegheny area, the 
Michigan area, the Illinois, Indiana, 
and Western Kentucky area, the 
Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, 
and Texas area, those of the Rocky 
mountains and of the Pacific Coast. 
Excluding these last from the calcu¬ 
lation, we have a total area of 191,- 
200 square miles underlaid by coal¬ 
bearing strata. Of the two generally 
recognized classes of coal, anthracite 
and bituminous, the former composes 
the whole of the coal of the Massa¬ 
chusetts and Rhode Island area, and 
of a part of the Pennsylvania and 
Colorado. With slight exceptions, 
bituminous coal occupies the rest of 
the districts named. The greatest de¬ 
velopment of workable coal strata is 
in the Allegheny mountains and to 
the W. of them, extending continuous¬ 
ly from Pennsylvania and Ohio to 
Alabama. 

Commercially speaking, the anthra¬ 
cite division may be said to consist 
of Pennsylvania alone, although a 
small amount of anthracite coal is 
mined in Colorado. The original coal 
beds of New England have been meta¬ 
morphosed into graphite and graphitic 
coal. This area is confined to East¬ 
ern Rhode Island, and the counties of 
Bristol and Plymouth, Mass. The 
product mined from the beds requires 
a considerable degree of heat for com¬ 
bustion, and can be used only with 
other combustible material or under 
an intense draft or blast. The entire 
annual output is but a few thousand 
tons. The anthracite region of Penn¬ 
sylvania as a whole, has a maximum 
length of about 115 miles, a maximum 
breadth of about 40 miles; area 
about 1,700 square miles; but the area 
underlaid by workable coal beds is 
only about 470 square miles. 

The bituminous coal areas of the 
United States may for convenience be 
grouped into seven divisions: The 




Coal Gas 


Coast Survey 


Triassic area, composed chiefly of the 
Richmond basin, in Virginia and 
the Deep River and the Dan River 
fields, in North Carolina. No exten¬ 
sive mining operations are now car¬ 
ried on in this area. The Appala¬ 
chian field, immediately W. of the E. 
border of the Appalachian range, and 
extends from New York on the N. to 
Alabama on the S., its direction be¬ 
ing N. E. and S. W.; length, about 
900 miles; width, from 30 to 180 
miles, the best and most productive 
beds being those of the Pittsburg dis¬ 
trict and of West Virginia. The N. 
bituminous area: All in Central 
Michigan. The coal here found is 
used mostly for local supply. The 
central area: Three-fourths are in 
Illinois, less than one-sixth in In¬ 
diana, and about one-twelfth in West¬ 
ern Kentucky. The W. field: The 
most extensive mining operations have 
been carried on in Iowa and Missouri; 
its area is greater than that of any 
other one coal field in the United 
States. The Rocky Mountain and the 
Pacific: California, Oregon, and 

Washington. 

According to Government reports, 
the aggregate production of anthra¬ 
cite and bituminous coal in the Unit¬ 
ed States amounted in 1900 to 240,- 
965,917 long tons (or 269,*881,827 
short tons), with a value of $300,- 
891,364. 

Dr. Ferdinand Fischer, of Gottin¬ 
gen, concludes that the attainable coal 
supply of the whole of America is at 
least 684,000,000,000 tons. Germany’s 
supply amounts, in round numbers, to 
160,000,000,000 tons; that of Great 
Britain to 81,500,000,000 tons; that 
of Austria-Hungary, Belgium, and 
France together to 17,000,000,000 
tons. The coal deposits of Russia are 
little known, though the resources are 
undoubtedly enormous. All our later 
information with regard to China has 
tended to confirm the conclusions 
reached by Von Richthofen as to the 
enormous wealth in coal of that em¬ 
pire. His figures are reproduced by 
Dr. Fischer at 630,000,000,000 tons 
of anthracite and an equal quantity 
of bituminous coal. 

Japan has large coal resources, par¬ 
ticularly in the S. province of Kiu- 
shiu. Borneo is rich in coal forma¬ 
tions, as also is New South Wales. 


Africa and South America are poorer 
in coal than any of the other conti¬ 
nents. 

The United States now far sur¬ 
passes all other nations in the em¬ 
ployment of machinery in coal mining. 
The cheaper and more rapid methods 
of machine mining have undoubtedly 
been a factor in the influences that 
have made us the first among the coal 
producing countries. 

Coal Gas, a mixture of gases pro¬ 
duced by the destructive distillation 
of coal at regulated temperatures. It 
is used in lighting streets, houses, 
etc., and for cooking and heating pur¬ 
poses. Coal gas is colorless and has 
a disagreeable smell. 

Poisoning by coal gas is known 
only as an accident. Occasionally sud¬ 
den fatal consequences ensue among 
workmen from exposure to a sudden 
rush of undiluted gas from gasometers 
and mains. More commonly, slowly 
fatal cases result from the gas-tap 
in a bedroom being left open care¬ 
lessly. 

Coaling Stations, depots estab¬ 
lished by maritime -governments at 
various important points throughout 
the world, where the ships of the 
navy may obtain supplies of coal. The 
utility of such stations, when proper¬ 
ly fortified, as points of refuge, de¬ 
fense, and repair for warships in the 
event of war can hardly be over-esti¬ 
mated. 

Coal Tar, a thick, sticky, dark- 
colored substance, produced in the de¬ 
structive distillation of bituminous 
coal. It is of commercial value in 
the production of aniline and its dyes. 

See ANILINE. 

Coan, Titus, an American mis¬ 
sionary ; born in Killingworth, Conn., 
Feb. 1, 1801. After spending sev¬ 
eral months on a dangerous expedition 
in Patagonia, he went to the Sand¬ 
wich Islands, occupying the Hilo sta¬ 
tion 47 years, and in that time con¬ 
verting 14,000 natives. He died at 
Hilo, Hawaii, Dec. 1, 1882. 

Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
United States, a branch of the 
Treasury Department charged with 
the survey of the Atlantic, Gulf, and 
Pacific coasts of the United States, 
including the coast of Alaska; the 
survey of rivers to the head of tide- 




Coast Defense 


Coburg 


water or ship navigation; deep-sea 
soundings, temperature and current 
observations along the coasts and 
throughout the Gulf Stream and 
Japan Stream flowing off from them; 
magnetic observations and gravity re¬ 
search ; determinations of heights by 
geodetic leveling, and of geographical 
positions by lines of transcontinental 
triangulation, which with other con¬ 
necting triangulations and observa¬ 
tions for latitude, longitude, and azi¬ 
muth, furnish points of reference for 
State surveys and connect the work 
on the Atlantic coast with that on 
the Pacific. 

Coast Defense, a system of forti¬ 
fications with auxiliary mines and 
torpedoes to protect a country from 
hostile attack or occupation on its 
coast lines. 

Coast Guard, a British force for¬ 
merly under the customs department, 
and intended only to prevent smug¬ 
gling, but now organized also for pur¬ 
poses of defense and governed by the 
admiralty. 

Coati, or Coati-Mondi, a name 
of South American plantigrade car¬ 
nivorous mammals, belonging to the 
bears, but recalling rather the rac¬ 
coon or civet, and having a long pro¬ 
boscis or snout. 

Coat of Mail, a piece of armor 
in the form of a shirt, consisting of 
a net-work of iron or steel rings, or 
of small laminae or plates. 

Coatzacoalcos, a river of the Isth¬ 
mus of Tehuantepec in Mexico, rises 
in the Sierra Madre, and falls into the 
Gulf of Mexico, 130 miles S. E. of 
Vera Cruz. It is navigable for large 
vessels for 30 miles, and is interest¬ 
ing as part of a route which has been 
surveyed for an inter-oceanic canal. 

Cobalt, a metallic element, first 
obtained in an impure state by Brandt 
in 1733. . It occurs as speiss cobalt, 
or tin-white cobalt and cobalt-glance. 
Cobalt occurs in meteoric iron. 

Cobb, Howell, an American states¬ 
man ; born in Cherry Hill, Ga., Sept. 
7, 1815. In 1843 was elected to Con¬ 
gress as a Democrat. He served eight 
years and was Speaker of the House 
one term. Elected governor of Georgia 
in 1851, he returned to Congress in 
1855, and was made Secretary of the 
Treasury by President Buchanan in 


1857, resigning in 1860 to urge seces¬ 
sion. He held a Confederate military 
commission in the Civil War, but saw 
little service. He died in New York 
city, Oct. 9, 1868. 

Cobb, Sylvanus, an American 
novelist; born in Waterville, Me., 
1823. He was a most prolific story- 
writer. He died in Hyde Park, Mass., 
July 2, 1887. 

Cobden, Richard, an English pol¬ 
itician, the “ Apostle of Free Trade," 
bwn in Sussex, June 3, 1804. Through 
his life he rigidly advocated non-in¬ 
tervention in the disputes of other 
nations, and maintaining it to be the 
only proper object of the foreign pol¬ 
icy of England to increase and 
strengthen her connections with for¬ 
eign countries in the way of trade 
and peaceful intercourse. He died in 
London, April 2, 1865. 

Cobden Club, an association 
formed about a year after the death 
of Mr. Cobden for the purpose of 
encouraging the growth and diffusion 
of those economical and political prin¬ 
ciples with which Mr. Cobden’s name 
is associated. - 

Cobijai, or Puetro La Mar, a 

seaport formerly belonging to Bolivia, 
now in the territory of Antofagasta, 
Chile. 

Coble, or Cobble, a low, flat- 
floored boat with a square stern, used 
in salmon-fishery. 

Coblentz, or fortified town of Ger¬ 
many, capital of Rhenish Prussia, and 
connected by a pontoon-bridge over 
the Rhine with the fortress of Ehren- 
breitstein, this, along with its other 
fortifications, rendering it one of the 
strongest places in Germany, and ca¬ 
pable of accommodating 100,000 men. 
Pop. 39,633. 

Cobra de Capello, that is, “ser¬ 
pent with a hood ”; the Portuguese 
name of an East Indian serpent, and 
of an African serpent of the same 
genus, the asp, both reptiles of the 
most venomous nature. The species 
of the viper kind are all remarkable 
for the manner in which they spread 
out or distend the sides of the neck 
and head when disturbed or irri¬ 
tated. 

Coburg, the name of a family in 
Germany, dating from the 5th cen¬ 
tury, noted for intermarriages with 






Coburg 


Cook 


royal houses, especially during the 
19th century. 

Coburg, or Koburg, a town of 

Germany, capital of the duchy of 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. On an eminence 
overhanging the town is the ancient 
castle or fortress, from which exten¬ 
sive views are obtained. It is now con¬ 
verted into a museum, with extensive 
collections of various kinds, includ¬ 
ing relics and writings of Luther, who 
resided here for three months in 1530 
and wrote some of his works. Pop. 
(1900) 20,460. 

Coca, the dried leaf of a shrub, 
4-8 feet high, growing wild in Peru, 
and cultivated there on the Andes, 
between 2,000 and 5,000 feet high. It 
constitutes a stimulant which tends 
to enslave those who use it to a great¬ 
er extent, it is said, than opium in 
China, or strong liquor here. 

Cocaine, an alkaloid obtained from 
coca leaves, and surgically employed 
as a powerful local anaesthetic. Its 
abuse is demoralizing. 

Coccnlns Indicns, a popular name 
given to a species of plant which fur¬ 
nishes certain dried berries constitut¬ 
ing an article of commerce. They are 
imported from fhe East Indies. It 
has been used in form of ointment in 
certain skin diseases, and in decoction 
for killing vermin in the hair of chil¬ 
dren and animals. They are com¬ 
monly known in the United States as 
fish-berries. 

Coccus, a spherical shaped bacte¬ 
rium hurtful to greenhouse plants, 
and called by gardeners, bugs. 

Coccyx, the lowermost portion of 
the vertebral column, consisting of 
four, or more rarely five or three, di¬ 
vided terminal vertebrae. 

Cochabamba, a central depart¬ 
ment of Bolivia, with offshoots of the 
Eastern Cordilleras, and extensive 
plateaus. Agriculture and cattle-rais¬ 
ing are the chief occupations. Area, 
23,320 square miles; pop. (1900) 326,- 
163. 

Cochin, a seaport of Hindustan. 
Its harbor, though sometimes inacces¬ 
sible during the S. W. monsoon, is the 
best on this coast. Cochin was one of 
the first places in India visited by 
Europeans. In 1663 the Dutch took 


the place, in 1795 the British. Pop. 
17,600. 

Cochin China, a country forming 

part of the peninsula of Southeastern 
Asia, and generally regarded as com¬ 
prising the whole of Anam and Lower 
or French Cochin, China. The terri¬ 
tory covers 23,082 square miles, and 
in 1897 had an estimated pop. of 2,- 
034,453. 

Cochin China, a term applied to 
a variety of the domestic fowl, im¬ 
ported from Cochin China. 

Cochineal, a dye-stuff employed in 
dyeing scarlet and crimson; consists 
of the bodies of the females of a spe- 



COCHINEAL INSECT. 

Female and Male, the latter with wings. 


cies of Coccus, which feeds upon 
plants of the Cactus family. The 
cochineal insect is a small creature, a 
pound of cochineal being calculated to 
contain 70,000 in a dried state. 

Cochrane, Thomas, 10th Earl of 
Dundonald; a British naval officer; 
born in Amesfield, Scotland, Dec. 14, 
1775. In 1814 he was accused of con¬ 
spiring to circulate a false report of 
Napoleon’s death for speculative ends, 
and though he protested his innocence 
he was imprisoned for a year, fined, 
and was expelled from the navy and 
the House of Commons. In 1832 he 
was cleared of the charges brought 
against him in 1814, and was restored 
to the Order of the Bath and to the 
English navy. While in disgrace in 
England he performed great exploits 
as commander of the Chilian navy in 
Chile’s war of independence. He died 
in Kensington, England, Oct. 31, 1860. 

Cock, the full grown male of 
the domestic fowl, colloquially known 
as the “rooster” It is believed 




Cockade 


Cock’s-foot Grass 


that the race was first domesticated 
in the Eastern countries, and gradu¬ 
ally extended to the rest of the world. 

Cockade, a plume of cock’s feath¬ 
ers, worn by Americans in the Revo¬ 
lution as a patriotic emblem. A bow 
of colored ribbon was adopted for the 
cockade in France, and during the 
French revolution the tricolored cock¬ 
ade— red, white, and blue — became 
the National distinction. National 
cockades are now to be found over all 
Europe. 

Cockatoo, a genus of birds of the 
parrot family, but distinguished from 
true parrots by the greater height of 
the bill, and its being curved from the 
base, and by the lengthened, broad, 
and rounded tail. The true cockatoos 
are also all of generally whitish plum¬ 
age, but often finely tinged with red, 
orange, and other colors, or mixed 
with these colors in more brilliant dis¬ 
plays. 

Cockatrice, a fabulous monster 
anciently believed to be hatched from 
a cock’s egg. It is often simply an¬ 
other name for the basilisk. 

Cockburn, Sir Alexander, an 
English jurist; born Dec. 24, 1802; 
studied at Cambridge; was called to 
the bar in 1829, and soon became dis¬ 
tinguished as a pleader before Parlia¬ 
mentary committees. In 1847 he be¬ 
came member of Parliament for 
Southampton in the Liberal interest; 
became Solicitor-General and was 
knighted in 1850; was made Chief- 
Justice of the Common Pleas in 1856; 
and Lord Chief-Justice in 1859. He 
represented Great Britain at the Ge¬ 
neva arbitration in the “ Alabama ” 
case. He died Nov. 20, 1880. 

Cockburn, Sir George, a British 
naval officer; born about 1772. He 
entered the navy in early youth, and 
about 1812 obtained the rank of rear- 
admiral. He took part in the cap¬ 
ture of Washington City in 1814 and 
conveyed Napoleon to Saint Helena in 
1815. He died in 1853. 

Cock Chafer, the popular name of 
a beetle in England. It crawls awk¬ 
wardly on the ground, and when it 
flies does so heavily and with a whir¬ 
ring hum. 

Cocker, a aog of the spaniel kind, 
allied to the Blenheim dog, used for 


raising woodcocks and snipes from 
their haunts in woods and marshes. 

Cockerell, Charles Robert, a 
British architect; born in 1788. His 
excavation of the Temple of Zeus at 
iEgina, in 1811, contributed largely 
to the British Museum. He died in 
1863. 

Cock Fighting, an amusement 
practiced in various countries, first 
perhaps among the Greeks and Ro¬ 
mans. It is a favorite sport in the 
island of Cuba, in the Philippines, 
and in some of the United States, 
though in the latter it is now general¬ 
ly prohibited by local laws. 

Cockle, the popular name of the 
shells classed by naturalists under the 
genus Cardium. Their appearance is 
familiar. The most common one is 
found in sandy bays near low water. 

Cockney, a nickname for a Lon¬ 
don citizens. The word is often, but 
not always, employed slightingly as 
implying a peculiar limitation of taste 
or judgment. 

Cock of the Plains, a large North 

American species of grouse, inhabiting 
desolate plains in the W. States. 

Cock of the Rock, a South 
American bird of a rich orange color 
with a beautiful crest, belonging to 
the manakin family. 

Cock of the Walk, a phrase ap¬ 
plied to a dominant bully or master 
spirit. 

Cock of the Woods, See Capeb- 

CAILZIE. 

Cockpit, in a ship of war, the 
name still given to the compartment in 
the lower part of the ship where the 
wounded are attended to during action. 

Cockroach, an insect common in 
houses, particularly in seaport towns. 
It is often called the black beetle, an 
erroneous name, for it is not a beetle 
at all, but an orthopterous insect. 

Cockscomb, the comb of a cock, 
being a sort of ensign or token which 
the fool was accustomed to wear. Also 
a name sometimes given to certain 
flowers which are astringent and are 
used as a medicine in Asia. 

Cock’s-foot Grass, a genus of 
grasses. In the United States this 
grass is called orchard grass, and is 
extensively cultivated. To this genus 
belongs also the tussac grass. 





Codes 


Code 


Codes, Goratius, a hero of an¬ 
cient Rome, who alone, in 506 B. c., 
opposed the whole army of Porsenna 
at the head of a bridge, while his com¬ 
panions were destroying it behind him. 
When this was effected, Codes, though 
wounded by the darts of the enemy, 
and impeded by his arms and armor, 
leaped into the Tiber and swam safely 
across. 

Cocoanut, a woody fruit of an 
oval shape, from 3 or 4 to 6 or 8 
inches in length, covered with a 
fibrous husk, and lined internally with 
a white, firm, and fleshy kernel. The 
tree which produces the cocoanut is a 
palm, from 40 to 60 feet high. The 
trunk is straight and naked, and sur¬ 
mounted by a crown of feather-like 
leaves. The nuts hang from the sum¬ 
mit of the tree in clusters of a dozen 
or more together. This palm is a na¬ 
tive of Africa, the East and West In¬ 
dies, and South America, and is now 
grown almost everywhere in tropical 
countries. Food, clothing, and shelter 
are among the products of this tree. 

Cocoon, the silken sheath spun by 
the larvae of many insects in passing 
into the pupa or resting stage. The 
most typical and perfect cocoons are 
those of many moths, a familiar ex¬ 
ample being that of the silkworm. 

Cod, a genus of fishes. The most 
interesting of all the species is the 
common or Bank cod. An extent of 
about 450 miles of ocean, laving the 
chill and rugged shores of Newfound¬ 
land, is the favorite annual resort of 
countless multitudes of cod, which 
visit the submarine mountains known 
as the Grand Banks to feed on the 
crustaceous and molluscous animals 
abundant in such situations. 

The liver of the cod, when fresh, is 
eaten by many with satisfaction, but 
it is more generally reserved by fish¬ 
ermen for the sake of the large quan¬ 
tity of fine limpid oil which it con¬ 
tains. This is extracted and forma 
the well-known and highly valued cod 
liver oil. 

Among American species there have 
been enumerated 10 that are taken 
to the New York market, and are 
caught on the coasts adjacent. 
The importance of this fishery and 
the great national interests which 
it involves, has made it a fruitful 
source of diplomatic discussion, and 


led to the establishment of various 
regulations, to which all are obliged 
to conform who participate in its ad¬ 
vantages. 

Coddington, William, the found¬ 
er of the colony of Rhode Island; born 
in England, in 1601, and arrived in 
Massachusetts in 1630. He remained 
in Boston for several years, but not 
being able to agree with the authori¬ 
ties of the colony, be removed in 1638 
to Aquidneck, or Rhode Island, where 
he founded a colony to be governed 
“ by the laws of the Lord Jesus 
Christ.” It was soon found necessary 
to abandon this vague scheme, and in 
1640 he himself was chosen governor, 
and in 1647 aided in the formation of 
a regular body of laws. He was un¬ 
able to secure the reception of Rhode 
Island into the colonial confederacy. 
In 1674 and 1675 he was again elected 
governor. He died in 1678. 

Code, a systematic collection or 
digest of laws, classified and simpli¬ 
fied. 

In the United States.^—The acts of 
Congress have been codified and are 
spoken of as the United States Code, 
and in each State the acts of the dif¬ 
ferent legislatures are usually annu¬ 
ally printed and periodically codified. 
Both the State and Federal authori¬ 
ties have court and legislative repor¬ 
ters for aiding in the codification of 
the laws. 

Code, Cipher, a system of arbi¬ 
trary words to designate prearranged 
or predetermined words, figures or 
sentences. 

Code, Civil, or Code Napoleon. 

One of the first labors of Bonaparte, 
when consul, was to give France a 
code. Under his rule the adoption 
of the “Code Napoleon” was made 
obligatory on all the countries sub¬ 
ject to the French. After the battle 
of Leipsic, in 1813, which freed Ger¬ 
many from the power of France, it 
ceased to be obligatory in the German 
States, but it continued to influence 
considerably their legislation. At 
present this code is recognized in the 
kingdom of Belgium (with some modi¬ 
fications), in the grand-duchy of Ba¬ 
den, in the kingdom of Italy, and else¬ 
where in Europe. In the United 
States it was a model for the code of 
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